ORANGE TECHNOLOGIES INTERVIEW
Here are five examples of AWS architecture designs tailored to different business and technical
requirements. Each example includes a brief description and the main AWS services involved.
1. Web Application Hosting (Scalable and Highly Available)
Use Case: Hosting a dynamic website or web application (e.g., an e-commerce platform)
Key Requirements: High availability, scalability, cost efficiency, security
Architecture Overview:
Amazon Route 53 – Domain Name System (DNS) management
Amazon CloudFront – Content Delivery Network (CDN) for static content
Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) – Distributes traffic across servers
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling – Automatically adjusts the number of servers based on load
Amazon RDS (Multi-AZ) – Relational Database Service with failover
Amazon S3 – Storage for static assets (images, CSS, JS)
AWS WAF & Shield – Web application security
2. Serverless API Backend
Use Case: Lightweight API backend for a mobile or web app (e.g., task manager or IoT backend)
Key Requirements: Low maintenance, cost-effective, scalable
Architecture Overview:
Amazon API Gateway – Front door for HTTP requests
AWS Lambda – Stateless compute triggered by events
Amazon DynamoDB – NoSQL database for fast and scalable data access
Amazon Cognito – User authentication and authorization
Amazon CloudWatch – Logging and monitoring
3. Real-Time Data Processing Pipeline
Use Case: Stream and process real-time data (e.g., clickstream analytics, IoT sensors)
Key Requirements: Low latency, real-time processing, scalability
Architecture Overview:
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams – Ingest real-time data
AWS Lambda or Kinesis Data Analytics – Process or transform data in real time
Amazon S3 or Amazon Redshift – Store results for analytics
Amazon QuickSight – Visualize processed data
4. Enterprise Application Migration
Use Case: Migrating legacy enterprise apps to the cloud (e.g., a financial ERP system)
Key Requirements: High availability, secure network, minimal downtime
Architecture Overview:
AWS Direct Connect or VPN – Secure on-prem to AWS connectivity
Amazon VPC – Isolated cloud network
Amazon EC2 and RDS (with Reserved Instances) – Host migrated application and database
AWS Application Migration Service – Lift-and-shift server migration
AWS Backup & CloudTrail – Backup and audit trail
5. Machine Learning Model Deployment
Use Case: Training and deploying ML models (e.g., image classification, forecasting)
Key Requirements: High compute, model lifecycle management, cost control
Architecture Overview:
Amazon SageMaker – End-to-end machine learning service (build, train, deploy)
Amazon S3 – Store training data and model artifacts
AWS Lambda or API Gateway – Serve model inference through an API
Amazon CloudWatch – Monitor model performance
Amazon ECR (Elastic Container Registry) – Host custom containers for models
How do you work with development and operations teams to ensure cloud architecture
aligns with business goals?
Working with development and operations teams to ensure that cloud architecture aligns with business
goals requires a blend of technical leadership, collaboration, and a deep understanding of the
organization's strategic objectives. Here's a structured approach:
✅ 1. Understand Business Goals First
Engage with stakeholders (product owners, executives) to understand priorities: e.g., time to market,
scalability, security, or cost control.
Translate business outcomes into technical requirements: e.g., "increase user base" becomes "design for
horizontal scalability".
✅ 2. Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration
DevOps mindset: Encourage a culture of shared responsibility across development, operations, and
architecture teams.
Regular syncs or standups: Keep feedback loops short between dev, ops, and architects.
Workshops & planning sessions: Include dev and ops in early design discussions to capture practical
constraints and needs.
✅ 3. Architect for Agility and Feedback
Use cloud-native and modular architectures (e.g., microservices, serverless) to support evolving business
needs.
Pilot solutions quickly: Build MVPs to test assumptions and validate business value early.
Implement observability: Use tools like CloudWatch, X-Ray, or Datadog to give all teams insight into
application performance and usage.
✅ 4. Balance Trade-Offs Transparently
Cost vs. performance: Collaborate with operations to optimize for efficient usage of
compute/storage/networking resources.
