In modern cloud engineering, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is no longer optional—it’s essential. As someone working in the cloud space, I’ve seen how manual resource provisioning can slow down deployment cycles and increase the risk of human error. This project demonstrates how I used AWS CloudFormation to deploy a dynamic website with a fully automated, scalable, and secure infrastructure.
Project Overview
The goal of this project was to deploy a dynamic website backed by a database, with a setup capable of automatically scaling based on traffic demand. Using CloudFormation, I automated the creation of all essential AWS resources:
VPC & Subnets – for secure and isolated networking
NAT Gateway – enabling private subnets to access the internet
RDS Instance from Snapshot – ensuring continuity of database data
Application Load Balancer (ALB) – distributing traffic across EC2 instances
Auto Scaling Group (ASG) – managing dynamic application scaling
Route 53 – handling DNS resolution for custom domains
By treating infrastructure as code, every deployment is repeatable, versioned, and easy to maintain.
Project Structure
The project is organized into multiple CloudFormation YAML templates, each handling a specific aspect of the infrastructure:
Template Purpose
vpc.yaml Defines VPC, subnets, internet gateway, and route tables
nat-gateway.yaml Configures NAT Gateway and private subnet routing
rds-snapshot.yaml Restores an RDS instance from a database snapshot
alb.yaml Sets up an Application Load Balancer and target groups
asg.yaml Creates an Auto Scaling Group with scaling policies
route-53.yaml Configures Route 53 DNS records for the domain
Deployment Steps
- Prepare the Templates Ensure all parameters are correctly defined in the YAML files, including: Instance types VPC and subnet IDs Database credentials ALB and target group configurations
- Deploy the Stacks Using the AWS Management Console: Navigate to CloudFormation → Create Stack → Upload template. Deploy each stack in sequence: vpc.yaml nat-gateway.yaml rds-snapshot.yaml alb.yaml asg.yaml route-53.yaml Monitor stack creation; each stack may take several minutes.
- Access and Test Retrieve the ALB URL from the console. Open the URL in your browser to test the website. Monitor the ASG to see automatic scaling in response to traffic.
- Logging & Monitoring CloudWatch is configured to monitor the application health and performance metrics, providing visibility and alerting for potential issues. Key Components in Detail VPC and Networking vpc.yaml creates a secure, isolated network, with public and private subnets, routing tables, and an Internet Gateway. This foundation ensures network traffic is correctly segmented and secured. NAT Gateway The NAT Gateway allows private instances to access the internet for updates or external API calls while keeping them shielded from direct inbound traffic. RDS from Snapshot Using rds-snapshot.yaml, I restored a database from a snapshot. This ensures data persistence and allows the environment to replicate production-like conditions. Load Balancer & Auto Scaling The ALB distributes traffic to EC2 instances in the ASG. The Auto Scaling Group automatically adjusts instance counts based on load, ensuring high availability and cost efficiency. Route 53 DNS Finally, route-53.yaml allows the website to be accessed via a custom domain, routing users to the ALB efficiently. Lessons Learned CloudFormation enables full automation of complex infrastructure setups. IaC allows repeatable and predictable deployments—essential for production-grade environments. Monitoring and logging with CloudWatch are critical for scaling and health management. Conclusion This project reinforced why CloudFormation is a core tool for DevOps and cloud engineers. By automating infrastructure provisioning, I was able to focus on optimizing performance, security, and scalability instead of manual setup. For engineers looking to advance their AWS skills, mastering CloudFormation is a major step toward professional-grade IaC deployment.
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