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Amazon Elastic Container Service -Simplifying Container Management at Scale(AWS ECS) EP:14

Dayanantha Shanmugaradnam

Introduction

Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) is a fully managed container orchestration service that supports Docker containers and allows you to easily run applications on a managed cluster. Amazon ECS eliminates the need to install, operate, and scale container management infrastructure, and simplifies the creation of environments with familiar AWS core features. It's one of AWS's flagship container management services.

When running applications on Amazon ECS, you can choose to provide the underlying compute power for your containers with Amazon EC2 instances or with AWS Fargate, a serverless compute engine for containers. In either case, Amazon ECS automatically places and scales your containers onto your cluster according to configurations defined by the user. Although Amazon ECS does not create infrastructure components such as Load Balancers or IAM roles on your behalf, the Amazon ECS service provides a number of APIs to simplify the creation and use of these resources in an Amazon ECS cluster.

Why ECS?

It’s ideal for microservices, batch processing, or any containerized workloads. Since it’s fully managed, it reduces operational overhead.

  1. Managed Service: ECS handles cluster management, deployment, and scaling, allowing you to focus on your application rather than server management.

  2. Flexibility with Compute: You can run your containers:

    • On EC2 instances for control over the underlying infrastructure

    • Using AWS Fargate, which is serverless and lets you focus entirely on containers.

  3. Seamless Integration: ECS integrates with key AWS services:

    • IAM for secure access

    • CloudWatch for monitoring logs and metrics

    • Load Balancers for traffic distribution

  4. Cost Efficiency: ECS optimizes costs through:

    • Pay-as-you-go compute resources

    • Dynamic container scaling based on workload

  5. Security: ECS provides robust security through:

    • VPC network isolation

    • IAM role-based access control

    • AWS Secrets Manager integration for sensitive data

  6. Global Reach: Deploy across multiple AWS regions to reduce latency and improve user experience

  7. Use Cases:

    • Running microservices architectures

    • Handling batch processing tasks

    • Running event-driven workloads like processing messages from SQS

Whitepapers on ECS

Amazon ECS allows developers to have direct, fine-grained control over all infrastructure components, allowing for the creation of custom application architectures. Additionally, Amazon ECS supports different deployment strategies to update your application container images.

1. ECS deployment features

Provision Amazon ECS will provision new application container instances and compute resources based on scaling policies and Amazon ECS configurations. Infrastructure resources such as Load Balancers will need to be created outside of Amazon ECS. Configure Amazon ECS supports customization of the compute resources created to run a containerized application, as well as the runtime conditions of the application containers (for example, environment variables, exposed ports, reserved memory/CPU). Customization of underlying compute resources is only available if using Amazon EC2 instances. Deploy Amazon ECS supports several deployment strategies for you containerized applications Scale Amazon ECS can be used with auto scaling policies to automatically adjust the number of containers running in your Amazon ECS cluster. Monitor Amazon ECS supports monitoring compute resources and application containers with CloudWatch.

2. Key Features of Amazon ECS

  • Container Orchestration: Automatically manages container placement, scheduling, and scaling based on your defined requirements.

  • Integration with AWS Services: Seamlessly works with other AWS services like Application Load Balancer, CloudWatch, IAM, and VPC.

  • Launch Types: Offers two launch types:

    • EC2: Run containers on EC2 instances you manage

    • Fargate: Serverless compute engine where AWS manages the infrastructure

  • Task Definitions: Define your application as a task that can include multiple containers, storage configurations, and networking settings.

3. Common Use Cases

  • Microservices: Deploy and manage microservices-based applications efficiently.

  • Batch Processing: Run batch jobs and scheduled tasks in containers.

  • CI/CD Pipelines: Integrate with CI/CD tools for automated deployment workflows.

  • Web Applications: Host scalable web applications with automatic load balancing.

4. Best Practices

  • Container Image Management: Use Amazon ECR for secure, scalable container image storage.

  • Monitoring: Implement comprehensive monitoring using CloudWatch and Container Insights.

  • Resource Optimization: Right-size your tasks and services for optimal resource utilization.