Security vs. speed: Work with dev and ops to implement guardrails (e.g., IAM policies, encrypted
storage) without slowing down delivery.
Availability vs. complexity: Choose architecture patterns that match real business needs (e.g., multi-
region only if the business truly requires it).
✅ 5. Enable Teams through Automation and Best Practices
CI/CD pipelines: Design pipelines with infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) for
consistent, repeatable environments.
Infrastructure governance: Use AWS Organizations, Service Control Policies (SCPs), and tagging strategies
to align cloud usage with cost centers or business units.
Dev enablement: Build reusable templates, modules, or landing zones so dev teams can move quickly
How do you approach designing a scalable and secure cloud architecture on AWS?
Scalability:
Stateless Design: Use stateless compute (like Lambda, or EC2 behind ALB) to allow horizontal scaling.
Auto Scaling: Implement Auto Scaling Groups or serverless patterns that scale based on traffic/load.
Elastic Services: Choose AWS-managed services that scale automatically (e.g., DynamoDB, S3, Aurora
Serverless).
Security (by Design):
Identity & Access Management: Apply least privilege using IAM roles and policies.
VPC Architecture: Design private/public subnets, NAT Gateways, and security groups carefully.
Encryption: Encrypt data at rest (KMS, S3 default encryption) and in transit (TLS).
Secrets Management: Store credentials in AWS Secrets Manager or Systems Manager Parameter Store.
Resilience and High Availability:
Deploy workloads across multiple Availability Zones.
Use Multi-AZ or Multi-Region deployments depending on RTO/RPO requirements.
Automation and IaC:
Use tools like CloudFormation, Terraform, or AWS CDK for infrastructure as code.
Automate deployments with CI/CD pipelines using CodePipeline, CodeBuild, or third-party tools.
Cost Optimization:
Right-size instances using Trusted Advisor or Cost Explorer.
Use spot instances, reserved instances, or savings plans where appropriate.
Monitoring and Logging:
Enable logging and monitoring with CloudWatch, AWS Config, and CloudTrail.
Set up automated alarms for anomalous behavior or threshold breaches.
What AWS services do you use most frequently?
Can you provide examples of how you've used them?
✅ 1. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)
Use: Hosting web servers, backend APIs, batch jobs
Example:
Deployed a Node.js API on EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer with Auto Scaling Groups.
Used EC2 Spot Instances for cost-efficient image processing workloads.
✅ 2. Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
Use: Static file storage, backups, data lakes
Example:
Hosted a static React front-end app using S3 with CloudFront for global content delivery.
Stored and archived customer data with lifecycle rules to transition older files to Glacier for cost savings.
✅ 3. Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service)
Use: Managed SQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)
Example:
Migrated a legacy SQL Server application to Amazon RDS with Multi-AZ for high availability.
Enabled automated backups and performance insights to troubleshoot slow queries.
✅ 4. AWS Lambda
Use: Serverless compute, event-driven automation
Example:
Built a serverless API using Lambda + API Gateway for a lightweight mobile backend.
Used Lambda functions to process images uploaded to S3 (resizing, tagging) as part of an automated
workflow.
✅ 5. Amazon API Gateway
Use: Fronting REST or WebSocket APIs
Example:
Created a secure public API for a SaaS product with throttling and usage plans.
Integrated it with Cognito for authentication and Lambda for the backend logic.
✅ 6. AWS CloudFormation / CDK (Infrastructure as Code)
Use: Reproducible infrastructure deployments
Example:
Built a CI/CD pipeline using CloudFormation templates that auto-deploy across dev, staging, and
production.
Used AWS CDK (in TypeScript) to deploy Lambda + API Gateway + DynamoDB stacks for faster
development.
✅ 7. Amazon CloudWatch
Use: Monitoring, logs, alerts
Example:
Set up alarms for EC2 instance CPU usage, memory metrics, and Lambda error rates.
Used CloudWatch Logs Insights to troubleshoot API Gateway + Lambda integration errors.
✅ 8. AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management)
Use: Access control and security
Example:
Implemented strict least-privilege access policies for dev, staging, and prod environments.
Used IAM roles for cross-account deployments via CI/CD pipelines.
