This section of the Solution Architect Associate learning path introduces you to the core networking concepts and services relevant to the SAA-C03 exam. We start with an introduction to the AWS Virtual Private Network (VPC) and networking services. We then understand the options available and learn how to select and apply AWS networking services to meet specific design scenarios relevant to the Solution Architect Associate exam.
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Learning Objectives
- Get a foundational understanding of VPCs, their security, and connectivity
- Understand the basics of networking including Elastic IP addresses, Elastic Network Interfaces, networking with EC2, VPC endpoints, and AWS Global Accelerator
- Learn about the DNS and content delivery services Amazon Route 53 and Amazon CloudFront
Amazon Route 53 health checks are independent resources that can be used by most routing policies when defining a record. When you create a health check, Route 53 sends requests to the endpoint every 30 seconds, and based on the responses, Route 53 decides if the endpoint is Healthy or UnHealthy and uses that information to determine what value to provide as an answer to the query.
You can also configure a health check for other “health checks” allowing you to independently verify different tiers of your application before the actual total application is considered healthy. Amazon Route 53 adds up the number of health checks considered healthy and compares that number to the health threshold value you specify.
With Route 53 health checks you can also monitor the state of a cloud watch alarm. The health check status is healthy when the alarm is in the OK state. The health check status is unhealthy when the alarm status is in the ALARM state. You can also choose what the health check status is when the alarm is in the INSUFFICIENT state. The options are healthy, unhealthy or “last known status”.
When Route 53 receives a query it chooses a record based on the routing policy, it then determines the current health of the selected record by checking the status of the health check for that record and responds to the query with the value of a healthy record. Unhealthy records are not considered. If you do not associate a health check with a record, Route 53 treats those records as always healthy.
The health check is performed by a fleet of health checkers located worldwide. You can use the list of recommended health checkers by region or customize the list to the regions specific to your business. Health checks are performed every 30 seconds unless you specify every 10 seconds.
Endpoint health checks can be specified by IP address or by domain name. The health check protocol can be TCP, HTTP, or HTTPS. For the HTTP-related protocols, you can use an optional string matching where you indicate that Route 53 is to search the response body for the string specified. Route 53 considers the endpoint healthy only if the string specified appears entirely within the first 5120 bytes of the response body.
Finally, for all health checks, you can choose to get notified when it fails.
Stuart has been working within the IT industry for two decades covering a huge range of topic areas and technologies, from data center and network infrastructure design, to cloud architecture and implementation.
To date, Stuart has created 150+ courses relating to Cloud reaching over 180,000 students, mostly within the AWS category and with a heavy focus on security and compliance.
Stuart is a member of the AWS Community Builders Program for his contributions towards AWS.
He is AWS certified and accredited in addition to being a published author covering topics across the AWS landscape.
In January 2016 Stuart was awarded ‘Expert of the Year Award 2015’ from Experts Exchange for his knowledge share within cloud services to the community.
Stuart enjoys writing about cloud technologies and you will find many of his articles within our blog pages.