Worklog Week 9

Week 9 Objectives

  • Complete transition to AWS SAM (Serverless Application Model) development framework.
  • Refactor and re-implement CRUD functionalities following SAM architecture patterns.
  • Resolve environment-related issues to achieve successful deployment status on AWS.
  • Integrate Docker for standardized build environment and dependency management.
  • Workshop: ECS & Container Setup - Deploy containerized Frontend and Backend services.

Tasks Completed This Week

DayTaskStart DateCompletion DateResources
Monday- In-depth research on AWS SAM: Understand template.yaml structure, SAM CLI commands, and how Serverless resources (Lambda, API Gateway) operate within SAM model.
- Plan detailed migration strategy: Convert existing Lambda functions to SAM-compatible structure.
- Study SAM local testing capabilities (sam local invoke, sam local start-api).		04/11/202404/11/2024AWS SAM Documentation, AWS Study Group
Tuesday- Source Code Refactoring: Rewrite CRUD functionalities (Create/Read operations) using SAM patterns (Lambda handlers and API Gateway events).
- Docker Integration: Install and configure Docker to ensure consistent Python runtime environment for sam build process.
- Create Dockerfile for Lambda layer dependencies.
- Workshop Activity: Create ECR repositories for Frontend (Next.js) and Backend (Spring Boot) container images.		05/11/202406/11/2024Docker Documentation, SAM CLI, Workshop 5.4
Wednesday- Local Debugging and Testing: Execute sam local invoke to test individual Lambda functions.
- Encountered critical issues in Local environment: Dependency conflicts, Python version mismatches, DynamoDB local connection problems.
- Attempt to resolve local testing barriers through configuration adjustments.		06/11/202407/11/2024SAM CLI Error Reports, Stack Overflow
Thursday- Strategic Decision: Backend Team decided to adopt deploy-then-test strategy on actual AWS environment to overcome local debugging limitations, accepting calculated risk.
- Focus on fixing configuration errors in template.yaml (resource definitions, IAM permissions, environment variables).
- Validate SAM template syntax and resource dependencies.		07/11/202408/11/2024CloudFormation Template Validator
Friday- Successful Deployment: Executed sam deploy --guided and successfully deployed project to AWS environment.
- Basic Verification: Tested created API endpoints using Postman/curl, confirming CRUD functionality is operational.
- Document deployment process and configuration for team reference.
- Workshop Activity: Build and push Docker images to ECR, create ECS Task Definitions and deploy ECS Services with Fargate.		08/11/202408/11/2024AWS CloudFormation Deployment Logs, Workshop 5.4

Week 9 Achievements

  • Completed technology transition to AWS SAM development model for entire project.
  • Successfully refactored CRUD functionalities into SAM Serverless structure with proper handler organization.
  • Resolved environment issues by using Docker to ensure sam build process uses correct Python version and dependencies.
  • Achieved critical milestone: Successfully deployed project to AWS environment, overcoming local debugging hurdles.
  • The Bandup IELTS project now has working API version on real Cloud environment (though deeper testing still required).
  • Established deployment workflow and best practices for team collaboration.
  • Created comprehensive template.yaml with proper resource definitions and IAM permissions.

Workshop Progress - ECS & Container Setup:

  • Created ECR repositories for Frontend (Next.js) and Backend (Spring Boot) container images
  • Built and pushed Docker images to ECR with proper tagging strategy
  • Created ECS Task Definitions with CPU/memory specifications (Frontend: 512 CPU/1024MB, Backend: 1024 CPU/2048MB)
  • Set up ECS Cluster with Fargate capacity providers
  • Deployed ECS Services in active-passive Multi-AZ pattern (2 replicas active, 1 standby)
  • Configured Service Connect for internal service discovery between Frontend and Backend
  • Implemented health checks for automatic task recovery

Key Takeaways:

  • SAM simplifies serverless application development with infrastructure as code
  • Docker ensures consistent build environments across different development machines
  • Deploy-then-test strategy can be viable when local testing is problematic
  • SAM templates provide single source of truth for serverless infrastructure
  • Proper IAM permissions in SAM templates are critical for Lambda function execution
  • ECS Fargate eliminates server management overhead for containerized applications
  • Multi-AZ deployment ensures high availability for container services
  • Service Connect simplifies internal service communication without load balancers