Introduction

In the modern app deployment landscape, security and scalability are vital. One powerful solution that combines these aspects is Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), allowing you to run containers at scale. In this blog post, we'll dive into the intricacies of deploying containerized applications using ECS within a private subnet, all while providing access through an Application Load Balancer (ALB). 🛡️📈

🚀 Amazon ECS: Elevating Container Deployment 📦

Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) is a cutting-edge container orchestration service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows you to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications seamlessly. 🚀📦

1. Scalability Made Simple: ECS allows you to effortlessly scale your containerized applications up or down based on demand, ensuring optimal performance without complexity. ⚖️🔄

2. Resource Efficiency: It optimizes resource allocation by placing containers on instances efficiently, making the most of available resources and reducing wastage. 💡🔧

3. Integrated Management: ECS seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, enabling easy management of tasks, monitoring, and security, all under one roof. 🛠️🔑

Why Private Subnet Deployment?

Deploying your ECS tasks in a private subnet provides an extra layer of security by isolating your containers from the public internet. This adds an additional shield against potential threats while ensuring that sensitive data and services remain hidden from prying eyes. 🕵️‍♂️🏰

Leveraging the Power of Application Load Balancers

An Application Load Balancer (ALB) acts as a bridge between your containerized applications and incoming traffic. By utilizing an ALB, you can efficiently distribute incoming traffic, enhance application availability, and seamlessly manage SSL certificates, all while facilitating easy scaling. ⚖️🔀.

Step-by-Step Deployment Guide

1. VPC Setup

1. Create a VPC [10.0.0.0/16]

1. To enable DNS hostname for your custom VPC, edit the VPC settings from the action dropdown at the top right.

   

2. Create four subnets with appropriate CIDR ranges: two private and two public, distributed across two availability zones.

   

3. Create an internet gateway to establish internet connectivity for the public subnet and then attach it to the custom VPC.

   

4. Set up a NAT gateway in the public subnet to enable internet access for the private subnet.

   

5. Create two route tables: one for the public subnet and another for the private subnet.

   

6. Edit the route in the public route table to include the destination IP range 0.0.0.0/0 and associate it with the internet gateway. Also, associate the public subnet(s) with the public route table.

   

   

7. Edit the route in the public route table to include the destination IP range 0.0.0.0/0 and associate it with the NAT gateway. Additionally, associate the private subnet(s) with the private route table.

   

   

2. ECS Cluster Creation

Create an ECS cluster with fargate type, and configure it to launch instances within the private subnet. This ensures that your containers are isolated from direct public access. 🛠️🚢

3. Task Definition Configuration

A task definition contains one or more container definitions and is essential for deploying your workloads on Amazon ECS. Please click "Create" once all the provided details are entered.

4. Security Group Settings ( SG )

Create two security groups: one for the Application Load Balancer and another for the containers.

Application Load Balancer Security Group - Inbound Allow from Internet

ECS Container Security Group - Inbound only allow from ALB-SG

5. ALB Setup

Create an Application Load Balancer and configure its listener rules to route traffic to your ECS Containers/Services.

Click on Create Target group

6. Create a Service in the ECS cluster

Services allow you to define long-running tasks and ensure they are always up and running, even if tasks fail or instances are replaced. Services maintain a specified number of tasks and can automatically adjust the number of tasks in response to scaling policies or instances being added or removed.

Check the Service Status

Access the application via ALB DNS

🛑 Remember to tidy up your AWS resources after use! Avoid unnecessary costs by ensuring the proper cleanup of all resources.

Benefits and Takeaways

By deploying your containerized applications within a private subnet and granting controlled access through an ALB, you achieve a winning combination of security and scalability. This architecture ensures that your applications remain shielded from external threats while providing the flexibility to handle varying traffic loads. 🛡️🚀

Happy coding! 😊🚀

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