AWS re:Invent 2014

SaaS architectures can be deployed onto AWS in a number of ways, and each optimizes for different factors from security to cost optimization. Come learn more about common deployment models used on AWS for SaaS architectures and how each of those models are tuned for customer specific needs. We will also review options and tradeoffs for common SaaS architectures, including cost optimization, resource optimization, performance optimization, and security and data isolation.

In the past, academic institutions and departments-primarily those focused on computer science, information systems, or other technology instruction-have made significant use of on-premises servers for labs, projects, and research efforts. Many of these institutions are now migrating from their on-premises environments to the cloud. They are providing computational support for coursework and back-end support for capstone projects, all while enhancing their cloud curriculum to create the next generation of IT innovators. In this session, learn how faculty can implement multi-user environments in the classroom; access AWS assets such as AWS credits, training resources, content, and labs; and collaborate on content creation and shared Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). Hear about best practices and case studies for implementing AWS in the classroom and in academic research. This session is an opportunity for representatives from academia to learn how they can leverage cloud computing to aid them in coursework development and research.

Learn how you can use the AWS Key Management Service to protect data in your applications. This talk shows you how to use the encryption features of AWS Key Management Service within your applications and provides an in-depth walk-through of applying policy control to keys to control access.

Are you interested in implementing key Microsoft workloads such as Windows Server, Active Directory, SQL Server, or SharePoint Server on AWS? Have you wondered how to securely manage your Microsoft-based workloads on AWS? In this session, we step you through the architectural considerations, implementation steps, and best practices for deploying and administering these key Microsoft workloads on the AWS cloud. Find out how to deploy these workloads on your own, or by using automated solutions such as AWS Quick Start. Hear how existing AWS customers have successfully implemented Microsoft workloads on AWS and walk away with a better idea of how to implement or migrate your Microsoft-based workloads to AWS.

Every development team would love to spend more time building products and less time shepherding software releases. What if you had the ability to repeatably push any version of your code and not have to worry about the optimal server allocation for your services? This talk will cover how HubSpot and a team of 100 engineers deploys 500 times a day with very minimal effort. Singularity, an open-source project which HubSpot built from scratch, works with Apache Mesos to manage a multipurpose cluster in AWS to support web services, cron jobs, map/reduce tasks, and one-off processes. This talk will discuss the HubSpot service architecture and cultural advantages and the costs and benefits of the continuous delivery approach.

In this session we will present some of the key features of Glacier including security, durability and price. You will learn best practices for managing your cold data, including ingest, retrieval and security controls. We will also discuss how to optimize the storage, upload and retrieval costs and help you identify the most applicable workloads and recommend optimizations based on a few sample use cases.

Not only did the 156,000+ core run (nicknamed the MegaRun) on Amazon EC2 break industry records for size, scale, and power, but it also delivered real-world results. The University of Southern California ran the high-performance computing job in the cloud to evaluate over 220,000 compounds and build a better organic solar cell. In this session, USC provides an update on the six promising compounds that we have found and is now synthesizing in laboratories for a clean energy project. We discuss the implementation of and lessons learned in running a cluster in eight AWS regions worldwide, with highlights from Cycle Computing's project Jupiter, a low-overhead cloud scheduler and workload manager. This session also looks at how the MegaRun was financially achievable using the Amazon EC2 Spot Instance market, including an in-depth discussion on leveraging Spot Instances, a strategy to deal with the variability of Spot pricing, and a template to avoid compromising workflow integrity, security, or management.

After a year of production workloads on AWS, HGST, a Western Digital Company, has zeroed in on understanding how to create on-demand clusters to maximize value on AWS. HGST will outline the company's successes in addressing the company's changes in operations, culture, and behavior to this new vision of on-demand clusters. In addition, the session will provide insights into leveraging Amazon EC2 Spot Instances to reduce costs and maximize value, while maintaining the needed flexibility, and agility that AWS is known for.andquot;

The implementation of highly scalable, easy-to-deploy technology is radically transforming educational models and student engagement. Many companies have used cloud computing to innovate in ways that have significantly improved the student experience. AWS has been an integral part of the strategies and solutions of these companies, from inception to large-scale growth to market leadership. In this session, Echo 360 and Chegg show how they use AWS services-such as Amazon EC2, Amazon EBS, and Auto Scaling-to dynamically scale and allocate resources based on the school year and cyclical nature of their businesses. They discuss globalization, privacy, PCI compliance, and cost efficiency. Learn how you can apply their insights to your own educational and business models.

Migrating large fleets of legacy applications to AWS cloud infrastructure requires careful planning, since each phase needs to balance risk tolerance against the speed of migration.

Through participation in many large-scale migration engagements with customers, AWS Professional Services has developed a set of successful best practices, tools, and techniques that help migration factories optimize speed of delivery and success rate. In this session, we cover the complete lifecycle of an application portfolio migration with special emphasis on how to organize and conduct the assessment and how to identify elements that can benefit from cloud architecture.

Aon Benfield Securities, a leading global provider of risk management, insurance, and reinsurance brokerage, needs high-powered computing to process financial simulations for wealth management products. In the past, the firm's quarterly financial reporting took two weeks and a small army of people to complete-but by finding a creative way to use state-of-the-art AWS GPUs, Aon reduced calculation time from 10 days to 10 minutes.

This session will cover Aon Benfield's use of AWS GPUs and other services from AWS, including Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) to perform HPC calculations.