AWS Solution Architect

Design scalable, cost-effective AWS architectures for startups with infrastructure-as-code templates.

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Workflow

Step 1: Gather Requirements

Collect application specifications:

- Application type (web app, mobile backend, data pipeline, SaaS)
Expected users and requests per second
Budget constraints (monthly spend limit)
Team size and AWS experience level
Compliance requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2)
Availability requirements (SLA, RPO/RTO)

Step 2: Design Architecture

Run the architecture designer to get pattern recommendations:

python scripts/architecture_designer.py --input requirements.json

Example output:

{
  "recommended_pattern": "serverless_web",
  "service_stack": ["S3", "CloudFront", "API Gateway", "Lambda", "DynamoDB", "Cognito"],
  "estimated_monthly_cost_usd": 35,
  "pros": ["Low ops overhead", "Pay-per-use", "Auto-scaling"],
  "cons": ["Cold starts", "15-min Lambda limit", "Eventual consistency"]
}

Select from recommended patterns:

• Serverless Web: S3 + CloudFront + API Gateway + Lambda + DynamoDB
• Event-Driven Microservices: EventBridge + Lambda + SQS + Step Functions
• Three-Tier: ALB + ECS Fargate + Aurora + ElastiCache
• GraphQL Backend: AppSync + Lambda + DynamoDB + Cognito

See references/architecture_patterns.md for detailed pattern specifications.

Validation checkpoint: Confirm the recommended pattern matches the team's operational maturity and compliance requirements before proceeding to Step 3.

Step 3: Generate IaC Templates

Create infrastructure-as-code for the selected pattern:

# Serverless stack (CloudFormation)
python scripts/serverless_stack.py --app-name my-app --region us-east-1

Example CloudFormation YAML output (core serverless resources):

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Transform: AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31

Parameters:
  AppName:
    Type: String
    Default: my-app

Resources:
  ApiFunction:
    Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
    Properties:
      Handler: index.handler
      Runtime: nodejs20.x
      MemorySize: 512
      Timeout: 30
      Environment:
        Variables:
          TABLE_NAME: !Ref DataTable
      Policies:
        - DynamoDBCrudPolicy:
            TableName: !Ref DataTable
      Events:
        ApiEvent:
          Type: Api
          Properties:
            Path: /{proxy+}
            Method: ANY

  DataTable:
    Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
    Properties:
      BillingMode: PAY_PER_REQUEST
      AttributeDefinitions:
        - AttributeName: pk
          AttributeType: S
        - AttributeName: sk
          AttributeType: S
      KeySchema:
        - AttributeName: pk
          KeyType: HASH
        - AttributeName: sk
          KeyType: RANGE

> Full templates including API Gateway, Cognito, IAM roles, and CloudWatch logging are generated by serverless_stack.py and also available in references/architecture_patterns.md.

Example CDK TypeScript snippet (three-tier pattern):

import * as ecs from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ecs';
import * as ec2 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ec2';
import * as rds from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-rds';

const vpc = new ec2.Vpc(this, 'AppVpc', { maxAzs: 2 });

const cluster = new ecs.Cluster(this, 'AppCluster', { vpc });

const db = new rds.ServerlessCluster(this, 'AppDb', {
  engine: rds.DatabaseClusterEngine.auroraPostgres({
    version: rds.AuroraPostgresEngineVersion.VER_15_2,
  }),
  vpc,
  scaling: { minCapacity: 0.5, maxCapacity: 4 },
});

Step 4: Review Costs

Analyze estimated costs and optimization opportunities:

python scripts/cost_optimizer.py --resources current_setup.json --monthly-spend 2000

Example output:

{
  "current_monthly_usd": 2000,
  "recommendations": [
    { "action": "Right-size RDS db.r5.2xlarge → db.r5.large", "savings_usd": 420, "priority": "high" },
    { "action": "Purchase 1-yr Compute Savings Plan at 40% utilization", "savings_usd": 310, "priority": "high" },
    { "action": "Move S3 objects >90 days to Glacier Instant Retrieval", "savings_usd": 85, "priority": "medium" }
  ],
  "total_potential_savings_usd": 815
}

Output includes:

• Monthly cost breakdown by service
• Right-sizing recommendations
• Savings Plans opportunities
• Potential monthly savings

Step 5: Deploy

Deploy the generated infrastructure:

# CloudFormation
aws cloudformation create-stack \
  --stack-name my-app-stack \
  --template-body file://template.yaml \
  --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM

CDK
cdk deploy

Terraform
terraform init && terraform apply

Step 6: Validate and Handle Failures

Verify deployment and set up monitoring:

# Check stack status
aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name my-app-stack

Set up CloudWatch alarms
aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name high-errors ...

