Using Ansible to deploy an AWS environment

First published at https://nivleshc.wordpress.com

Background

Over the past few weeks, I have been looking at various automation tools for AWS. One tool that seems to get a lot of limelight is Ansible, an open source automation tool from Red Hat. I decided to give it a go, and to my amazement, I was surprised at how easy it was to learn Ansible, and how powerful it can be.

All that one must do is to write up a list of tasks using YAML notation in a file (called a playbook) and get Ansible to execute it.… [Keep reading] “Using Ansible to deploy an AWS environment”

Weekly AWS Update: Friday 1st March 2019

Well, it’s Friday, March 1st, 2 months into 2019 which means Its time again for my weekly update on all things AWS. The last couple of weeks have been a little quiet when it comes to Amazon Web Services product announcements, but there are still a few interesting things to cover off this week. Numerous announcements have been made in the Database space as well as an update to Amazon Worklink and Amazon FXs for windows.… [Keep reading] “Weekly AWS Update: Friday 1st March 2019”

Enabling Billing Visability for IAM Users in AWS

Today I’ve going to cover off an issue that I’ve seen in a couple of customer environments recently and that’s around allowing users the correct level of access to their AWS billing, Budgets, and account settings. This is an important topic as cost optimization and operational excellence are two of the 5 pillars of the AWS Well Architected Framework and if you can’t monitor your spend, it’s hard to ensure your delivering business value.

AWS Cost Management Tools

Firstly, when we talk about billing and cost management within AWS, there are typically 4 main tools/dashboards that you might want to use:

  • Billing & Cost Management Dashboard.
[Keep reading] “Enabling Billing Visability for IAM Users in AWS”

Weekly AWS update: Friday 15th February 2019

Well, it’s Friday again and that can only mean one thing…. It’s time again for my weekly update on all things AWS. Last week was a big week for developers and while this week has also seen a number of new features for our developer friends, Amazon Web Services has also brought us new instance types, storage options and functionality to what’s becoming a favourite of mine, Amplify. This article continues our weekly series on the happenings in the world of Amazon Web Services.… [Keep reading] “Weekly AWS update: Friday 15th February 2019”

AWS Site-to-Site VPN and Transit Gateway

I recently implemented an AWS site-to-site VPN for a customer to connect their on-premise network to their newly deployed AWS account.

The requirement was network level connectivity from their on-premise network to their management VPC. Support of production VPC resources would be carried out from bastion hosts in the management VPC.

The setup of this was simple from an AWS perspective. With Cloud Formation we deployed a Customer Gateway (CGW) using the IP address of their on-premise firewall, created a Virtual Private Gateway (VPG) and then the VPN Gateway (VPN).… [Keep reading] “AWS Site-to-Site VPN and Transit Gateway”

Weekly AWS update: Friday 8th February 2019

DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS… oh wait, wrong cloud. Regardless of who said those words, this week has been a busy one for our friends over at Amazon Web Services with a host of new products and features that are sure to delight the developers among us. This article continues the weekly series we are doing this year to help customers with a brief overview of the happenings within the AWS world over the last week. This is to try and help surface some of the more important announcements.… [Keep reading] “Weekly AWS update: Friday 8th February 2019”

Weekly AWS update: Friday 1st February 2019

And here we are, in February of 2019 already… 1/12 of the year has already been and gone. This week it’s been a little quiet in the world of Amazon Web Services, but there’s still been several announcements and releases this week that will help those building and developing in the World of AWS. This article continues the weekly series we are doing this year to help customers with a brief overview of the happenings within the AWS world over the last week to try and help surface some of the more important announcements.… [Keep reading] “Weekly AWS update: Friday 1st February 2019”

A tale of two products (don’t expect Dickens)

At Re:Invent and just after, AWS released several new products. Included in those were AWS FSx Windows and AWS Backup. Both of these products had a lot of interest for me, for various reasons, so I thought I’d give them a try. None of my experience was under work conditions, but the following are my experiences. Note: Both are only in a small number of regions, currently.

AWS FSx Windows

Pros:

  • Easy setup (by itself)
  • Fully compatible Windows file server
  • DFS support
  • Has backups
  • Works as expected

Cons:

  • Requires AWS Microsoft AD in each VPC
  • Can’t change file share size
  • Some features can only be changed from CLI
  • Throughput can only be changed through restore
  • Minimum share size is 300GB

First out of the box, and released at Re:Invent is AWS FSx Windows.… [Keep reading] “A tale of two products (don’t expect Dickens)”

Weekly AWS update: Friday 25th January 2019

Well, it’s Australia Day weekend once again and our friends over at Amazon Web Services have been keeping themselves very busy this last week with several key announcements and releases that have a special place in the heart of us Australians. This article continues the weekly series we are doing this year to help customers with a brief overview of the happenings within the AWS world over the last week to try and help surface some of the more important announcements.… [Keep reading] “Weekly AWS update: Friday 25th January 2019”

Weekly AWS update: Friday 18th January 2019

Another week into 2019 and we have more activities happening in the world of Amazon Web Services. This article continues the weekly series we are doing this year to help customers with a brief overview of the happenings within the AWS world over the last week to try and help surface some of the more important announcements. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all the updates and changes to the AWS eco-system, but simply a summary of changes that might have an impact on the business and trends we at Kloud are seeing within the industry.… [Keep reading] “Weekly AWS update: Friday 18th January 2019”