✅ 9. Amazon DynamoDB
Use: NoSQL database for fast, scalable storage
Example:
Built a real-time leaderboard for a mobile game with DynamoDB and TTL to auto-expire old records.
Leveraged DynamoDB Streams + Lambda for real-time notifications.
✅ 10. AWS CodePipeline & CodeBuild
Use: Continuous integration and deployment
Example:
Built a complete CI/CD pipeline for a containerized app on ECS.
Integrated automated testing and approval stages before production deployment.
Do you have experience working with AWS security best practices?
✅ 1. Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Best Practices:
Enforce least privilege access using IAM policies.
Use IAM roles instead of long-term credentials for services and applications.
Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all IAM users and root accounts.
Use IAM Access Analyzer to detect unintended resource access.
Example:
For a financial app, I created fine-grained IAM roles for developers, CI/CD pipelines, and EC2 instances,
ensuring no unnecessary privileges were granted.
✅ 2. Network Security
Best Practices:
Use Amazon VPC with properly configured public/private subnets.
Restrict traffic using security groups and network ACLs.
Route traffic through NAT Gateways for outbound access from private subnets.
Use VPC Flow Logs for visibility into traffic.
Example:
Designed a three-tier architecture (web, app, DB) with NACLs and SGs ensuring strict network isolation
between layers and least exposure to the public internet.
✅ 3. Data Protection
Best Practices:
Encrypt data at rest using AWS KMS (e.g., for S3, RDS, EBS, DynamoDB).
Encrypt data in transit using TLS (SSL).
Use customer-managed keys (CMKs) for sensitive data and audit key usage.
Example:
Implemented encryption at rest with KMS for a healthcare client to meet HIPAA compliance, and used
Envelope Encryption for performance-sensitive workloads.
✅ 4. Logging, Monitoring, and Auditing
Best Practices:
Enable AWS CloudTrail across all regions for governance and auditing.
Use AWS Config to monitor compliance with security policies.
Integrate Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Security Hub, and CloudWatch Alarms for threat detection and alerts.
Example:
Set up automated incident response using GuardDuty findings to trigger Lambda functions that isolate
compromised EC2 instances.
✅ 5. Application Security
Best Practices:
Use WAF (Web Application Firewall) to block malicious traffic.
Protect APIs with Amazon API Gateway throttling, resource policies, and authentication (Cognito/JWT).
Regularly scan code and containers using Amazon Inspector or integrated CI tools.
Example:
Deployed WAF with OWASP rules on CloudFront to protect a customer-facing app from SQL injection and
cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
✅ 6. Security Automation and DevSecOps
Best Practices:
Shift security left by integrating scanning tools in CI/CD.
Use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to enforce secure and consistent environments.
Automate compliance checks with AWS Config rules and custom Lambda functions.
Example:
Built a CI/CD pipeline with CodePipeline that runs security linting (e.g., checkov) on CloudFormation
templates before deployment.
Do you have experience working with microservices or serverless architecture in AWS?
Microservices Architecture in AWS
Core Concepts:
Decompose monoliths into loosely coupled, independently deployable services.
Services communicate via REST, gRPC, or event-driven mechanisms.
Ensure observability, scalability, and fault isolation.
AWS Services Commonly Used:
Amazon ECS / Fargate or EKS (Kubernetes) – For container orchestration.
API Gateway / ALB – For routing requests to different services.
Amazon RDS / DynamoDB – Per-service data persistence.
Amazon SQS / SNS / EventBridge – For asynchronous communication.
CloudWatch, X-Ray – Observability and tracing.
Example:
Migrated a legacy application into microservices deployed on ECS with Fargate.
Each service had its own CI/CD pipeline, database, and health checks.
Used SQS queues for inter-service communication to decouple tightly coupled components.
✅ Serverless Architecture in AWS
Core Concepts:
Event-driven execution, no server management.
Automatically scales with demand.
Ideal for unpredictable workloads and rapid development.
AWS Services Commonly Used:
AWS Lambda – Stateless, event-driven compute.
Amazon API Gateway – Public or private RESTful endpoints.
