AWS Well-Architected Review – An Understanding

Cloud computing services are changing as the years have passed, and it is certainly the case with the AWS environment. Tech geeks have been largely successful in creating fresh instances, making changes in security groups, and do a little tinkering on the new AWS Services. Even after all that, it could turn out to be a disaster.

This is the reason Amazon Web Services now recommend carrying out a Well-Architected Review for 12-18 months. This is a new cloud computing solution that is available, and it outlines a seamless approach to gauge the AWS architecture and thereby solve any problems that might occur.

This review is carved out of the AWS Well-Architected Framework, which comprises many best practices that have been officially recommended by AWS themselves. Let us take a look at some of the following sections on the AWS Well-Architected Review.

The framework is constructed out of five principal factors that are called pillars. Every pillar is made out to assist you with addressing a specific facet of the environment,

1. Operational Superiority

This can be defined as the ability to operate and monitor the systems that provide value to your business with no interruptions. It would, therefore, help you with surpassing your existing process steps. Some of the best design principles that are recommended by AWS are as follows,

• Operations can be carried out in the coding format.
• Documentation with specific interpretations available.
• Carry out small changes from time to time, should also be mercurial if need be.
• Operational steps should be refined time and again.
• Learn to assess failures constantly.
• Expect to fail; otherwise, you would not learn from it.

2. Security

This can be defined as the capability to secure information and important assets that are valuable for the business. Risk assessment and countless alleviation strategies are exceedingly important during the implementation of security. Some of the important design principles with regards to security are as follows,

• Implementation of a powerful identity subsection.
• Sanctioning traceability.
• Security is a must at all of the layers.
• Automate the best practices with regards to security.
• Data protection during transportation and while at rest.
• Unsuspecting users must be kept away from data.

3. Dependability

This would be ensuring the fact that the system is capable enough to recover from disruptions owing to faulty services or infrastructure problems. This would also mean meeting the demands for getting all the resources available and decreasing any possible hurdles. To increase the dependability, AWS recommends the following steps,

• Test recuperative policies.
• Auto-recovery from non-observance.
• Horizontal scaling to increase system availability.
• Put an end to random estimation capacity.
• Managing changes whilst carrying out automation.

4. Performance Regulation

This can be defined as the optimal utilization of available resources so that the never-ending requirements are met, on-demand tasks are carried out as technology goes one step further. Some of the best practices with regards to performance regulation are as follows,

• Emulate the latest technologies by pushing in the complex ones into the domain of your cloud vendor.
• Get global exposure in moments.
• Make use of serverless architecture so that deployments would be swifter across multiple geographies, thereby removing the additional costing required for physical servers.
• The technological approach is far better, and it should assist you with the creation of mechanical comfort.

5. Optimizing costs

This can be defined as the capability to operate systems that provide value in business at a very affordable price point. Some of the practices that can be followed in this respect are given below:

• Follow a consumption model.
• Keep track of the overall efficiency by evaluating the profits created from increasing output to lowering costs.
• Do not spend your capital on data center operations.
• Inspect and ascribe disbursements.
• Utilization of managed services for alleviating possession value.

6. Procedure for Conducting a Well-Architected Review

As mentioned before, a Well-Architected Review is extremely vital for the evaluation of your existing AWS architecture and cloud infrastructure management services.  A cloud expert would then visit your organization to review your existing task list using the AWS Well-Architected Tool with respect to the five vital facets that have been described above.
Three of the important tasks that will be performed by them include,

• Getting the videos and documentation procedure that is synonymous with the best practices prescribed by the Amazon Web Services.
• Generating a comprehensive report listing out all the details about your current work and reviewing them accordingly.
• Results of your workload would then be reviewed and evaluated across the entire organization, which can then be tracked on to a single dashboard screen.

The findings with respect to the three key points mentioned above would be put up against the five sections discussed further above. All of the issues and findings will then be compiled and would then be used to update your existing infrastructure as per the best practices prescribed by the Amazon Web Services. 

There are many other security standard frameworks like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the System and Organization Controls (SOC). But they technologically pale in comparison with the AWS Well-Architected framework with respect to the features sets and multiple other advantageous factors that it offers. 

The well-architected framework has been designed with respect to the best practices provided by Amazon Web Services. They also provide efficiency with respect to costs and other vital principles that would not usually be evaluated when it comes to formal audits.

Many of the organizations prefer to use this framework, chief among them is a company named Logicworks that recommends its usage profusely. The reason for this is owing to the fact that it integrates all of the best practices across frameworks like ITIL, Agile and DevOps to give a more solid advantage. Plus, it also shows you as to the way that you can operate this framework and how best you would be able to maintain it. 

Companies need not wait long if they want to enjoy cloud infrastructure management at its best. With its awesome set of features that are in line with the best practices provided, there is no way organizations would let go of it. Companies can even start using the framework on the go, and without any of the issues at all. You can become a registered partner by right and receive official funding from the Amazon Web Services themselves if you want to avail of the services of this framework. 

Companies can even direct their cloud professionals to take up the certified training available on the AWS website to understand the nuances of this tool first-hand. Only then would they be able to fully comprehend the power and the might of this tool and how well it can contribute to the betterment of the organization. 

Researching the tool on your own can be quite exhaustive at best. There are a ton of best practices available for perusal on the official AWS whitepapers, which would essentially take up a lot of time to understand. The article, therefore, gives you a great understanding of how the tool is best-suited for the needs and wants of your company, and thereby make great use of it.