AWS re:Invent 2016

In gaming, low latencies and connectivity are bare minimum expectations users have while playing online on PlayStation Network. Alex and Dustin share key architectural patterns to provide low latency, multi-region services to global users. They discuss the testing methodologies and how to programmatically map out a large dependency multi-region deployment with data-driven techniques. The patterns shared show how to adapt to changing bottlenecks and sudden, several million request spikes. You’ll walk away with several key architectural patterns that can service users at global scale while being mindful of costs.

Did you know that AWS enables builders to architect solutions for price? Beyond the typical challenges of function, performance, and scale, you can make your application cost effective. Using different architectural patterns and AWS services in concert can dramatically reduce the cost of systems operation and per-transaction costs. This session uses practical examples aimed at architects and developers. Using code and AWS CloudFormation in concert with services such as Amazon EC2, Amazon ECS, Lambda, Amazon RDS, Amazon SQS, Amazon SNS, Amazon S3, CloudFront, and more, we demonstrate the financial advantages of different architectural decisions. Attendees will walk away with concrete examples, as well as a new perspective on how they can build systems economically and effectively.

Nike+ is at the core of the Nike digital product ecosystem, providing services to enhance your athletic experience through quantified activity tracking and gamification. As one of the first movers at Nike to migrate out of the datacenter to AWS, they share the evolution in building a reactive platform on AWS to handle large, complex data sets. They provide a deep technical view of how they process billions of metrics a day in their quantified-self platform, supporting millions of customers worldwide. You’ll leave with ideas and tools to help your organization scale in the cloud. Come learn from experts who have built an elastic platform using Java, Scala, and Akka, leveraging the power of many AWS technologies like Amazon EC2, ElastiCache, Amazon SQS, Amazon SNS, DynamoDB, Amazon ES, Lambda, Amazon S3, and a few others that helped them (and can help you) get there quickly.

What happens when you give 6,000 developers access to the cloud? Introducing Cloud Custodian, an open source project from Capital One, which provides a DSL for AWS fleet management that operates in real-time using CloudWatch Events and Lambda. Cloud Custodian is used for the gamut of compliance, encryption, and cost optimization. What can it do for you?

Whether you’re a cash-strapped startup or an enterprise optimizing spend, it pays to run cost-efficient architectures on AWS. This session reviews a wide range of cost planning, monitoring, and optimization strategies, featuring real-world experience from AWS customers. We cover how to effectively combine Amazon EC2 On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot instances to handle different use cases; leveraging Auto Scaling to match capacity to workload; choosing the optimal instance type through load testing; taking advantage of Multi-AZ support; and using Amazon CloudWatch to monitor usage and automatically shut off resources when they are not in use. We discuss taking advantage of tiered storage and caching, offloading content to Amazon CloudFront to reduce back-end load, and getting rid of your back end entirely by leveraging AWS high-level services. We also showcase simple tools to help track and manage costs, including Cost Explorer, billing alerts, and AWS Trusted Advisor. This session is your pocket guide for running cost effectively in the Amazon Cloud.

With customers migrating workloads to AWS, we are starting to see a need for the creation of a prescribed landing zone, which uses native AWS capabilities and meets or exceeds customers' security and compliance objectives. In this session, we will describe an AWS landing zone and will cover solutions for account structure, user configuration, provisioning, networking and operation automation. This solution is based on AWS native capabilities such as AWS Service Catalog, AWS Identity and Access Management, AWS Config Rules, AWS CloudTrail and Amazon Lambda. We will provide an overview of AWS Service Catalog and how it be used to provide self-service infrastructure to applications users, including various options for automation. After this session you will be able to configure an AWS landing zone for successful large scale application migrations. Additionally, Philips will explain their cloud journey and how they have applied their guiding principles when building their landing zone.

Fed up with stop and go in your data center? Shift into overdrive and pull into the fast lane!

This session demonstrates how customers can leverage hybrid IT as a transitional step on the path to going all-in on AWS. We provide a step-by-step walk-through focusing on seamless migration to the cloud, with consideration given to existing data centers, equipment, and staff retraining. Learn about the suite of capabilities AWS provides to ease and simplify your journey to the cloud.

When D2L first moved to the cloud, we were concerned about being locked-in to one cloud provider. We were compelled to explore the opportunities of the cloud, so we overcame our perceived risk, and turned it into an opportunity by self-rolling tools and avoiding AWS native services. In this session, you learn how D2L tried to bypass the lock but eventually embraced it and opened the cage. Avoiding AWS native tooling and pure lifts of enterprise architecture caused a drastic inflation of costs. Learn how we shifted away from a self-rolled 'lift' into an efficient and effective 'shift' while prioritizing cost, client safety, AND speed of development. Learn from D2L's successes and missteps, and convert your own enterprise systems into the cloud both through native cloud births and enterprise conversions. This session discusses D2L’s use of Amazon EC2 (with a guest appearance by Reserved Instances), Elastic Load Balancing, Amazon EBS, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon S3, AWS CloudFormation, AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudFront, AWS Marketplace, Amazon Route 53, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Amazon ElastiCache.

For an IT organization to be successful in rapid cloud assessment or iterative migration of their infrastructure and applications to AWS, they need to effectively plan and execute on a strategic cloud strategy that focuses not only on cloud, but also big data, DevOps, and security.