Amazon DynamoDB – Scalable NoSQL backend.
Amazon S3 – Static content or event trigger source.
Amazon EventBridge – Event bus for orchestration.
AWS Step Functions – Workflow orchestration for complex tasks.
Example:
Built a fully serverless backend for a real-time order tracking app.
Used API Gateway → Lambda → DynamoDB to handle incoming orders.
Triggered post-processing (email notifications, data enrichment) via EventBridge and additional Lambda
functions.
Deployed everything using AWS SAM and managed secrets with AWS Secrets Manager.
✅ Comparison: When I Use Each
Use Case Microservices (Containers) Serverless
Long-running processes ✅ ❌
Heavy compute loads ✅ ❌ (limited to 15 min per invocation)
Event-driven apps ✅ (with effort) ✅ (native fit)
Startups or MVPs ✅ (lightweight) ✅✅ (ideal)
Complex workflows ✅ ✅ (with Step Functions)
✅ DevOps & CI/CD Integration
Used AWS CodePipeline + CodeBuild or GitHub Actions for CI/CD.
Deployed microservices using ECS blue/green deployments via CodeDeploy.
Serverless apps deployed using AWS SAM, Serverless Framework, or CDK.
How do you troubleshoot issues in a complex AWS Network environment?
What is the symptom? (e.g., connection timeout, dropped packets, high latency)
1. Define the Problem Clearly
What is the direction of traffic? (inbound/outbound/internal)
Is the issue consistent or intermittent?
Is it isolated to a service, subnet, or region?
✅ 2. Start with Layer-by-Layer Diagnosis
🔹 A. DNS Resolution
Verify DNS with nslookup, dig, or AWS Route 53 test records.
Check VPC DNS settings: is enableDnsHostnames and enableDnsSupport turned on?
Confirm Route 53 routing policies are correct (e.g., simple, failover, weighted).
🔹 B. Security Groups and NACLs
Ensure security groups allow the right inbound and outbound rules.
Validate Network ACLs – they are stateless and need both inbound and outbound rules.
Use Reachability Analyzer to trace paths and verify allowed connections.
🔹 C. Route Tables and Subnet Association
Check route tables in each VPC/subnet.
Ensure default routes (e.g., 0.0.0.0/0) point to correct targets (NAT, IGW).
Use VPC Flow Logs to detect dropped or denied packets.
🔹 D. NAT Gateway / Internet Gateway
For private subnets, confirm they have a route to a NAT Gateway.
For public subnets, ensure an Internet Gateway (IGW) is attached and the subnet has a route to it.
Validate Elastic IP (EIP) is correctly attached to NAT or EC2 instances.
🔹 E. Load Balancers and Endpoints
Use ALB/NLB logs and CloudWatch metrics to check health checks and traffic patterns.
For private services, ensure VPC endpoints (Interface or Gateway) are configured correctly.
✅ 3. Use AWS Troubleshooting Tools
Tool Purpose
VPC Reachability Analyzer Visual path testing across VPCs
CloudWatch Logs & Metrics Network-related Lambda/API Gateway/EC2 insights
VPC Flow Logs Traffic visibility at subnet or ENI level
CloudTrail Audit network-related changes
AWS Config Compliance tracking of VPC and security changes
Packet Capture on EC2 Use tcpdump for deep inspection
✅ 4. Cross-VPC and Hybrid Networking Checks
For VPC peering, ensure both sides’ route tables and SGs allow communication.
For Transit Gateway, confirm route propagation and attachments are correctly set.
For Direct Connect or VPN, validate the tunnel status and BGP routes.
✅ 5. Common Pitfall Examples
Misconfigured SGs where inbound is allowed but outbound is blocked.
NACLs that override security group permissions.
Route table conflicts where traffic to another subnet is routed incorrectly.
Lambda inside a VPC without a NAT Gateway or VPC endpoint — causing timeouts when accessing
the internet or S3.
Use IaC (CloudFormation/Terraform) to document infrastructure.
✅ 6. Document and Automate
Implement monitoring alerts for known failure points (e.g., NAT gateway usage, VPN tunnel status).
