In this pre-re:Invent 2024 episode, Luciano and Eoin discuss some of their favorite recent AWS announcements, including improvements to AWS Step Functions, Lambda runtime updates, DynamoDB price reductions, ALB header injection, Cognito enhancements, VPC public access blocking, and more. They share their thoughts on the implications of these new ca…

In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of using serverless architecture in enterprise companies. We cover topics like cost, complexity, security, ability to evolve architecture, and more. Overall, we find that serverless can provide benefits like reduced operational costs, improved developer productivity, and increased focus on core business…

In this episode, we discuss why IAM users and long-lived credentials are dangerous and should be avoided. We share war stories of compromised credentials and overprivileged access. We then explore solutions like centralizing IAM users, using tools like AWS Vault for temporary credentials, integrating with AWS SSO, and fully eliminating IAM users wh…

In this special episode of AWS Bites, Eoin is joined by Fiona McKenna, co-founder and CFO of fourTheorem, to discuss startup advice, hiring and growing teams, creating an environment for success, and managing cloud costs. They cover important themes around people, culture, leadership, and finance from Fiona's extensive experience in the tech indust…

In this episode, we provided an overview of GitHub Action Runners and discussed the benefits of using self-hosted runners on AWS. We covered options including EC2 and CodeBuild for running GitHub Actions, compared pricing across solutions, and shared our hands-on experience setting things up. Overall, using AWS services can provide more control, lo…

In this episode, we discuss the concept of CloudFormation drift, what causes it, how to detect it, and strategies for resolving it. We explain that drift happens when the actual state of resources diverges from what is defined in the CloudFormation templates. Common causes include manual changes, third party tools, mixing IaC solutions, and automat…

In this episode, we had the pleasure to interview Farrah Campbell, head of modern compute community at AWS, prolific speaker, and former AWS Hero. We discussed Farrah's career journey from healthcare into tech, tips on public speaking, dealing with imposter syndrome, the pace of innovation in the cloud, and predictions for the future. Farrah shared…

In this episode, we discuss AWS Lambda provisioned concurrency. We start with a recap of Lambda cold starts and the different concurrency control options. We then explain how provisioned concurrency works to initialize execution environments in advance to avoid cold starts. We cover how to enable it, pricing details, common issues like over/under-p…

In this episode, we discuss Luciano's new book project on using Rust to write AWS Lambda functions. We start with a recap on why Rust is a good fit for Lambda, including performance, efficiency, safety, and low cold start times. Luciano provides details on the book's progress so far, the intended audience, and the current published chapters coverin…

An overview of load balancers, explaining how they distribute traffic across multiple servers and provide high availability. We discuss layer 4 and layer 7 load balancers, detailing their pros and cons. We then focus on AWS load balancers, covering network load balancers and application load balancers in depth, including their features, use cases, …

This episode discusses solutions for securely accessing private VPC resources for debugging and troubleshooting. We cover traditional approaches like bastion hosts and VPNs and newer solutions using containers and AWS services like Fargate, ECS, and SSM. We explain how to set up a Fargate task with a container image with the necessary tools, enable…

In this episode, we discuss the newly announced CloudFront Hosting Toolkit from AWS. We provide an overview of the tool, which aims to simplify deploying modern front-end applications to AWS while retaining infrastructure control. We discuss the current capabilities and limitations and share our hands-on experiences trying out the tool. We also tal…

In this episode, we discuss some tips and tricks for optimizing performance when working with Amazon S3 at scale. We start by giving an overview of how S3 works, highlighting the distributed nature of the service and how data is stored redundantly across multiple availability zones for durability. We then dive into specific tips like using multipar…

In this episode, we provide a comprehensive overview of DynamoDB, including how it compares to relational databases, when to use it, how to get started, writing and querying data, secondary indexes, and single table design. We share our experiences using DynamoDB and discuss the pros and cons compared to traditional SQL databases. 💰 SPONSORS 💰AWS B…

In this episode, we provide an overview of Amazon Aurora, a relational database solution on AWS. We discuss its unique capabilities like distinct storage architecture for better performance and faster recovery. We cover concepts like Aurora clusters, reader and writer instances, endpoints, and global databases. We also compare the serverless versio…

In this episode, we discuss 5 different ways to extend CloudFormation capabilities beyond what it natively supports. We started with a quick recap of what CloudFormation is and why we might need to extend it. We then covered using custom scripts and templating engines, which can be effective but require extra maintenance. We recommended relying ins…

In this episode, we discuss best practices for working with AWS Lambda. We cover how Lambda functions work under the hood, including cold starts and warm starts. We then explore different invocation types - synchronous, asynchronous, and event-based. For each, we share tips on performance, cost optimization, and monitoring. Other topics include fun…