  • Security: Follow the principle of least privilege when configuring IAM roles and security groups.

Amazon ECS continues to evolve with new features and improvements, making it a robust choice for organizations looking to containerize their applications in the AWS cloud.

Architectural Guideline on ECS

Before you use Amazon ECS, you need to make decisions about capacity, networking, account settings, and logging so that you can correctly configure your Amazon ECS resources.

1. Capacity

The capacity is the infrastructure where your containers run. The following are the options:

  • Amazon EC2 instances

  • Serverless (AWS Fargate)

  • On-premises virtual machines (VM) or servers

You specify the infrastructure when you create a cluster. You also specify the infrastructure type when you register a task definition. The task definition refers to the infrastructure as the "launch type". You also use the launch type when you run a standalone task or deploy a service.

2. Networking

AWS resources are created in subnets. When you use EC2 instances, Amazon ECS launches the instances in the subnet that you specify when you create a cluster. Your tasks run in the instance subnet. For Fargate or on-premises virtual machines, you specify the subnet when you run a task or create a service.

Depending on your application, the subnet can be a private or public subnet and the subnet can be in any of the following AWS resources:

  • Availability Zones

  • Local Zones

  • Wavelength Zones

  • AWS Regions

  • AWS Outposts

3. Feature Access

You can use your Amazon ECS account setting to access the following features:

  • Container Insights CloudWatch Container Insights collects, aggregates, and summarizes metrics and logs from your containerized applications and microservices.

  • awsvpc trunking For certain EC2 instances types, you can have additional network interfaces (ENIs) available on newly launched container instances.

  • Tagging authorization Users must have permissions for actions that create a resource, such as ecsCreateCluster.

  • Fargate FIPS-140 compliance Fargate supports the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS-140) which specifies the security requirements for cryptographic modules that protect sensitive information.

  • Fargate task retirement time changes You can configure the wait period before Fargate tasks are retired for patching.

  • Dual-stack VPC Allow tasks to communicate over IPv4, IPv6, or both.

  • Amazon Resource Name (ARN) format Certain features, such as tagging authorization, require a new Amazon Resource Name (ARN) format.

4. IAM roles

An IAM role is an IAM identity that you can create in your account that has specific permissions. In Amazon ECS, you can create roles to grant permissions to Amazon ECS resource such as containers or services. Some Amazon ECS features require roles.

5. Logging

Logging and monitoring are important aspects of maintaining the reliability, availability, and performance of Amazon ECS workloads. The following options are available:

  • Amazon CloudWatch logs - route logs to Amazon CloudWatch

  • FireLens for Amazon ECS - route logs to an AWS service or AWS Partner Network destination for log storage and analysis. The AWS Partner Network is a global community of partners that leverages programs, expertise, and resources to build, market, and sell customer offerings.

Well-Architected Framework for ECS

The AWS Well-Architected Framework provides best practices to design, deploy, and maintain cloud applications. When applied to AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS), it ensures your ECS workloads are secure, reliable, and cost-effective. Here’s how the framework applies to ECS:

1. Operational Excellence

Focuses on running and monitoring ECS workloads effectively.

Best Practices:

• Use CloudWatch Logs and Metrics to monitor container performance and set alarms.

• Automate deployments with CI/CD pipelines integrated with ECS.

• Implement automated task restarts with ECS service auto-recovery.

Key Tools:

• AWS CloudFormation or CDK for infrastructure as code (IaC).

• ECS Service Scheduler for task placement strategies.

2. Security

Emphasizes securing ECS workloads and data.

Best Practices:

• Use IAM Roles for Tasks to give containers the minimum permissions needed.

• Deploy ECS services in a private VPC subnet for network isolation.

• Enable encryption for sensitive data using AWS Secrets Manager or Parameter Store.

• Implement security groups to control traffic to and from your ECS instances or tasks.

Key Tools:

• AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall) for public-facing workloads.

• Amazon Inspector for vulnerability assessments.

3. Reliability

Ensures ECS workloads are resilient and recover from failures.

Best Practices:

• Use multiple Availability Zones in ECS cluster configurations.

• Configure ECS Service Auto Scaling to adjust tasks based on demand.