Automate tests (e.g., curl, ping, traceroute) with Lambda or EC2 scripts in CI/CD pipelines.
Can you describe a challenging AWS project or situation you’ve handled and how
you
resolved it?
Scenario: Infrastructure Automation for a Clinical Trial Data Platform
🧩 The Challenge:
AstraZeneca needed to rapidly deploy a secure and compliant environment for
processing clinical trial data from multiple sources. The key requirements were:
Quick provisioning of environments for new clinical trials.
Scalability to handle variable data volumes.
Security and compliance with GDPR and HIPAA.
Full environment automation to reduce manual configuration and the risk of
errors.
⚙️Solution Approach:
1. Using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for Automation:
AWS CloudFormation was chosen to define the infrastructure as code. This allowed
for repeatable, version-controlled infrastructure provisioning.
Used AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy the infrastructure across multiple
regions with consistent configurations, adhering to AstraZeneca’s global data
residency requirements.
2. Key AWS Services for the Platform:
VPC: Deployed a VPC with private subnets for sensitive data processing, ensuring
that resources are isolated and only accessible through specific entry points.
S3 Buckets: Clinical trial data (e.g., CSVs, JSON, medical images) was stored in S3,
with encryption enabled for data at rest using SSE-KMS and fine-grained access
policies.
Amazon RDS: For storing structured clinical data in a compliant database, Amazon
RDS (PostgreSQL) was used with automated backups and encryption at rest.
AWS Lambda: Serverless functions processed incoming data and triggered
workflows, such as running data validation or initiating notifications when new
data was ingested.
Amazon SQS: Queues were set up to handle asynchronous tasks between different
data ingestion and processing stages.
IAM: Fine-grained IAM roles and policies were applied to enforce the principle of
least privilege for all services and users.
3. Security and Compliance Considerations:
Configured IAM roles for developers, administrators, and external collaborators
with very specific, granular permissions.
Used AWS Config to ensure compliance rules were continuously enforced and to
track resource configurations.
Integrated AWS CloudTrail to log API calls, enabling auditing and transparency for
regulatory and compliance reporting.
4. Automated Deployment with CI/CD:
Built a CI/CD pipeline using AWS CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy.
Code changes to the CloudFormation templates were automatically tested and
deployed in a staging environment first, before rolling out to production.
Automated deployment ensured the environment was provisioned securely, with no
human intervention required.
✅ Results:
Fast and Consistent Deployments: Reduced the environment provisioning time
from weeks to hours.
Scalable and Secure Platform: Easily scaled as clinical trial data volumes grew.
The platform met GDPR and HIPAA requirements with encryption and access
control policies.
Auditable Infrastructure: Full visibility into every change made to the
infrastructure via CloudTrail logs, ensuring compliance during audits.
Cost Savings: Automated provisioning reduced manual intervention, saving both
time and operational costs.
🧠 Key Takeaways:
IaC (CloudFormation) was crucial for ensuring consistency and compliance in
rapidly deploying environments.
Using automated CI/CD pipelines not only saved time but also minimized the risk
of human error.
A clear focus on security and compliance from the beginning ensured that the
infrastructure met industry-specific standards (GDPR, HIPAA).
This project showcases how Infrastructure as Code simplifies the management of
cloud resources, while also ensuring compliance, scalability, and security. Let me
know if you'd like to expand on this scenario or need further details!
Do you have experience managing AWS projects of migrations? If so, how do you
prioritize tasks and timelines?
Key Steps in Managing an AWS Migration Project:
1. Assessment and Planning Phase:
Discovery and Assessment: The first step is to conduct a comprehensive
assessment of the existing infrastructure. This includes inventorying all workloads,
databases, and applications. Tools like AWS Migration Hub and CloudEndure
Migration are used to track and assess migration progress.
Cloud Readiness Evaluation: Assess the readiness of your current environment for
migration to the cloud. This includes evaluating the complexity of the application
architecture, dependencies, and any required refactoring for the cloud.
Security and Compliance Review: Prioritize compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR,
HIPAA) and security policies early on. This ensures we build the migration in a way
that adheres to necessary standards.
