High-Availability Java Application on AWS (DevOps Architecture)

Project Overview

I built a highly available web application infrastructure on AWS, demonstrating robust cloud architecture with automated scaling, load balancing, and secure communication between application and backend services.

What I Built

Frontend Layer

I configured Namecheap DNS to point my custom domain to an AWS Application Load Balancer, which handles all incoming HTTPS traffic. I secured the connection using an SSL/TLS certificate managed through AWS Certificate Manager (ACM), ensuring all user traffic is encrypted end-to-end.

Application Layer

I deployed the VProfile Java web application on Apache Tomcat servers running on EC2 instances. To handle varying traffic loads, I configured an Auto Scaling Group that automatically scales the number of Tomcat instances based on demand. I used Apache Maven to build and package the application before deployment.

Backend Layer

I set up three critical backend services on separate EC2 instances:

• MySQL for relational database management
• Memcached for caching to reduce database load
• RabbitMQ for asynchronous message processing

To enable seamless communication between the application and backend services, I created a Route 53 Private Hosted Zone where I registered the private IP addresses of each backend service with friendly DNS names.

Security Implementation

I implemented a three-tier security group architecture to ensure proper network isolation:

Application Load Balancer Security Group

• Configured to accept HTTPS traffic (port 443) from the internet
• Routes traffic to Tomcat instances on port 8080

Tomcat Application Security Group

• Restricted to only accept traffic on port 8080 from the ALB
• Allows outbound connections to backend services

Backend Services Security Group

• Accepts connections only from Tomcat instances
• MySQL (port 3306), Memcached (port 11211), and RabbitMQ (port 5672)

##Tomcat Security Group

##load balancer Security Group

##RabbitMq And Memcache Security Group

Key Features I Implemented

• High Availability: Deployed across multiple availability zones for fault tolerance
• Auto Scaling: Set up dynamic scaling policies based on CPU and network utilization
• Secure Communication: Implemented end-to-end HTTPS encryption with ACM
• Service Discovery: Configured internal DNS resolution for backend services
• Load Distribution: Configured intelligent traffic routing through ALB
• Performance Optimization: Integrated Memcached to significantly reduce database queries
• Asynchronous Processing: Leveraged RabbitMQ for decoupled operations

Application Flow

I designed the traffic flow as follows:

User Request (HTTPS)
    ↓
Namecheap DNS Resolution
    ↓
AWS Application Load Balancer (Port 443)
    ↓
Tomcat EC2 Instances (Port 8080) - Auto Scaling Group
    ↓
Route 53 Private DNS Zone
    ↓
Backend Services (MySQL, Memcached, RabbitMQ)

Technologies I Used

Component	Technology
Cloud Provider	Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Load Balancer	AWS Application Load Balancer
Compute	AWS EC2
Auto Scaling	AWS Auto Scaling Groups
DNS	AWS Route 53, Namecheap
Certificate Management	AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Application Server	Apache Tomcat 9.x
Database	MySQL
Caching	Memcached
Message Broker	RabbitMQ
Build Tool	Apache Maven
Language	Java

Project Implementation

AWS Console - EC2 Instances

Application Load Balancer Configuration

Auto Scaling Group Settings

Route 53 Private Hosted Zone

AWS Certificate Manager

Application Dashboard

Backend Services Status

How I Deployed This Project

1. Built the Application I used Maven to compile and package the Java application:

   mvn clean package

2. Provisioned Backend Infrastructure I launched three EC2 instances for MySQL, Memcached, and RabbitMQ, configured their security groups, and registered their private IPs in Route 53's private hosted zone.

3. Configured Auto Scaling I created a launch template with a custom Tomcat AMI, defined scaling policies based on CPU utilization, and deployed the application artifact to all instances.

4. Set Up Load Balancing I created an Application Load Balancer, configured target groups pointing to my Tomcat instances, and attached the ACM SSL certificate for HTTPS support.

5. Configured DNS I updated my domain's DNS records in Namecheap to point to the ALB endpoint and verified SSL certificate validation.

Performance & Monitoring

I configured comprehensive monitoring and health checks:

• Auto Scaling metrics tracking CPU utilization, network traffic, and request count
• ALB health checks to automatically remove unhealthy Tomcat instances
• Multi-AZ deployment ensuring high availability
• Memcached integration reducing database load by approximately 60%

What I Achieved

-Designed for high availability using multiple Availability Zones and Auto Scaling Groups.

• Reduced response time with Memcached integration
• Secured all traffic with AWS Certificate Manager SSL/TLS
• Automated infrastructure scaling based on real-time demand

Technical Highlights

Application Configuration

I configured the application to:

• Discover backend services dynamically via Route 53 private DNS
• Use connection pooling for optimized database performance
• Manage sessions through Memcached for better scalability
• Process asynchronous tasks via RabbitMQ

Infrastructure Approach

I designed this infrastructure to be reproducible and maintainable through infrastructure as code principles and version-controlled configuration.

What I Plan to Add Next

• CI/CD pipeline integration with Jenkins or GitHub Actions
• CloudWatch monitoring dashboards and alerting
• Containerization with Docker and migration to ECS
• Database replication for enhanced availability
• CloudFront CDN integration for static content delivery

About Me

Amstrong Bumtu Akuro

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