Designing Applications and Architectures in AWS

(Aligned with AWS Solution Architect Associate Certification)

Container Service
 A Day in the Life of a Cloud Architect

You are a cloud architect in an organization and have been asked to

design a strategy for deploying the company's e-commerce web
application in the cloud.

Your primary objectives include enabling the deployment of

microservices in containers, ensuring continuous monitoring, facilitating
automatic scaling, and incorporating other vital features to boost
performance and reliability.

To achieve these, you will learn a few concepts in this lesson that will
help you find a solution for the given scenario.
 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Execute a Docker container on an EC2 instance to improve

resource utilization

Push and pull container images from Amazon ECR to

implement container-based applications

Create and manage container clusters using Amazon ECS for

various AWS service integration

Deploy a container cluster using Amazon Fargate for

serverless container management
Elastic Container Service
 What Is a Container?

A container is a standardized software development unit encompassing all elements necessary for a
software application. These elements include code, runtime, system tools, system libraries, and more.
 What Is Docker?

Docker is a tool designed to automate the deployment of applications as lightweight containers,

enabling efficient operation across diverse environments.

A Docker container is a streamlined software package that encompasses all necessary

dependencies, such as code, frameworks, and libraries, to execute an application effectively.
Advantages of a Docker Container

01 They are highly scalable and efficient.

02 They boot up quickly.

03 Docker containers demonstrate high portability.

Running a Docker Container on an AWS EC2 Instance

Duration:15 min

Problem Statement:

You have been asked to run the hello world container on an EC2 instance.
 Assisted Practice: Guidelines

Steps to be followed are:

1. Set up an EC2 instance

2. Install the Docker on Ubuntu
3. Run the Hello World Container
Creating a Container Registry Using AWS ECR

Duration:15 min

Problem Statement:

You have been asked to create a container image repository using AWS ECR and push images
into it.
 Assisted Practice: Guidelines

Steps to be followed are:

1. Create an ECR repository

2. Launch an EC2 instance
3. Install Docker on the EC2 instance
4. Create and push the Docker image to the repository
 What Is Container Orchestration?

Container orchestration automates scheduling, development, networking,

scaling, health monitoring, and management of containers.
 Container Orchestration Tools in AWS

The AWS services used for container orchestration are as follows:

Amazon ECS Amazon EKS

 Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR)

Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR) is a fully managed Docker container registry that simplifies
developers' tasks of storing, managing, and deploying Docker container images.

It is integrated with Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) to streamline the

container deployment process.
 Amazon ECR Workflow

This image illustrates the role of Amazon ECR in the container deployment process:
 Amazon Elastic Container Service

Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) is a highly scalable and rapid container
management service that deploys and manages containers on a cluster.

ECS is integrated with the broader AWS platform, offering a secure and user-friendly
solution for executing container workloads in the cloud.
 ECS: Features

• Amazon ECS fully supports Docker, enabling users to run and

manage Docker containers effectively.

• It provides flexibility for users to integrate and extend their

service by making API calls.

• It automatically restores failed containers, ensuring

consistent application availability and reliability.

• It facilitates cluster scheduling based on diverse

requirements, such as configuring clusters according to
resource needs like CPU or RAM.
 ECS Architecture

The image below illustrates how Amazon ECS employs AWS Fargate to execute containers:
 ECS: Components

Cluster:
01 It is a logical grouping of tasks or services within ECS.

Container:
02 It is a standardized software unit containing all the
components necessary for an application to
function.
 ECS: Components

Task Definition:
03 It is a JSON-formatted text file describing one or
more containers that compose an application.

Task:
04 It is the instantiation of a task definition within an
ECS cluster.
 ECS: Components

Service:
05 The purpose of a service is to concurrently execute
and uphold the desired count of tasks within an
Amazon ECS cluster.

Container Agent:
06 It operates on each container instance within an
Amazon ECS cluster and transmits details about
ongoing tasks and the container's resource
utilization to Amazon ECS.
 Elastic Container Service (ECS)

Amazon ECS can be launched in the following modes:

Fargate launch EC2 launch

 When to Use Fargate Launch Type?