Key Task Priorities in this Phase:
Assess applications and dependencies (take inventory of workloads).
Review security/compliance requirements.
Select the appropriate AWS migration strategy (rehost, replatform, refactor).
2. Migration Strategy and Planning:
Define Migration Strategy: We prioritize based on application criticality and
business needs. The main migration strategies are:
Rehost (Lift and Shift): Move the workload without modification.
Replatform (Lift, Tinker, and Shift): Optimize and migrate to AWS with minimal
changes.
Refactor: Significant changes to optimize for the cloud (best for cloud-native apps).
Timelines and Milestones: Break down the migration into phases—typically
starting with non-critical applications or pilot environments to minimize risk and
build confidence.
Key Task Priorities in this Phase:
Define critical workloads that must be prioritized for migration.
Establish clear timelines for pilot migrations and full migration based on business
impact.
Set up communication plans to keep stakeholders informed.
3. Execution and Migration:
Prepare Infrastructure: Set up the required AWS environment, including VPCs,
IAM roles, subnets, and security configurations (security groups, NACLs). This
often involves setting up landing zones or AWS Control Tower to automate
governance and management.
Data Migration: For databases, we use services like AWS DMS (Database
Migration Service) or Snowball for large-scale data transfers. The timing of data
migration is crucial to minimize downtime, so it’s often done in parallel with
testing.
Application Migration: Migrate applications in stages (often based on their
complexity and dependencies). Tools like AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) or
CloudEndure can automate the lift-and-shift process.
Key Task Priorities in this Phase:
Test and validate each stage of the migration, including data and application
functionality.
Minimize downtime: Schedule migrations during low-traffic periods for business-
critical apps.
Ensure scalability and availability by testing Auto Scaling, Elastic Load Balancing
(ELB), and other AWS services.
4. Optimization and Post-Migration:
Performance Tuning: After migration, we analyze the performance and optimize
the infrastructure for cost and efficiency. This may include right-sizing instances,
turning on AWS Trusted Advisor, and implementing AWS Cost Explorer to monitor
usage.
Security Hardening: Re-validate security settings, conduct penetration testing, and
ensure IAM roles and policies are in line with best practices.
Training and Knowledge Transfer: Ensuring the internal team is trained to manage
the AWS environment and tools. This includes setting up monitoring dashboards
with CloudWatch and CloudTrail for logging and tracking.
Key Task Priorities in this Phase:
Post-migration testing: Ensure everything works and is performing optimally.
Cost Optimization: Leverage AWS Savings Plans or Reserved Instances for ongoing
cost reduction.
Ongoing monitoring and support: Set up monitoring and alerting for proactive
issue detection.
✅ How I Prioritize Tasks and Timelines:
Business Criticality and Dependencies: The first priority is always migrating the
most critical applications with the highest impact on the business. These are often
the applications that drive revenue or are required for day-to-day operations.
Phase 1: Migrate low-risk, non-production workloads or pilot apps to test the
process.
Phase 2: Migrate business-critical applications and databases, ensuring minimal
downtime.
Phase 3: Migrate less critical applications with minimal business disruption.
Risk Management: To mitigate risk, I prioritize:
Small, manageable migration batches to minimize potential problems.
Pilot migrations for validation, troubleshooting, and adjustments.
Backup and rollback strategies—always having an escape plan in case of failure.
Timelines & Dependencies:
Set realistic milestones based on available resources, complexity, and the scale of
the migration.
Work in parallel on different components when possible (e.g., database migration
while re-platforming applications).
Avoid delays by keeping close track of resource allocation, ensuring there is no
bottleneck in tools, permissions, or infrastructure.
Compliance and Governance: Since many of the workloads might involve sensitive
data, ensuring all compliance and regulatory checks are made early on is essential.
This includes:
Ensuring data residency requirements are met.
Keeping detailed logs via AWS CloudTrail for auditing.
Implementing security measures such as encryption, IAM, and least privilege
access before migrating any workload.
Communication and Stakeholder Alignment: Regular updates to stakeholders are
essential to managing expectations. I schedule:
Weekly status reports.
