Best Practices For Building Serverless Microservices

AWS Secrets Manager is a service that helps you protect secrets like API keys, database passwords, and other sensitive information. You can rotate, manage, and retrieve secrets with ease.

However, when it comes to cross-account secrets, the process can get a bit more complicated. There are many reasons why you might need to share secrets between AWS accounts. For example, you might have a development account and a production account, and you need to share secret configuration data between them. Or you might have multiple accounts for different parts of your organization, and you need to share secrets between them.

In either case, it's important to handle secrets in a way that is secure and scalable. Here are three ways to do that:

1.  Use AWS KMS to encrypt the secrets and store them in an S3 bucket. Grant access to the S3 bucket from the other account(s) as needed.

2.  Use AWS SSM to encrypt the secrets and store them inParameter Store. Grant access to the Parameter Store from the other account(s) as needed.

3.  Use a tool like Hashicorp Vault to encrypt the secrets and store them externally (outside of AWS). Then, grant access to the Vault from the other account(s) as needed.

### Challenges on those solutions

There are a number of challenges that need to be considered when using these solutions:

*   Managing cross-account secrets can be difficult and time-consuming.

*   There is the potential for secrets to be accidentally leaked.

*   There is the risk of human error when managing secrets.

*   Secrets management needs to be scalable in order to support a large number of secrets and a large number of users. - Secrets management must be able to support a variety of secrets, such as API keys, database passwords, and encryption keys.

### Conclusion

There are a few different options available to you when it comes to handling secrets in a cross-account AWS environment. Each option has its own benefits and drawbacks, so be sure to consider all of your options carefully before making a decision. Ultimately, the best way to handle secrets in a cross-account AWS environment will depend on your specific needs and preferences.


Handling AWS Cross-Account Secrets In A Scalable Way

### What is Aurora?

Aurora is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that is available on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is a fully managed service that can be used to store and query data. Aurora is compatible with the MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.

Aurora Serverless is a version of Aurora that does not require any provisioning or management. It scales automatically to meet demand and only charges for the resources that are used. Aurora Serverless is ideal for applications that have infrequent or unpredictable usage patterns.

Aurora Serverless v2 is the latest version of Aurora Serverless. It offers several new features and improvements, such as enhanced performance and scalability, higher availability, and support for multiple availability zones.

### Overview of Aurora Serverless v1

Aurora Serverless v1 is a major update to Amazon's managed relational database service that delivers the power of a traditional Aurora deployment with the added flexibility and scalability of serverless architecture.

With Aurora Serverless v1, you no longer have to provision or manage any servers. All you need to do is point your application to the desired database endpoint and Aurora Serverless will automatically spin up the necessary infrastructure on demand.

Aurora Serverless v1 also offers a pay-per-use pricing model, so you only pay for the resources your application consumes. This can help save you money on your overall AWS bill.

In addition, Aurora Serverless v1 offers a number of other new features and enhancements, such as native support for DynamoDB and Elasticsearch, improved performance, and more.

If you're looking for a managed relational database service that offers the flexibility and scalability of serverless architecture, Aurora Serverless v1 is definitely worth checking out.

### How does Aurora Serverless v2 work?

Aurora Serverless v2 is a new version of Aurora that makes it easier and cheaper to use. It works by automatically scaling up or down the number of servers that are needed to run your database, based on demand. This means that you only pay for the resources that you use, and you don't need to worry about overprovisioning or underprovisioning.

Aurora Serverless v2 is compatible with the MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. It is available in all AWS regions.

If you are using Aurora Serverless v1, you can upgrade to v2 without any changes to your database. All of your existing data will be compatible with Aurora Serverless v2.

### Is it really serverless?

Yes, Aurora Serverless is truly serverless. There are no servers to provision or manage. You simply create an Aurora Serverless database, and it will automatically start up, shut down, and scale itself based on your application's needs.

1.  Aurora Serverless is different from other relational databases because it's designed to be used in a serverless environment. That means it's much more agile and scalable than traditional databases.

2.  Aurora Serverless is also highly available and fault tolerant. It uses multiple Availability Zones (AZs) to ensure that your data is always available, even in the event of an AZ failure.

3.  Because Aurora Serverless is fully managed by AWS, you don't need to worry about patching, backing up, or managing the underlying infrastructure. AWS takes care of all of that for you.

Overall, Aurora Serverless is an incredibly powerful and easy-to-use relational database that is designed specifically for serverless environments. If you're looking for a scalable, highly available, and fully managed database solution, Aurora Serverless is a great option.