The Fargate launch type is well-suited for the following workloads:

01 Large workloads that require low operational overhead

02 Small workloads that have an occasional burst

03 Batch workload that require high operational overhead

 When to Use EC2 Launch Type?

The EC2 launch type is ideal for the following workloads:

01 Workloads demanding consistently high CPU core

and memory usage

02 Large workloads requiring cost optimization

03 Applications necessitating access to persistent storage

 How to Access ECS?

ECS can be accessed from the following interfaces:

AWS Management Console

AWS Command Line

Interface (AWS CLI) AWS CDK

AWS Copilot AWS SDK

Amazon ECS CLI

 ECS: Use Cases

Amazon ECS is suited for a variety of use cases, including:

Machine learning

Video rendering services

Microservices

Websites
Companies Using Amazon ECS

The following companies use Amazon ECS:

Creating an EC2 Cluster with Auto Scaling

Duration:15 min

Problem Statement:

You have been asked to create an ECS cluster with auto scaling and Container Insights, and
how to run a task definition for an Nginx container on the cluster.
 Assisted Practice: Guidelines

Steps to be followed are:

1. Create an ECS cluster

2. Create a task definition
3. Run the task definition on the cluster
Dynamic Port Mapping
 What Is Dynamic Port Mapping?

It is a feature of an Application Load Balancer that enables users to execute multiple

tasks from a single service on the same container instance.

Dynamic port mapping can be achieved using network load balancers.

 Setting Up Dynamic Port Mapping

The steps to set up dynamic port mapping are as follows:

Application load balancer

and a target group creation

01

Task definition 02 03 Security group

rules addition
configuration
 Setting Up Dynamic Port Mapping

The steps to set up dynamic port mapping are as follows:

Service configuration

04

Target groups 05 06 Task ports

validation
selection
Dynamic Port Integration with Application Load Balancer

Duration:15 min

Problem Statement:

You have been asked to enable dynamic port mapping in a container.

 Assisted Practice: Guidelines

Steps to be followed:
1. Create a custom VPC and enable DNS hostname
2. Create Internet Gateway
3. Create three subnets
4. Create a Route table and attach it to three subnets
5. Create a Target group
6. Create an application load balancer
7. Create a Cluster
8. Create a Task definition
9. Run the task on the cluster
Introduction to AWS Fargate
 AWS Fargate

AWS Fargate is an AWS service that acts as the compute engine for both Amazon
ECS and Amazon EKS.

It enables you to run containers without the need to manage the

underlying infrastructure.
AWS Fargate: Advantages

Easy Management: Fargate eliminates the need for manual

server management.

Auto-Scaling: It automatically scales the cluster up or down

to match changing demand.

Health Checks: It monitors container health and replaces

faulty containers automatically.

Task Definitions: Users can define tasks and their execution

environment precisely.
AWS Fargate: Use Cases

01 It is used in web apps, APIs, and

microservices.

It is used in running and scaling

container workloads.

03 It is used in AI and ML applications.

Running Task on a Fargate Cluster

Duration:15 min

Problem Statement:

You have been asked to run a task on a Fargate Cluster.

 Assisted Practice: Guidelines

Steps to be followed:
1. Create a Fargate cluster
2. Create a task definition
3. Run Fargate Cluster
 Key Takeaways

Containers are software packages that are used to execute an

application in any environment.

Docker is a containerization platform that enables users to package

applications into containers.

The deployment, management, scaling, and networking of

containers are all automated through container orchestration.

Amazon ECS is a container orchestration service that supports

Docker containers and allows users to easily run and scale
containerized applications on AWS.

Amazon Fargate is a serverless container platform for

running Docker containers.
Monitoring Insights for ECS Cluster Using CloudWatch
Duration: 30 mins

Project agenda: To monitor an Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS)

cluster using CloudWatch Container Insights

Description: Your company is going to deploy a container application

using ECS clusters. As a cloud architect, you should be able to monitor the
cluster's health by measuring various metrics such as CPU utilization,
memory utilization, task count, and so on.

Perform the following:

1. Monitor the cluster using the CloudWatch container
Thank You