Sprint-based reviews for complex migrations.
Post-migration evaluation and feedback for continuous improvement.
✅ Conclusion:
In AWS migration projects, prioritizing tasks is about balancing business needs,
technical dependencies, and risk management. By clearly identifying the most
critical workloads and managing their migration systematically—while utilizing
automation, compliance tools, and security best practices—you can ensure a
smooth and timely transition to AWS.
If you have any specifics in mind for an AWS migration or need assistance building
out a more detailed migration strategy, let me know!
Do you have experience managing AWS projects of migrations? If so, how do you
prioritize tasks and timelines?AGAIN
Scenario: Migration of a Legacy Application to AWS for Airbus
🧩 The Challenge:
Airbus needed to migrate an internal legacy application (e.g., a supply chain or
data processing application) from on-premise servers to AWS. The goals were:
Reduce infrastructure costs by moving to the cloud.
Improve scalability and availability of the application.
Maintain business continuity with minimal downtime during migration.
Ensure security and compliance with aerospace industry standards.
⚙️Solution Approach:
1. Assessment & Planning Phase:
Discovery of Existing Infrastructure:
Used AWS Migration Hub and CloudEndure Migration to discover and assess the
existing application architecture.
Identified the application’s dependencies, including databases, third-party
services, and network configurations.
Migration Strategy:
Opted for the "Rehost" (Lift and Shift) strategy for this legacy application, meaning
the application would be moved without significant changes (to minimize migration
time).
Set up a pilot migration for non-critical workloads to test the process before full
production migration.
Security and Compliance:
Ensured that AWS services like IAM, VPC, and AWS KMS were configured for
encryption and access control.
Key Priorities:
Conduct an inventory of the application and its components.
Define security, IAM policies, and VPC configurations based on Airbus' compliance
needs (e.g., GDPR, ISO 27001).
Set migration milestones with timelines for pilot testing and production cutover.
2. Infrastructure Setup & Migration Execution:
Create the AWS Environment:
Set up a VPC with appropriate subnets and security groups to mirror the existing
on-premise network.
Created EC2 instances in AWS that mirrored the current infrastructure to run the
application and databases.
Configured Elastic Load Balancers (ELB) to handle traffic distribution across
multiple instances for high availability.
Data Migration:
Used AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to replicate the data from the on-
premise database to Amazon RDS for better manageability, performance, and
scalability.
Migrated application data to Amazon S3 for object storage (logs, backups, etc.)
with encryption enabled.
Application Migration:
Using AWS Server Migration Service (SMS), migrated the application servers to
EC2 instances.
Updated the application configurations to work with AWS-specific services, such as
pointing to RDS instead of an on-prem database and using S3 for storage.
Testing:
Conducted a pilot migration to a small AWS environment, ensuring that the
application functioned as expected, with no downtime.
Ran performance and load tests using AWS CloudWatch to ensure the application
could handle traffic at scale.
3. Post-Migration Optimization:
Cost Optimization:
Reviewed EC2 instance sizes and used AWS Cost Explorer to analyze usage
patterns and identify opportunities for cost savings (e.g., switching to AWS
Reserved Instances).
Implemented auto-scaling to automatically adjust the EC2 instance count based on
traffic demands, reducing unnecessary costs during off-peak hours.
Security and Monitoring:
Configured CloudWatch Alarms for monitoring application health and
performance.
Set up CloudTrail to track API calls and ensure that audit logs were available for
security and compliance checks.
Refinement:
Improved the application’s fault tolerance by setting up Elastic Load Balancers
(ELB) and configuring Auto Scaling groups to automatically scale resources based
on demand.
Integrated the application with Amazon S3 for backup and disaster recovery.
✅ Results:
Successful Migration: The application was migrated successfully to AWS with
minimal downtime (using Route 53 for DNS failover).
Cost Savings: Achieved a 20–30% reduction in infrastructure costs by leveraging
AWS’s scalable and pay-as-you-go model.
Scalability: The application now scales more efficiently based on demand, with
auto-scaling EC2 instances and Elastic Load Balancing ensuring high availability.
