Architectures - Use a split-brain DNS configuration to host a web app in AWS

Problem:

A company needs to host a web application with distinct traffic management for public and private users. The current infrastructure struggles with security, performance, and reliability, particularly in differentiating internal and external traffic routes.

Objective:

Implement a split-brain DNS architecture to:

Ensure secure, high-performance routing for public and private users. Utilize Azure Front Door for public access and Azure Application Gateway for private access. Integrate Azure DNS and ExpressRoute for seamless and secure traffic management.

Solution:

Components Involved

Amazon Route 53: Manages DNS records and routes traffic based on geolocation and latency. Amazon CloudFront: Provides a content delivery network (CDN) for public access, ensuring low latency and high transfer speeds. Elastic Load Balancer (ELB): Distributes incoming application traffic across multiple targets, such as EC2 instances. Amazon VPC: Isolates the network environment for private and public subnets. Direct Connect: Establishes a dedicated network connection from on-premises to AWS. Security Groups and Network ACLs: Control inbound and outbound traffic to the EC2 instances. AWS WAF: Protects the web application from common web exploits.

Security

AWS WAF: Filters malicious traffic before it reaches the application. Security Groups: Act as virtual firewalls, controlling traffic at the instance level. Network ACLs: Provide an additional layer of security at the subnet level. SSL/TLS Encryption: Ensures data integrity and privacy between clients and servers. IAM Roles and Policies: Define fine-grained access controls for AWS resources. Direct Connect: Secures private network connections, reducing exposure to the public internet. This architecture ensures a secure, reliable, and high-performance environment for hosting web applications on AWS, addressing both public and private access needs.