Matt from AWS interviews Santiago from the AWS QuickStart team about how Quick Starts are used to deploy complex workloads following AWS best practices.
The discussion centers on the SQL Server 2017 on EC2 Quick Start, covering its layered, modular architecture and flexibility compared to Amazon RDS.
Key components, high availability mechanisms, and modular deployment options are explored in detail.
The team highlights the benefits of automation, error reduction, and adaptability for enterprise and custom scenarios.
Action Items
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AWS Quick Start Overview
AWS Quick Starts are reference deployments on AWS, providing automated infrastructure solutions for key workloads using best practices.
They are built with partners and AWS solution architects, covering a variety of workloads from enterprise applications to open-source tools.
Each Quick Start includes CloudFormation templates, scripts (e.g., PowerShell), and deployment guides to simplify complex setups.
SQL Server 2017 on EC2 Quick Start Architecture
The Quick Start deploys a SQL Server 2017 Always On Availability Group on EC2 within a Windows Server failover cluster, offering more flexibility and control than RDS.
Modular design allows deployment into new or existing VPCs, leveraging nested CloudFormation stacks for orchestration.
Key components include:
Public subnets with Remote Desktop Gateways for secure administrative access (Bastion for Windows), and NAT Gateways for outbound traffic.
Private subnets hosting two SQL Server EC2 instances configured for high availability using synchronous commits and automatic failover.
Optional deployment in more than two availability zones (AZs) for greater resilience.
File Share Witness for cluster quorum, adaptable in 3-AZ deployments.
AWS Directory Services across two AZs for domain join and Windows authentication.
Flexibility and Modularity
Users can customize deployments by reusing or omitting components, such as providing their own Active Directory domain or VPC.
The modular "building block" approach enables stacking of solutions tailored to specific enterprise needs or integration with existing infrastructure.
Automation saves substantial manual effort by providing thousands of lines of code and scripts, minimizing human error.
Decisions
No major decisions were made in this meeting — The session served as an overview and technical walkthrough rather than an operational meeting.