In this episode, we provide commentary and analysis on the 2024 AWS Community Survey results. We go through the key findings for each area including infrastructure as code, CI/CD, serverless, containers, NoSQL databases, event services, and AI/ML. While recognizing potential biases, we aim to extract insights from the data and share our perspective…

In this episode, we provide an introductory overview of AWS's best practices for managing infrastructure using multiple accounts under an organization. We discuss the advantages of this approach and how to get started creating your own multi-account environment, or "landing zone". 💰 SPONSORS 💰AWS Bites is brought to you by fourTheorem, an AWS Partn…

In this episode, we provide an overview of Amazon EBS, which stands for Elastic Block Storage. We explain what block storage is and how EBS provides highly available and high-performance storage volumes that can be attached to EC2 instances. We discuss the various EBS volume types, including GP3, GP2, provisioned IOPS, and HDD volumes, and explain …

In this episode, we discuss AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) and how it can be used to securely share AWS resources like VPC subnets, databases, and SSM parameters across accounts. We explain the benefits of using RAM over other options like resource policies and assumed roles. Some key topics covered include how to get started with RAM, how it wo…

In this episode, we discuss Permission Boundary policies in AWS IAM. A permissions boundary is an advanced feature in which you set the maximum permissions that an identity-based policy can grant to an IAM entity. When you set a permissions boundary for an entity, the entity can perform only the actions allowed by its identity-based policies and it…

In this episode, we discuss the new experimental AWS Lambda LLRT Low Latency runtime for JavaScript. We provide an overview of what a Lambda runtime is and how LLRT aims to optimize cold starts and performance compared to existing runtimes like Node.js. We outline the benefits of LLRT but also highlight concerns around its experimental status, lack…

In this episode, we discuss what to do if you accidentally leak your AWS credentials during a live stream. We explain the difference between temporary credentials and long-lived credentials, and how to revoke each type. For temporary credentials, we recommend using the AWS console to revoke sessions or creating an IAM policy to deny access. For lon…

In this episode, we provide a friendly introduction to Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations. We explain what SCPs are, how they work, common use cases, and tips for troubleshooting access-denied errors related to SCPs. We cover how SCPs differ from identity-based and resource-based policies, and how SCPs can be used to set boundarie…

In this episode, we discuss how we work as a cloud consulting company, including our principles, engagement process, sprint methodology, and focus on agile development to deliver successful projects. We aim to be trusted partners, not just vendors, and enable our customers' business goals.By the end of this episode, you will know what working with …

In this episode, we discuss using AWS Lambda for machine learning inference. We cover the tradeoffs between GPUs and CPUs for ML, tools like ggml and llama.cpp for running models on CPUs, and share examples where we've experimented with Lambda for ML like podcast transcription, medical imaging, and natural language processing. While Lambda ML is st…

This episode of the AWS Bites Podcast provides an overview of the AWS Project Development Kit (PDK), an open-source tool to help bootstrap and maintain cloud projects. We discuss what PDK is, how it can help generate boilerplate code and infrastructure, keep configuration consistent across projects, and some pros and cons of using a tool like this …

In this episode, we discuss how you can use Python for data science workloads on AWS Lambda. We cover the pros and cons of using Lambda for these workloads compared to other AWS services. We benchmark cold start times and performance for different Lambda deployment options like zip packages, layers, and container images. The results show container …

In this episode, we share expert opinions from AWS community leaders on their favorite announcements from re:Invent 2023, advice for those starting their cloud journey, predictions for the future of serverless, whether to go multi-cloud or not, and how AI will impact developers. Our guests provide insightful perspectives on getting hands-on experie…

Luciano and Eoin chat about Luciano's experience attending AWS re:Invent 2023 in Las Vegas for the first time. They talk about the massive scale of the event, logistical challenges getting around between venues, highlights from the keynotes and announcements, and tips for networking and getting the most out of re:Invent. Luciano shares his perspect…

In this episode, we discuss integration testing event-driven systems and explore AWS's new Integration Application Test Kit (IATK). We cover the challenges of testing events and common approaches like logging, end-to-end testing, and using temporary queues. We then introduce IATK, walk through how to use it for EventBridge testing, and share our ex…

In this episode, we celebrate AWS Lambda's 9th birthday by taking a deep dive into Lambda runtimes. We discuss how Lambda works, compare official runtimes vs. custom runtimes, and explain when and why building a custom runtime might be worth the effort. We talk through how custom runtimes work, options for deploying them, and potential use cases wh…

In this episode, we discuss how we automated generating YouTube descriptions, chapters and tags for our podcast using Amazon's new GenAI tool: Bedrock.We provide an overview of Bedrock's features and how we built an integration to summarize podcast transcripts and extract relevant metadata using the Anthropic Claude model. We share the prompt engin…

