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Aws Quick Starts

Using AWS Quick Starts

Section titled “Using AWS Quick Starts”

AWS Quick Starts Overview

Section titled “AWS Quick Starts Overview”
Gold-Standard Deployments

AWS Quick Starts provide CloudFormation templates for full solutions built by AWS solutions architects and partners.

Key Characteristics

Section titled “Key Characteristics”

Gold-standard deployments:

  • Based on AWS best practices for security and high availability
  • Built by AWS solutions architects and partners
  • Help deploy popular solutions on AWS

Rapid Deployment:

  • Can create entire architectures in less than an hour
  • Often deploy in only minutes
  • Help build well-architected test or production environments in a few steps

Flexible Usage:

  • Can be used for experimentation and as the basis for your own architectures
  • Use infrastructure as code with CloudFormation as the foundation
  • Help you use CloudFormation to provision architectures without building your own template

How to Use AWS Quick Starts

Section titled “How to Use AWS Quick Starts”

Each Quick Start consists of two main components:

CloudFormation Template

The infrastructure as code definition that creates the AWS resources

Deployment Guide

Detailed information about deployment options and configuration guidance

Deployment Guide Contents

Section titled “Deployment Guide Contents”

The deployment guide provides essential information including:

  • Deployment Options: Different ways to configure the deployment
  • Configuration Details: How to customize the deployment to match your needs
  • Security Considerations: Important security aspects of the deployment
  • Cost Estimates: Estimated costs for the deployment
  • Implementation Timeline: Expected deployment duration (minutes to few hours)

Customization and Learning

Section titled “Customization and Learning”

Template Customization: You can customize the deployment to match your needs and create the stack. Depending on AWS resources that must be created, Quick Starts finish deploying in minutes or a few hours.

Learning from Patterns: Even if you don’t use Quick Starts directly, they’re helpful for seeing types of patterns and practices that Quick Starts follow. You can accelerate your own template development by borrowing sections from Quick Starts and embedding them in your own templates.

Comparison with Alternatives

Section titled “Comparison with Alternatives”

AWS Marketplace AMIs:

  • Provide single-vendor solutions that run on EC2 instances
  • Can be launched from Amazon EC2 console
  • More limited compared to Quick Starts

AWS Quick Starts:

  • Modular and more customizable solutions
  • Might or might not use Amazon EC2
  • Broader scope of infrastructure components

AWS Quick Starts Example

Section titled “AWS Quick Starts Example”

Serverless Image Handler Architecture: This solution creates a serverless architecture to initiate cost-effective image processing in the AWS Cloud with dynamic content delivery on an interactive web interface.

Architecture Components

Section titled “Architecture Components”

  1. CloudFront Distribution: Provides caching layer to reduce image processing costs and latency of subsequent image delivery

  2. API Gateway: Provides endpoint resources and initiates Lambda function

  3. Lambda Function: Retrieves image from customer’s existing S3 bucket and uses open source image processing software to return modified version

  4. S3 Bucket: Used for log storage (separate from image storage bucket)

  5. Secrets Manager Integration: If Image URL signature feature activated, Lambda function retrieves secret value to validate signature

  6. Amazon Rekognition: Analyzes images and returns results for smart crop or content moderation features

Use Case

Section titled “Use Case”

You might implement an architecture like this for maintaining high-quality images on websites and mobile applications. The solution provides:

  • Dynamic Content Delivery: Interactive web interface with content moderation
  • Smart Image Processing: Smart image cropping with Amazon Rekognition
  • Cost Optimization: Caching layer reduces processing costs
  • Performance: Reduced latency for image delivery

Implementation Benefits:

  • Deploys in less than an hour
  • Cost-effective image processing
  • Serverless architecture reduces operational overhead
  • Built-in content moderation capabilities
  • Scalable solution for varying traffic loads

AWS Quick Starts provide pre-built, tested solutions that follow AWS best practices, enabling rapid deployment of complex architectures while serving as learning resources for developing custom templates. They bridge the gap between manual infrastructure creation and fully custom CloudFormation development.