### Key advantages of Aurora Serverlessv2 over other database solutions

Aurora Serverless v2 is a new generation of the Aurora database that offers all the benefits of serverless computing. Here are some of the key advantages of Aurora Serverless v2:

1.  Increased Scalability: With Aurora Serverless v2, you can scale up or down based on your needs, without having to provision or manage any servers. This makes it perfect for applications that experience spikes in traffic.

2.  Lower Costs: Since you only pay for what you use with Aurora Serverless v2, you can save money compared to other database solutions that require fixed monthly fees.

3.  No Downtime: With Aurora Serverless v2, there are no worries about planned maintenance or unexpected downtime. Your database will always be available when you need it.

4.  Improved Performance: Aurora Serverless v2 is designed to offer improved performance over other database solutions. In particular, it offers up to five times better performance for MySQL workloads.

5.  Better Security: Aurora Serverless v2 uses the same security features as the standard version of Aurora, so you can be sure your data is safe and secure.

### Drawbacks of Aurora Serverlessv2

One of the key drawbacks of Aurora Serverless v2 is that it lacks the ability to auto-scale. This means that if your workloads fluctuate, you will need to manually adjust the capacity of your database.

Another drawback is that Aurora Serverless v2 is only compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. This means that if you are using another type of database, you will not be able to use Aurora Serverless v2.

Finally, Aurora Serverless v2 is more expensive than other cloud-based solutions. This is because you are paying for the resources that you use, rather than a fixed monthly fee.

Despite these drawbacks, Aurora Serverless v2 is still a great option for many businesses. It offers a high degree of flexibility and can be a cost-effective way to scale your database needs.

### Conclusion

Aurora Serverless v2 is a cloud-native relational database that is highly scalable and available. It is offered as a managed service, which means that you don't have to worry about patching, upgrading, or backing up your data. This makes it an ideal choice for businesses that want to focus on their applications and leave the database management to someone else. Additionally, Aurora Serverless v2 offers some unique features that make it different from other relational databases, like its ability to autoscale based on workloads and its built-in monitoring and performance optimization tools. If you're looking for a powerful yet easy-to-use relational database, Aurora Serverless v2 is definitely worth checking out.


What Is Aurora Serverless v2, And What Makes It So Different?

Load balancers are a crucial component for every application. They help distribute traffic, keep your resources running, and scale automatically when needed. In this article we will look at two AWS load balancers to help you make an informed decision on which one is best suited for your needs.

#### What are AWS Load Balancers?

AWS Load Balancers are a vital part of any AWS-based infrastructure. They allow you to distribute incoming traffic across multiple Amazon sources, making your applications more fault-tolerant and scalable. There are two types of load balancers: Application Load Balancers (ALBs) and Network Load Balancers (NLBs).

#### What is an Application Load Balancer?

An Application Load Balancer is a Layer 7 load balancer that routes traffic to your applications based on advanced application-level routing criteria. ALBs provide features like path-based routing and host-based routing, and can also support containerized applications via AWS Lambda.

#### What is a Network Load Balancer?

A Network Load Balancer is a Layer 4 load balancer that routes traffic to your applications based on network-level routing criteria. NLBs are ideal for handling high levels of traffic, and can scale to millions of requests per second.

#### What is a target group?

A target group is a collection of targets, which are the resources that you route traffic to. For example, EC2 instances, Lambda functions, and IP addresses. You can even configure a Application Load Balancer-type Target Group for Network Load Balancers.

![](/images/ALB-as-a-target-of-NLB-detailed-architecture-diagram.png)

#### Which one should I choose?

Application Load Balancers (ALBs) are best suited for load balancing HTTP and HTTPS traffic. They operate at the application layer (Layer 7), which means they can route traffic based on advanced application-level criteria, such as the content of the request. This makes ALBs ideal for applications that require complex routing, such as microservices or container-based applications.

Network Load Balancers (NLBs) are best suited for load balancing TCP traffic. They operate at the network layer (Layer 4), which means they can route traffic based on basic network criteria, such as IP address and port number. This makes NLBs ideal for applications that don't require advanced routing, such as traditional web applications.

Both ALBs and NLBs are highly available and scalable, so you can be confident that your application will

#### Conclusion

In conclusion, both ALB and NLB are great choices for load balancing on AWS. They each have their own pros and cons, so it really depends on your specific needs as to which one is the best fit. If you need more control over the traffic routing and how the load is distributed, then ALB is probably a better choice. However, if you want a simpler solution that is easier to set up and manage, then NLB might be a better option.


Blog

Best Practices For Building Serverless Microservices

Handling AWS Cross-Account Secrets In A Scalable Way

What Is Aurora Serverless v2, And What Makes It So Different?

AWS Load Balancing: ALB vs. NLB