AWS Bites

In this episode, we had the pleasure to interview Farrah Campbell, head of modern compute community at AWS, prolific speaker, and former AWS Hero. We discussed Farrah's career journey from healthcare into tech, tips on public speaking, dealing with imposter syndrome, the pace of innovation in the cloud, and predictions for the future. Farrah shared personal stories and advice for getting started in tech and being an active member of the community. It was inspiring to hear from someone so passionate about helping others learn and grow. 💰 SPONSORS 💰 AWS Bites is brought to you by fourTheorem. If you are looking for a partner to architect, develop and modernise on AWS, give fourTheorem a call. Check out https://fourtheorem.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: Farrah's favourite AWS Bites episode with Jeremy Daly: https://awsbites.com/102-getting-ampt-with-jeremy-daly/ Farrah on X (Twitter): https://x.com/FarrahC32 Farrah on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farrahcampbell/ Do you have any AWS questions you would like us to address? Leave a comment here or connect with us on X, formerly Twitter: - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/eoins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/loige⁠⁠⁠⁠

Discover the fascinating world of AWS Lambda's provisioned concurrency. Learn how it helps eliminate cold starts by pre-initializing execution environments. The discussion dives into configuring concurrency settings and overcoming common pitfalls like over/under-provisioning. Pricing nuances and alternative solutions, including self-warming functions and using services like ECS and Fargate, are also explored. Get ready for insights that can supercharge your AWS deployments!

In this episode, we discuss Luciano's new book project on using Rust to write AWS Lambda functions. We start with a recap on why Rust is a good fit for Lambda, including performance, efficiency, safety, and low cold start times. Luciano provides details on the book's progress so far, the intended audience, and the current published chapters covering Lambda internals, getting started with Rust Lambda, and building a URL shortener app with DynamoDB. We also explore the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing, and why Luciano chose the self-publishing route for this book. Luciano shares insights into the writing process with AsciiDoc, code samples, SVG image generation, and using Gumroad for distribution. He invites feedback from listeners who have experience with Rust and Lambda. 💰 SPONSORS 💰 AWS Bites is brought to you by fourTheorem. If you are looking for a partner to architect, develop and modernise on AWS, give fourTheorem a call. We have also been working with some of our customers to rewrite some of their most used Lambda functions in Rust, greatly reducing cost and improving performance. If all of this sounds interesting, check us out at ⁠⁠⁠https://fourtheorem.com⁠⁠⁠ In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: Our previous episode "64. How do you write Lambda Functions in Rust?": https://awsbites.com/64-how-do-you-write-lambda-functions-in-rust Crafting Lambda Functions in Rust book's website: https://rust-lambda.com/ The official Rust book (available for free): https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ James Eastham awesome YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@serverlessjames AI as a Service book: https://www.manning.com/books/ai-as-a-service Node.js Design Patterns book: https://www.nodejsdesignpatterns.com/ Liran Tal's awesome AsciiDoc book starter template: https://github.com/lirantal/asciidoc-book-starter Do you have any AWS questions you would like us to address? Leave a comment here or connect with us on X, formerly Twitter: - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/eoins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/loige⁠⁠⁠⁠

An overview of load balancers, explaining how they distribute traffic across multiple servers and provide high availability. We discuss layer 4 and layer 7 load balancers, detailing their pros and cons. We then focus on AWS load balancers, covering network load balancers and application load balancers in depth, including their features, use cases, and pricing models. We conclude by mentioning some alternatives to AWS load balancers. 💰 SPONSORS 💰 AWS Bites is brought to you by fourTheorem an AWS consulting partner with tons of experience with AWS. If you need someone to help you with your ambitions AWS projects, check out ⁠⁠https://fourtheorem.com⁠⁠ In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: Our previous episode "88. What is VPC Lattice?": https://awsbites.com/88-what-is-vpc-lattice/ Do you have any AWS questions you would like us to address? Leave a comment here or connect with us on X, formerly Twitter: - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/eoins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/loige⁠⁠⁠⁠

This podcast covers secure access to VPC resources, comparing bastion hosts and containers. They discuss setting up Fargate tasks, integrating ECS with SSM, and using SSM for remote access. The episode includes a Python script and suggestions for improvements like auto-scaling containers.