If stack creation fails:

• Check the failure reason:

aws cloudformation describe-stack-events \

     --stack-name my-app-stack \
     --query 'StackEvents[?ResourceStatus==CREATE_FAILED]'

• Review CloudWatch Logs for Lambda or ECS errors.
• Fix the template or resource configuration.
• Delete the failed stack before retrying:

aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name my-app-stack

   # Wait for deletion
   aws cloudformation wait stack-delete-complete --stack-name my-app-stack
   # Redeploy
   aws cloudformation create-stack ...

Common failure causes:

• IAM permission errors → verify --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM and role trust policies
• Resource limit exceeded → request quota increase via Service Quotas console
• Invalid template syntax → run aws cloudformation validate-template --template-body file://template.yaml before deploying

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Tools

architecture_designer.py

Generates architecture patterns based on requirements.

python scripts/architecture_designer.py --input requirements.json --output design.json

Input: JSON with app type, scale, budget, compliance needs

Output: Recommended pattern, service stack, cost estimate, pros/cons

serverless_stack.py

Creates serverless CloudFormation templates.

python scripts/serverless_stack.py --app-name my-app --region us-east-1

Output: Production-ready CloudFormation YAML with:

• API Gateway + Lambda
• DynamoDB table
• Cognito user pool
• IAM roles with least privilege
• CloudWatch logging

cost_optimizer.py

Analyzes costs and recommends optimizations.

python scripts/cost_optimizer.py --resources inventory.json --monthly-spend 5000

Output: Recommendations for:

• Idle resource removal
• Instance right-sizing
• Reserved capacity purchases
• Storage tier transitions
• NAT Gateway alternatives

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Quick Start

MVP Architecture (< $100/month)

Ask: "Design a serverless MVP backend for a mobile app with 1000 users"

Result:
Lambda + API Gateway for API
DynamoDB pay-per-request for data
Cognito for authentication
S3 + CloudFront for static assets
Estimated: $20-50/month

Scaling Architecture ($500-2000/month)

Ask: "Design a scalable architecture for a SaaS platform with 50k users"

Result:
ECS Fargate for containerized API
Aurora Serverless for relational data
ElastiCache for session caching
CloudFront for CDN
CodePipeline for CI/CD
Multi-AZ deployment

Cost Optimization

Ask: "Optimize my AWS setup to reduce costs by 30%. Current spend: $3000/month"

Provide: Current resource inventory (EC2, RDS, S3, etc.)

Result:
Idle resource identification
Right-sizing recommendations
Savings Plans analysis
Storage lifecycle policies
Target savings: $900/month

IaC Generation

Ask: "Generate CloudFormation for a three-tier web app with auto-scaling"

Result:
VPC with public/private subnets
ALB with HTTPS
ECS Fargate with auto-scaling
Aurora with read replicas
Security groups and IAM roles

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Input Requirements

Provide these details for architecture design:

| Requirement | Description | Example |

|-------------|-------------|---------|

| Application type | What you're building | SaaS platform, mobile backend |

| Expected scale | Users, requests/sec | 10k users, 100 RPS |

| Budget | Monthly AWS limit | $500/month max |

| Team context | Size, AWS experience | 3 devs, intermediate |

| Compliance | Regulatory needs | HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 |

| Availability | Uptime requirements | 99.9% SLA, 1hr RPO |

JSON Format:

{
  "application_type": "saas_platform",
  "expected_users": 10000,
  "requests_per_second": 100,
  "budget_monthly_usd": 500,
  "team_size": 3,
  "aws_experience": "intermediate",
  "compliance": ["SOC2"],
  "availability_sla": "99.9%"
}

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Output Formats

Architecture Design

• Pattern recommendation with rationale
• Service stack diagram (ASCII)
• Monthly cost estimate and trade-offs

IaC Templates

• CloudFormation YAML: Production-ready SAM/CFN templates
• CDK TypeScript: Type-safe infrastructure code
• Terraform HCL: Multi-cloud compatible configs

Cost Analysis

• Current spend breakdown with optimization recommendations
• Priority action list (high/medium/low) and implementation checklist

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Reference Documentation

| Document | Contents |

|----------|----------|

| references/architecture_patterns.md | 6 patterns: serverless, microservices, three-tier, data processing, GraphQL, multi-region |

| references/service_selection.md | Decision matrices for compute, database, storage, messaging |

| references/best_practices.md | Serverless design, cost optimization, security hardening, scalability |