aws-cloud

What this skill does

# AWS Cloud

## Core Capabilities

Provides expert guidance for AWS infrastructure and services:

1. **Compute Services** - EC2, Lambda, ECS, EKS, Fargate, Batch, Elastic Beanstalk
2. **Storage Services** - S3, EBS, EFS, FSx, Glacier, Storage Gateway
3. **Database Services** - RDS (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server), Aurora, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, DocumentDB
4. **Networking** - VPC, ALB/NLB, Route 53, CloudFront, Direct Connect, VPN, Transit Gateway
5. **Container Services** - ECS (Elastic Container Service), EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service), ECR (Elastic Container Registry)
6. **Serverless** - Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, EventBridge, SQS, SNS
7. **Infrastructure as Code** - CloudFormation, Terraform, CDK (Cloud Development Kit), SAM
8. **Security** - IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager, Security Hub, GuardDuty, WAF, Shield
9. **Migration** - Cloud migration strategies from on-premise, GCP, Azure to AWS

## Key Principles

## General Best Practices

- **Follow least privilege** - Use IAM roles with minimal required permissions
- **Enable monitoring** - Configure CloudWatch for all services with appropriate alarms
- **Use managed services** - Prefer RDS over self-managed databases, ECS Fargate over EC2
- **Implement IaC** - Use CloudFormation, Terraform, or CDK for reproducible infrastructure
- **Tag resources** - Apply tags for cost allocation, automation, and compliance
- **Design for HA** - Use Multi-AZ deployments and Auto Scaling Groups
- **Secure by default** - Enable encryption, use private subnets, configure security groups properly
- **Optimize costs** - Use Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, Spot Instances, and right-sizing

### Architecture Patterns

- **Multi-tier web apps**: VPC + ALB + EC2/ECS + RDS Multi-AZ
- **Serverless APIs**: API Gateway + Lambda + DynamoDB with CloudFront caching
- **Container workloads**: ECS/EKS with Fargate + RDS + ElastiCache
- **Data processing**: S3 + Lambda/Glue + Athena/EMR + QuickSight
- **Microservices**: EKS + Service Mesh + RDS Aurora + ElastiCache

### When to Use What

- **EC2**: Full control, Windows workloads, lift-and-shift migrations, specialized hardware
- **Lambda**: Event-driven processing, APIs, scheduled tasks, short-lived workloads (<15 min)
- **ECS/EKS**: Containerized applications, microservices, long-running services
- **RDS**: Relational databases with automated backups, Multi-AZ, read replicas
- **Aurora**: High-performance MySQL/PostgreSQL, serverless option, global databases
- **DynamoDB**: NoSQL, single-digit millisecond latency, serverless, automatic scaling
- **S3**: Object storage, static websites, data lakes, backups, archival
- **Elastic Beanstalk**: Quick deployment, managed platform, minimal configuration

## Detailed References

Load reference files based on specific needs:

- **Best Practices by Service**: See [best-practices.md](references/best-practices.md) for:
  - EC2 instance selection, security, HA, performance, and cost optimization
  - S3 security, encryption, data management, performance, and cost strategies
  - RDS and Aurora HA, security, performance tuning, and cost optimization
  - VPC networking, security groups, NACLs, load balancing, and DNS
  - Lambda function design, performance, security, reliability, and cost
  - ECS/EKS container orchestration and security
  - IAM access control, credential management, and compliance
  - Security threat detection, data protection, and compliance
  - Comprehensive cost optimization strategies across all services

- **Compute Services**: See [compute-services.md](references/compute-services.md) for:
  - EC2 instance types, families, and selection guide
  - Auto Scaling Groups configuration and policies
  - Lambda function patterns and event sources
  - Elastic Beanstalk deployment strategies
  - AWS Batch job scheduling and compute environments

- **Storage Solutions**: See [storage-solutions.md](references/storage-solutions.md) for:
  - S3 bucket configuration and lifecycle management
  - EBS volume types and performance optimization
  - EFS file system setup and mounting
  - FSx for Windows and Lustre use cases
  - Storage tier selection and cost optimization

- **Database Services**: See [database-services.md](references/database-services.md) for:
  - RDS instance configuration and best practices
  - Aurora serverless and global database setup
  - DynamoDB data modeling and performance optimization
  - ElastiCache (Redis/Memcached) patterns
  - Database migration strategies with DMS

- **Networking Architecture**: See [networking-architecture.md](references/networking-architecture.md) for:
  - VPC design patterns and CIDR planning
  - ALB/NLB configuration and target group management
  - Route 53 DNS routing policies
  - CloudFront distribution setup and caching strategies
  - Direct Connect and VPN Gateway configuration
  - Transit Gateway hub-and-spoke architecture

- **Container Orchestration**: See [container-orchestration.md](references/container-orchestration.md) for:
  - ECS cluster setup and task definition patterns
  - EKS cluster provisioning with eksctl/Terraform
  - Fargate vs EC2 launch type decision guide
  - ECR repository management and image lifecycle
  - Service mesh with AWS App Mesh

- **Serverless Architecture**: See [serverless-architecture.md](references/serverless-architecture.md) for:
  - Lambda function design patterns and best practices
  - API Gateway REST/HTTP/WebSocket APIs
  - Step Functions state machine workflows
  - EventBridge event-driven architectures
  - SQS/SNS messaging patterns
  - SAM and Serverless Framework usage

- **Infrastructure as Code**: See [infrastructure-as-code.md](references/infrastructure-as-code.md) for:
  - CloudFormation templates and stack management
  - Terraform AWS provider modules and patterns
  - CDK (Cloud Development Kit) constructs and stacks
  - SAM templates for serverless applications
  - Multi-environment deployment strategies
  - State management and remote backends

- **Cloud Migration**: See [cloud-migration.md](references/cloud-migration.md) for:
  - Migration strategies (6 R's: Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, Repurchase, Retire, Retain)
  - AWS Migration Hub and Application Discovery Service
  - Database migration with DMS (Database Migration Service)
  - Server migration with AWS MGN (Application Migration Service)
  - Data transfer with DataSync, Transfer Family, Snowball
  - Migration readiness assessment and planning

- **Security Configuration**: See [security-configuration.md](references/security-configuration.md) for:
  - IAM policy examples and best practices
  - KMS key management and encryption patterns
  - Secrets Manager integration patterns
  - Security group and NACL rule templates
  - CloudTrail multi-region setup
  - GuardDuty and Security Hub configuration
  - WAF rules and Shield Advanced setup
  - Compliance frameworks (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2)

- **Monitoring and Operations**: See [monitoring-operations.md](references/monitoring-operations.md) for:
  - CloudWatch metrics, logs, and alarms
  - CloudWatch Insights queries for log analysis
  - X-Ray distributed tracing setup
  - EventBridge rules for event-driven automation
  - Systems Manager for fleet management
  - AWS Backup for centralized backup management
  - Disaster recovery strategies

- **Cost Management**: See [cost-management.md](references/cost-management.md) for:
  - Cost allocation tagging strategies
  - Reserved Instance and Savings Plan planning
  - Spot Instance strategies and best practices
  - Cost Explorer reports and analysis
  - AWS Budgets and anomaly detection
  - Trusted Advisor recommendations
  - FinOps best practices for cloud financial management

- **Well-Architected Framework**: See [well-architected.md](references/well-architected.md) for:
  - Operational Excellence pillar best practices
  - Security pillar implementation guide
  - Reliability pillar design patterns
  - Performance Efficiency optimization techniques
  - Cost Optimization stra