In this article, I’m sharing a real-time AWS hands-on project where I designed and implemented a highly available, auto-scaling web architecture using core AWS services.
This project helped me understand how AWS components work together in a production-style environment, not just theory.
📌 Project Objective
The goal of this project was to:
Host a web application securely on AWS
Distribute traffic using Application Load Balancer
Automatically scale EC2 instances based on load
Monitor infrastructure using CloudWatch
Follow AWS best practices for networking and security
🧱 AWS Services Used
Amazon VPC
Public Subnets (Multi-AZ)
Internet Gateway
Route Tables
Security Groups
EC2 Instances
Application Load Balancer (ALB)
Target Groups
Auto Scaling Group (ASG)
Amazon CloudWatch
🏗️ Architecture Overview
The architecture follows a classic real-world AWS design:
A custom VPC
Two public subnets in different Availability Zones
An internet-facing ALB
Auto Scaling Group behind the ALB
CloudWatch alarms to scale instances automatically
This ensures:
High availability
Fault tolerance
Automatic scaling
Secure access
🪜 Step-by-Step Implementation
1️⃣ Create Custom VPC
Created a custom VPC with IPv4 CIDR block
Enabled DNS resolution & DNS hostnames
✔ Foundation network for the project
2️⃣ Create Public Subnets (Multi-AZ)
Created two public subnets
Each subnet placed in a different Availability Zone
✔ Ensures high availability
3️⃣ Create and Attach Internet Gateway
Created an Internet Gateway (IGW)
Attached it to the VPC
✔ Enables internet access
4️⃣ Configure Route Table
Created a route table
Added route 0.0.0.0/0 → Internet Gateway
Associated route table with public subnets
✔ Enables outbound internet traffic
5️⃣ Create Security Groups
ALB Security Group
Allow HTTP (80) from anywhere
EC2 Security Group
Allow HTTP (80) from ALB
Allow SSH (22) from my IP only
✔ Follows security best practices
6️⃣ Launch EC2 Using Launch Template
Created a launch template
Added User Data to install and start web server automatically
Web page shows instance details
✔ Enables automated instance creation
7️⃣ Create Target Group
Target type: EC2
Protocol: HTTP (80)
Health checks enabled
✔ Ensures only healthy instances receive traffic
8️⃣ Create Application Load Balancer (ALB)
Internet-facing ALB
Associated with public subnets
Listener on port 80
Forward traffic to target group
✔ Distributes traffic evenly
9️⃣ Create Auto Scaling Group (ASG)
Attached launch template
Attached ALB target group
Set:
Min capacity
Desired capacity
Max capacity
✔ Automatically manages EC2 instances
🔟 Configure CloudWatch Alarms
Created CloudWatch alarms based on CPU Utilization
Scale-out when CPU increases
Scale-in when CPU decreases
✔ Fully automated scaling
📊 Monitoring & Testing
Verified EC2 instances were healthy
Checked CloudWatch metrics
Accessed application via ALB DNS name
Confirmed traffic distribution
✔ Architecture worked as expected
📸 Screenshots (Proof of Work)
Screenshots include:
VPC & Subnets
Route Tables & IGW
Security Groups
ALB & Target Groups
Auto Scaling Group
CloudWatch Alarms
Final browser output
✔ 100% real AWS console screenshots
✅ Key Learnings
Through this project, I learned:
How AWS networking works in real environments
Designing scalable and fault-tolerant systems
Using ALB with Auto Scaling Groups
Monitoring and automation using CloudWatch
Following AWS security best practices
🧠 Why This Is a Real-World Project
This is not a demo or lab-only project.
It reflects:
Enterprise-style AWS architecture
Production-ready concepts
Hands-on implementation from scratch
🔗 GitHub Repository
📂 Full project with screenshots & documentation:
👉 GitHub: https://github.com/IrfanPasha05/aws-alb-autoscaling-cloudwatch-architecture
🎯 Final Thoughts
This project boosted my confidence in AWS core services and helped me understand how scalable architectures are built in real organizations.
If you’re learning AWS or preparing for cloud roles, I highly recommend implementing this architecture hands-on.
🙌 Thanks for Reading!
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Happy Learning ☁️🚀