book

Programming Amazon EC2

by Jurg van Vliet, Flavia Paganelli

February 2011

Intermediate to advanced

186 pages

5h 12m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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AudienceConventions Used in This BookUsing Code ExamplesSafari® Books OnlineHow to Contact UsAcknowledgments
From 0 to AWSBiggest Problem FirstInfinite StorageComputing Per HourVery Scalable Data StoreOptimizing Even MoreGoing GlobalGrowing into Your ApplicationStart with Realistic ExpectationsSimply SmallGrowing UpMoving Out“You Build It, You Run It”Individuals and Interactions: One TeamWorking Software: Shared ResponsibilityCustomer Collaboration: Evolve Your InfrastructureResponding to Change: Saying Yes with a SmileIn Short
Setting Up Your EnvironmentYour AWS AccountCommand-Line ToolsAWS Management ConsoleOther ToolsChoosing Your Geographic Location, Regions, and Availability ZonesChoosing an ArchitectureCreating the Rails Server on EC2Creating a Key PairFinding a Suitable AMISetting Up the Web/Application ServerLaunching an instance (Request Instances Wizard)Setting up the instanceCreating and using an EBS volumeCreating and associating an EIPInstalling the softwareCreating a custom imageProvisioning the instance at boot/launchUser dataRDS DatabaseCreating an RDS Instance (Launching the DB Instance Wizard)Is This All?S3/CloudFrontSetting Up S3 and CloudFrontStatic Content to S3/CloudFrontCase study: Publitas—CloudFront to the rescueMaking Backups of VolumesInstalling the ToolsRunning the ScriptIn Short
Preparing to ScaleSetting Up the ToolsS3 for File UploadsUser Uploads for Kulitzer (Rails)Elastic Load BalancingCreating an ELBDifficulties with ELBAuto ScalingSetting Up Auto ScalingLaunch configurationAutoscaling groupAutoscaling (alarms and policies)SemiautoscalingAuto Scaling in ProductionPausing Auto ScalingReplacing the launch configurationChanging the alarmsChanging the autoscaling groupDecommissioning an autoscaling groupScaling a Relational DatabaseScaling Up (or Down)DB instance classesScaling OutStorage engineTips and TricksDisk is slowSlow logStorageElastic BeanstalkIn Short
SQSExample 1: Offloading Image Processing for Kulitzer (Ruby)Example 2: Priority PDF Processing for Marvia (PHP)Installing the tools for PHPWriting messagesReading messagesExample 3: Monitoring Queues in Decaf (Java)Getting the queuesReading the queue attributesChecking a specific queue attributeSimpleDBUse Cases for SimpleDBExample 1: Storing Users for Kulitzer (Ruby)Adding a userGetting a userExample 2: Sharing Marvia Accounts and Templates (PHP)Adding an accountGetting an accountIncrementing the counterExample 3: SimpleDB in Decaf (Java)Listing domainsListing items in a domain: selectGetting domain metadataSNSExample 1: Implementing Contest Rules for Kulitzer (Ruby)Preparing tools for SNS in RubyTopics per contestSubscribing to registration updatesPublishing messages to a topicDeleting a topicPublishing to FacebookExample 2: PDF Processing Status (Monitoring) for Marvia (PHP)Creating a topic for an accountSubscription and confirmationPublishing and receiving status updatesExample 3: SNS in Decaf (Java)Listing topicsSubscribing to a topic via emailSending notifications on a topicIn Short
MeasureUp/Down AlertsMonitoring on the InsideMonitoring on the OutsideCloudWatchELBsRegionUnderstandWhy Did I Lose My Instance?Spikes Are InterestingPredicting BottlenecksImprovement StrategiesBenchmarking and TuningThe Merits of Virtual HardwareReplace hardwareScaling upAuto Scaling group of oneIn Short
MeasureEC2DimensionsMetricsELBDimensionsMetricsRDSDimensionsMetricsUsing Dimensions from the Command LineAlertsUnderstandSetting ExpectationsViewing ComponentsImprovement StrategiesPlanning Nonautoscaling ComponentsTuning Auto ScalingIn Short
MeasureS3SQSQueue sizeLatencyThroughputSimpleDBSizeFragmentationSNSBurst factorUnderstandImbalancesBurstsImprovement StrategiesQueues Neutralize BurstsNotifications AccelerateIn Short

Other ApproachesPrivate/Hybrid CloudsThank You

Content preview from Programming Amazon EC2

Chapter 8. And Now…

We believe that every app is unique and requires special attention and care. You spend considerable energy and other resources developing products and services powered by web applications. AWS makes it easier to transform that energy into value for your users.

The intention of this book is to get you started with AWS, and more importantly to keep you going when success arrives. We have explained how virtual infrastructures differ from physical infrastructures. It’s easy (and cheap) to experiment, and it’s affordable to scale. With services like SQS, SimpleDB, and SNS, you can take everything a step further—you are ready for what they call “Internet-scale.”

We have documented our experience in building scalable applications and helping developers and development teams cope with their success. Success should be a joy, but everyone will encounter hiccups accompanied by a fair share of stress. But we believe that in between these periods, you should be happy and proud of what you’ve accomplished with the AWS services at your disposal.

Other Approaches

AWS is an Infrastructure as a Service-type cloud. The core elements are similar to what you are used to with your virtual servers. On top of that, AWS adds a layer of services to help you deal with scaling. Another public cloud that is comparable to AWS is Windows Azure.

Google App Engine (GAE) is also a public cloud, but has an entirely different approach than AWS. GAE offers a full-service computing environment for your ...