High Availability with AWS OpsWorks

shane.davis@linkdigital.com.au@link_sdm

SHANE DAVISLead Architect ANZ

Introduction 2

Link Digital

Service Delivery Manager

Lead Architect ANZ

Data ShadesKey Contributor

AWS User GroupCBR Organiser

PCs and Pet Mentality 3

Cute, precious and adorable

Not scalable

Timely to set up

The Computing Evolution 4

• Desktop PCs

• Server in a cupboard

• Virtualisation

• Virtual Dedicated Servers

• Cloud Computing

Cloud Benefits 5

• Low Cost

• Agile

• Easily Managed

Cents per hour to run

Pay for what you use

Scales up and down easily

Point and Click:

• Provisioning

• Monitoring

• Management

6Cloud Tricks

Scalability

Automation

Orchestration

7The Orchestration Journey

Bash/Python scripts

CLI: Command Line

Interface

Orchestration Suites

8Why OpsWorks?

Templates Build Stacks

Serverless

Iterative

Consistent

Transparent Design

Access Management

Clone capable

9OpsWorks Design

Layers

Instances

Time Based

Load Based

Apps

Deployments

Monitoring

Resources

Permissions

Instances can belong

to 1 or more layers

Separate Instances out later

• App Source

• Data Source

• Domains

• SSL

App Definition

Deploy to one

or more layers

Recipes perform:

• Setup

• Configure

• Deploy

• Undeploy

• Shutdown

10HA Design Tips

Disposable Nodes

Truly HA = no pets

Versatile Recipes

• Able to manage failed states

• Capable of upgrades

• Adaptive and aware

Dynamic Resources

Don’t paint the cogs

11HA Considerations

• Use AWS Services when possible

• Use self hosted services as a bridge

• Use Route53 Failover and Health checks

12Scaling Options

Bare Metal Deploy

AMI + Autoscale Group

Latest versions

Failure risks

Slower Deployment

No setup

No Updates

Faster Deployment

AMI + Deploy

Failsafe setup

Fast Deployment

Latest versions

13Main Take Away

• The Real Magic is in the sauce (recipe)

• Dynamic is the key - stateless, non-static

• Iteration is the way forward. Build & Improve