In this episode, we discuss the newly announced CloudFront Hosting Toolkit from AWS. We provide an overview of the tool, which aims to simplify deploying modern front-end applications to AWS while retaining infrastructure control. We discuss the current capabilities and limitations and share our hands-on experiences trying out the tool. We also talk about alternatives like Vercel and Amplify, and the tradeoffs between convenience VS control. Overall, the toolkit shows promise but is still early-stage. We are excited to see it evolve to support more frameworks and use cases. 💰 SPONSORS 💰 AWS Bites is brought to you by fourTheorem an AWS consulting partner with tons of experience with AWS. If you need someone to help you with your ambitions AWS projects, check out https://fourtheorem.com In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: CloudFront Hosting Toolkit official announcement: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/networking-and-content-delivery/introducing-cloudfront-hosting-toolkit/ Previous episode "80. Can you do private static websites on AWS?": https://awsbites.com/80-can-you-do-private-static-websites-on-aws/ Previous episode "3. How do you deploy a static website on AWS?": https://awsbites.com/3-how-do-you-deploy-a-static-website-on-aws/ CloudFront functions: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/cloudfront-functions.html CloudFront Key-Value Store: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/kvs-with-functions.html Sandro Volpicella's article on CloudFront Hosting Toolkit: https://blog.awsfundamentals.com/cloudfront-hosting-toolkit Open Next: https://open-next.js.org/ Coolify: https://coolify.io/ Do you have any AWS questions you would like us to address? Leave a comment here or connect with us on X, formerly Twitter: - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/eoins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/loige⁠⁠⁠⁠

Discover essential tips to enhance performance when using Amazon S3 at scale. Learn about multipart uploads and efficient file management strategies. Explore the importance of data prefixes for organizing and optimizing operations. Delve into advanced network performance optimization techniques, including transfer acceleration and the use of CloudFront. Finally, uncover how to leverage S3 select and data science tools to streamline data retrieval for analytics. These insights provide developers with practical strategies to maximize S3's capabilities.

Dive into the fascinating world of DynamoDB as it's compared to traditional relational databases. Discover when to use this NoSQL powerhouse and the intricacies of single table design. The discussion highlights the flexible schema, ideal for varied data structures, alongside the operational mechanics that drive efficiency. Learn about indexing strategies and data access patterns that can elevate your applications. Experience shared insights and personal stories that unveil the advantages and challenges of embracing a serverless architecture.

In this episode, we provide an overview of Amazon Aurora, a relational database solution on AWS. We discuss its unique capabilities like distinct storage architecture for better performance and faster recovery. We cover concepts like Aurora clusters, reader and writer instances, endpoints, and global databases. We also compare the serverless versions V1 and V2, noting that V2 is more enterprise-ready while V1 scales to zero. We touch on billing and additional features like the data API, RDS query editor, and RDS proxy. Overall, Aurora is powerful and scalable but not trivial to use at global scale. It's best for serious enterprise use cases or variable traffic workloads. 💰 SPONSORS 💰 AWS Bites is brought to you by fourTheorem. If you need someone to work with you to build the best-designed, highly available database on AWS, give us a shout. Check us out on ⁠⁠⁠⁠fourtheorem.com⁠⁠⁠⁠! In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS): https://aws.amazon.com/rds/ Amazon RDS Aurora: https://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/ RDS Aurora Serverless: https://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/serverless/ Cost calculator for cost comparison: https://calculator.aws/#/estimate?id=4f950b71be8b31438dd12c7aebc9beae3f88179e Cloudonaut podcast and blog post about Aurora Serverless V2: https://cloudonaut.io/review-aurora-serverless-v2/ Do you have any AWS questions you would like us to address? Leave a comment here or connect with us on X, formerly Twitter: - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/eoins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/loige⁠⁠⁠

Explore how to extend CloudFormation beyond its native capabilities. Discover the benefits of tools like Serverless Framework, SAM, and CDK that streamline functionality and reduce maintenance headaches. Learn the ins and outs of custom scripts and CloudFormation macros for improved automation. Dive into the intricacies of creating custom resources through Lambda and SNS while avoiding common pitfalls. The discussion offers valuable recommendations tailored for complex infrastructure needs.