• Employ health checks to ensure only healthy tasks receive traffic.

• Use task definitions with resource limits (CPU/memory) to prevent container resource starvation.

Key Tools:

• ECS Load Balancers for traffic management.

• AWS Backup for storing critical data.

4. Performance Efficiency

Focuses on optimal use of resources.

Best Practices:

• Choose AWS Fargate for serverless, efficient workloads.

• Use Elastic Load Balancers to distribute traffic evenly.

• Optimize container startup times by pre-warming resources when applicable.

Key Tools:

• CloudWatch Container Insights for analyzing container performance.

• AWS Compute Optimizer for recommendations on EC2 instance types for ECS.

5. Cost Optimization

Ensures that ECS workloads provide maximum value at the lowest cost.

Best Practices:

• Use Spot Instances for ECS tasks to save on compute costs.

• Right-size ECS services and tasks with resource allocation limits.

• Monitor and analyze ECS costs using AWS Cost Explorer.

Key Tools:

• AWS Budgets for tracking ECS cost thresholds.

• Compute Savings Plans for long-term compute discounts.

6. Sustainability (Optional Pillar)

Focuses on minimizing environmental impact.

Best Practices:

• Use Fargate Spot to optimize resource utilization.

• Shut down idle containers and tasks.

• Use monitoring to identify over-provisioned services.

How Fargate works with ECS

Fargate is a serverless, pay-as-you-go compute engine that lets you focus on building applications without managing servers. When you choose Fargate, you don't need to manage an EC2 infrastructure. All you need to do is build your container image and define which cluster you want to run your applications on.Fargate has native integration with AWS services.

You have more control with Fargate than EC2 because you select the exact CPU and memory that your application needs. Fargate handles scaling out your capacity, so you don't need to worry about spikes in traffic. This means that there is less operational effort with Fargate.

1. Decoupling Compute from Infrastructure:

• When using Fargate with ECS, you don’t need to provision or manage EC2 instances for your containerized workloads. Fargate handles all the compute infrastructure, including server provisioning, scaling, and maintenance.

2. Task Execution:

• In ECS, a task definition specifies how your containers run, including CPU, memory, network settings, and storage. With Fargate, ECS uses this task definition to launch tasks on Fargate-managed infrastructure instead of EC2.

3. Resource Allocation:

• You specify the CPU and memory requirements for each task or service in the task definition.

• Fargate allocates the exact resources needed, ensuring efficient utilization and cost control.

4. Networking:

• Each task runs in its own isolated environment with a dedicated Elastic Network Interface (ENI).

• Fargate tasks can be launched in a VPC, allowing you to control networking settings, such as using private subnets or applying security groups.

5. Scaling:

• ECS and Fargate work together to scale tasks automatically based on demand.

• You can use Service Auto Scaling to increase or decrease the number of tasks.

6. Integration with ECS Features:

• Load balancing: Fargate tasks can register with Application Load Balancers (ALBs) or Network Load Balancers (NLBs) to distribute traffic.

• IAM roles for tasks: You can assign fine-grained permissions to your Fargate tasks using IAM.

7. Cost Model:

• With Fargate, you pay for the compute resources (CPU and memory) that your tasks use, calculated per second. This is different from EC2-based ECS, where you pay for the EC2 instances regardless of usage.

Conclusion

Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) is a powerful and flexible solution for managing containerized workloads at scale. Starting with the basics, we explored the importance of ECS in simplifying container orchestration and its seamless integration with AWS services. The “Why ECS?” section highlighted its benefits.

We delved into how ECS operates with AWS Fargate, enabling a serverless approach that eliminates the need to manage underlying servers. By using ECS, developers can focus on innovation while AWS handles the heavy lifting of infrastructure and orchestration. The adoption of the AWS Well-Architected Framework ensures ECS deployments are secure, reliable, and optimized for performance and cost.

From microservices to batch processing, ECS supports a wide range of use cases, offering flexibility through EC2 or Fargate-based compute options. With features like task definitions, auto-scaling, and robust monitoring tools, ECS provides all the essentials for running modern, containerized applications effectively.