In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Jeremy Daly, CEO of Ampt and a leader in the AWS and serverless community. We discuss Jeremy's journey into AWS and serverless, the prolific open source work and content he creates, the evolution of serverless over the years, common myths about serverless, and, finally, the story behind buildin…

Today we embark on a fascinating journey into the world of AWS Lambda functions and how to make them accessible to the public. In a recent use case, involving the creation of a public Lambda function for AWS users, we asked ourselves some interesting questions. How can you securely, cost-effectively, and conveniently publish AWS resources, especial…

Greetings, my fellow innovators, and welcome to this illuminating episode of AWS Bites! In this edition, we embark on a journey into the realms of Ampt, a groundbreaking solution that simplifies the intricate landscape of AWS application development, allowing you to direct your focus toward the very essence of your applications, unhindered by the b…

In this thrilling episode of AWS Bites Podcast, we delve into the murky world of cloud computing and discuss the most haunting fears that deter businesses from adopting Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this gritty discussion reminiscent of a noir novel, they reveal the sinister concerns of cost, complexity, security, and vendor lock-in that keep organ…

Today, we will explore the enigmatic world of Amazon Pinpoint. Pinpoint boasts a wide range of capabilities that can prove advantageous for various marketing endeavors.In this intriguing episode, we will shed light on Pinpoint's core features and use cases. Additionally, we will compare it to several other marketing products, including Google Analy…

Rev up your AWS know-how in this high-octane episode of AWS Bites Podcast, where we take you under the hood to fine-tune your AWS applications configuration!Kicking things off, we rev our engines and stress the vital role of slick configuration management in the world of cloud-based applications, leaving those old-school methods in the dust. Buckle…

In this episode of AWS Bites, Luciano and Eoin dive deep into the world of AWS governance, landing zones, and automation tools. AWS emphasizes the importance of good governance for customers of all sizes, whether you're starting from scratch or have been using AWS for years. But with so many tools available, which one should you choose?Join us as w…

Saddle up for a cloud adventure like no other in this episode of AWS Bites, where Eoin and Luciano explore the untamed world of AWS S3 Mountpoint. Just like a trusty steed on the digital prairie, Mountpoint gallops into action to solve complex use cases, making it a valuable asset for managing massive data, achieving high throughput, and effortless…

Ever wondered how to gain deep insights into the myriad of activities within your AWS organization accounts? In this episode of AWS Bites, we dive into the world of AWS CloudTrail and Athena, showing you how to seamlessly query and analyze CloudTrail logs for valuable information, troubleshooting, security, and compliance.💰 SPONSORS 💰fourTheorem is…

In today's episode, we're diving into the fascinating world of CDK Patterns - those ingenious building blocks that can transform your cloud journey. We uncover what CDK Patterns are, where to find them, and why you'll want to use them!With CDK's object-oriented abstraction, L2 and L3 Constructs bring a whole new level of convenience. We'll explore …

In this episode of AWS Bites, we take you on a captivating migration journey. Together, we'll explore how we transformed fullstackbulletin.com's automation process, leaving behind the complexities of a monolithic AWS Lambda and embracing the efficiency of Step Functions. Join us as we dive into the challenges of automating a weekly newsletter, tryi…

In this episode, we take a journey through time and technology and learn the origin stories of Eoin and Luciano. In this captivating discussion, they share their paths into the world of software development and their eventual immersion into the realm of Amazon Web Services (AWS).Eoin's story begins in the early days of home computing, where he tink…

AWS is great, but it can surely be better, much better! Today we want to mention 9 things that could help AWS to reach new heights: hard billing limits, better UX and documentation, and much more! We also have a special message to AWS and all the AWS professionals who have helped throughout the years. Join us in this intergalactic journey to improv…

Welcome to the epic tale of AWS Bites! In this chapter, we embark on a perilous journey through the challenges of developing distributed applications on AWS.We encounter fierce foes in the form of deployment times and limited access to real AWS services during local development.But fear not, for we have powerful tools at our disposal, including the…

In this episode of AWS Bites, we discuss VPC Lattice, a new service in the Salad Bowl of AWS Networking. We cover all the concepts, applications, and exciting possibilities for VPC Lattice and share tips on how to use it effectively.We talk about reducing friction between network admin and dev teams and how VPC Lattice can be a game changer for tra…

Are you interested in landing an AWS role? Or maybe are you looking to hire some cloud talent?!In this episode of the AWS Bites podcast, we share our insights on the interview process we have adopted at fourTheorem.This process is not just about testing AWS knowledge, but it's also about evaluating cultural fit, way of working skills and knowledge,…