Security and Compliance: The application adhered to Airbus' security standards,
and all data encryption, network isolation, and access controls were in place.
🧠 Key Takeaways:
Rehost Strategy: In this case, a "Lift and Shift" migration was the fastest and most
cost-effective way to move the legacy application to AWS, with plans for potential
optimization post-migration.
Minimal Downtime: Using Route 53 for DNS failover and DMS for database
replication helped to minimize downtime during migration.
Security First: Always ensure the environment is secure from the start, especially
when migrating mission-critical applications.
What tools do you use for managing and monitoring AWS environments?
AWS-Native Tools
🔹 1. Amazon CloudWatch
Purpose: Monitoring, alerting, and logging.
Use Cases:
Monitor EC2 CPU usage, RDS connections, Lambda duration, etc.
Set CloudWatch Alarms for auto-scaling or incident response.
Use CloudWatch Logs for debugging application and infrastructure issues.
CloudWatch Dashboards for real-time operational views.
🔹 2. AWS CloudTrail
Purpose: Governance, compliance, and auditing.
Use Cases:
Track all API activity across AWS services.
Detect unauthorized or unexpected changes in resources.
Feed into SIEM systems or AWS Security Hub for deeper analysis.
🔹 3. AWS Config
Purpose: Configuration monitoring and compliance.
Use Cases:
Continuously audit and evaluate AWS resource configurations.
Detect non-compliant resources based on predefined rules (e.g., “S3 buckets must be encrypted”).
Useful for security audits and drift detection in IaC-managed environments.
🔹 4. AWS Trusted Advisor
Purpose: Best practice checks and cost optimization.
Use Cases:
Identify underutilized EC2 instances or idle load balancers.
Check for security gaps like open ports or exposed IAM credentials.
Optimize service limits, cost, and performance.
🔹 5. Amazon GuardDuty
Purpose: Threat detection.
Use Cases:
Detects suspicious activity like port scanning, IAM anomalies, or malicious behavior.
Integrates with Security Hub for centralized security alerts.
🔹 6. AWS Systems Manager (SSM)
Purpose: Operational insights and automation.
Use Cases:
Remotely manage and patch EC2 instances using SSM Agent.
Run automated scripts or commands with Run Command.
Monitor inventory, patch compliance, and session activity.
🔹 7. AWS Cost Explorer & Budgets
Purpose: Cost tracking and forecasting.
Use Cases:
Visualize AWS spend and usage trends over time.
Set budgets and alerts for unexpected cost spikes.
Identify cost-saving opportunities using recommendations.
🧰 Common Third-Party Tools
🔸 1. Datadog
Use: Deep observability across AWS and application layers.
Features: Real-time dashboards, alerting, APM, and log analytics.
Why Use It: Better visualization and correlation between logs, metrics, and traces.
🔸 2. New Relic / Dynatrace
Use: Full-stack monitoring and application performance.
Why Use It: Ideal for distributed applications where tracing and user experience monitoring are crucial.
🔸 3. Terraform with Terragrunt or Atlantis
Use: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) + automated state management.
Why Use It: Easily track, review, and manage infrastructure changes over time, and enforce approval
workflows.
🔸 4. Splunk / ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
Use: Centralized logging and security analytics.
Why Use It: For log aggregation and creating custom dashboards, especially across hybrid or multi-cloud
environments.
🔸 5. PagerDuty / Opsgenie / Slack Integrations
Use: Alerting and incident response.
Why Use It: Ensure on-call teams are notified in real-time via preferred channels (email, SMS, chat, app).
🧠 How I Use These in Practice
Task Tool(s)
Monitor EC2, Lambda, RDS CloudWatch, Datadog
Audit API actions CloudTrail, AWS Config
Detect security threats GuardDuty, Security Hub
Cost control AWS Budgets, Trusted Advisor
Infrastructure automation Terraform, CloudFormation
Logging & debugging CloudWatch Logs, ELK Stack
Alert routing CloudWatch → Slack/PagerDuty
Patch & maintain EC2 AWS SSM
