ECS FinHacks: Scaling Microservices with AWS ECS Fargate and RDS

If you've ever struggled with questions like:

• How do I securely deploy my containerized application on AWS?
• How do I integrate ECS, Fargate, PostgreSQL, and AWS security services?
• How can I ensure high availability while keeping costs under control?

Then this blog is for you.

In this blog post, we will explore how to deploy a Node Js Microservice in AWS ECS Fargate with connectivity to Amazon RDS (PostgreSQL). This architecture ensures high availability, security, and scalability while leveraging fully managed AWS services.

Git Link: https://github.com/ravindrasinghh/ECS-FinHacks-Scaling-Microservices-with-AWS-ECS-Fargate-and-RDS

Why Use AWS ECS?

• Fully Managed: Eliminates the need to manage EC2 instances.
• Scalability: Supports automatic scaling based on demand.
• Security: Integrates with AWS IAM, Security Groups, and VPC.
• Cost Efficiency: Pay only for the resources used.
• Integration: Works seamlessly with AWS services like RDS, S3, and CloudWatch.

Advanced Architecture Benefits:

1. ECS Circuit Breaker
2. ECS Capacity Provider(ECS Fargate SPOT + ECS Fargate)
3. VPC Endpoint
4. Route 53 Health check
5. AWS Config

1. Architecture Overview
The architecture follows AWS best practices by leveraging containerized workloads on ECS (Fargate), a multi-AZ database layer (PostgreSQL), and various AWS security and monitoring services.

• ECS Fargate: Fully managed container orchestration.
• Amazon RDS (PostgreSQL): Managed relational database service.
• AWS ALB (Application Load Balancer): Distributes traffic among ECS tasks.
• AWS Secrets Manager: Stores database credentials securely.
• AWS CloudWatch: Monitors logs and metrics.
• AWS Route 53: Domain Name System (DNS) for routing traffic.
• AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall): Protects against common web threats. AWS Config: Tracks and records AWS configuration changes.
• AWS CloudTrail: Logs all API requests for auditing.
• AWS CloudWatch Alarms: Triggers notifications based on metrics.
• VPC Endpoint: Enables secure, private connectivity to AWS services.
• KMS (Key Management Service): Encrypts data at rest and in transit.
• ENI (Elastic Network Interface): Provides network connectivity for ECS tasks.
• Health Check & Route 53 Health Check: Ensures high availability by monitoring service health.

2. Step-by-Step Breakdown of the AWS Architecture
Let's dive deeper into how each AWS service fits into the architecture.

2.1 Networking & Security
VPC (Virtual Private Cloud):

• A private and secure network for hosting all resources. Contains public and private subnets for better isolation.

AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall):

• Protects against common attacks like SQL injection and XSS.

AWS GuardDuty:

• Detects and alerts on security threats.

AWS KMS (Key Management Service):

• Encrypts sensitive data, database records, and API secrets.

2.2 Load Balancing & Traffic Routing
Amazon Route 53:

• Provides global DNS resolution and failover routing.

Application Load Balancer (ALB):

• Distributes traffic to ECS containers.
• Performs health checks and ensures high availability.

2.3 Compute & Containers
Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service):

• Manages containerized workloads with Fargate & Spot instances.

Fargate (On-demand & Spot):

• Serverless compute for containers, reducing management overhead. Spot pricing optimizes costs by using spare AWS capacity.

Task Definitions & IAM Roles:

• Defines how containers run within ECS.
• IAM Roles ensure secure communication between services.

2.4 Database Layer
Amazon RDS (PostgreSQL Multi-AZ):

• High availability using a Master-Replica setup.
• KMS encryption ensures data security.

2.5 Monitoring & Logging
Amazon CloudWatch:

• Logs container performance, database health, and API requests. AWS Config & CloudTrail:
• Tracks infrastructure changes and compliance.

3. Scalability & High Availability
This architecture ensures scalability at multiple levels:
✅ ECS Auto-scaling: Dynamically adjusts the number of running containers based on load.
✅ Database Auto-scaling: Supports read replicas for handling increased query loads.
✅ Multi-AZ Deployment: Ensures uptime even if one availability zone fails.
✅ ALB Health Checks: Automatically reroutes traffic in case of failure.
This combination allows applications to handle traffic spikes without downtime.

4. Security Best Practices
Security is a top priority, and this architecture follows best practices:
🔐 IAM Roles & Policies: Grant the least privilege access to services.
🔐 WAF & GuardDuty: Blocks malicious requests and detects threats.
🔐 KMS Encryption: Protects database and sensitive data.
🔐 Secrets Manager: Manages database credentials securely.
By implementing these security layers, the architecture remains resilient against cyber threats.

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5. Cost Optimisation Strategies
AWS provides multiple ways to reduce costs while maintaining performance.
💰 Fargate Spot: Uses AWS's spare capacity for containerized workloads, reducing costs by up to 70%.
💰 Reserved Instances for PostgreSQL: Locks in lower pricing for predictable workloads.
💰 Auto-scaling Policies: Ensures you only pay for what you use.
💰 EFS Infrequent Access Storage: Saves money on unused storage.
By leveraging these strategies, you can run a cost-efficient architecture without sacrificing performance.

6. Troubleshooting Tips
👉🏻 To resolve below error.

If you are using a VPC endpoint for ECR, please enable private DNS in the VPC endpoint.

1. Use the following command to create the ECR repositories.

aws ecr create-repository --repository-name nodejs-api --endpoint-url https://api.ecr.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com

👉🏻 endpoint url will get from https://api.ecr.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com

Navigate to VPC Endpoints and select the API URL.

👉🏻 Amazon ECS tasks hosted on Fargate using platform version 1.4.0 or later require both Amazon ECR VPC endpoints and the Amazon S3 gateway endpoints.

7. Conclusion
Building a scalable, secure, and cost-effective AWS architecture doesn't have to be complicated. By integrating ECS, Fargate, PostgreSQL, and AWS security services, you can:
✅ Achieve high availability and fault tolerance
✅ Protect your workloads with advanced security measures
✅ Optimize cloud costs using AWS best practices
This architecture provides a blueprint for running production-grade applications in AWS. Whether you're scaling a startup or managing enterprise workloads, these principles will help you build a robust cloud infrastructure.

Reference: 
If you prefer a video tutorial to help guide you through the setup of Scaling Microservices with AWS ECS Fargate and RDS