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Guidance for Handling Data during Traffic Spikes on AWS

Overview

This Guidance shows how to handle sudden traffic spikes in Amazon Aurora using a mixed-configuration architecture that combines a provisioned Aurora cluster with Aurora Serverless v2 instances and custom auto-scaling. It demonstrates near real-time response to unpredictable traffic fluctuations, preventing database overload and service disruptions. With this Guidance, you can promote service continuity and protect against revenue loss from database-related outages, even with unexpected traffic spikes from marketing events or new product launches.

How it works

These technical details feature an architecture diagram to illustrate how to effectively use this solution. The architecture diagram shows the key components and their interactions, providing an overview of the architecture's structure and functionality step-by-step.

Download the architecture diagram

Well-Architected Pillars

The architecture diagram above is an example of a Solution created with Well-Architected best practices in mind. To be fully Well-Architected, you should follow as many Well-Architected best practices as possible.

Aurora Serverless v2 enables automatic scaling through its serverless architecture, while AWS Auto Scaling dynamically adds provisioned instances to scale out read replicas. This Guidance allows for elastic scaling of resources up or down based on actual traffic demand, achieving cost efficiency and system stability simultaneously. Even during sudden traffic spikes, stable database performance can be maintained.

Read the Operational Excellence whitepaper 

CloudWatch logs encrypt and securely transfer log data, while AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) grants the minimum required permissions to services and resources, following the principle of least privilege. By protecting log information and restricting access to only authorized entities, you can reduce the risk of security breaches and protect data integrity.

Read the Security whitepaper 

Aurora and Route 53 provide high availability and fault tolerance for databases through multi-Availability Zone (AZ) deployments and automatic failover capabilities. Route 53 weight-based routing distributes traffic efficiently to only healthy instances and enables rapid automated recovery and service continuity in the event of infrastructure failures.

Read the Reliability whitepaper 

Aurora Serverless v2 automatically scales computing resources during traffic spikes, improving read performance. Route 53 weight-based records dynamically route traffic to Aurora Serverless v2 instances, reducing load on provisioned instances. High-resolution CloudWatch custom metrics detect traffic spikes within 10 seconds, allowing for quick response and maintenance of application responsiveness and stability.

Read the Performance Efficiency whitepaper 

Aurora Serverless automatically responds to actual traffic patterns, eliminating costs from overprovisioning. AWS Auto Scaling provisions only the required number of Aurora read replicas. Custom CloudWatch metrics enable precise scaling decisions at the right time, preventing unnecessary resource wastage. Lambda functions incur costs only on an event-driven basis, further optimizing costs.

Read the Cost Optimization whitepaper 

The dynamic scaling capabilities of Aurora and Aurora Serverless v2 minimize environmental impact. These services provision only the resources required for actual workloads, preventing overprovisioning and wasted resources. By elastically scaling resources up and down based on actual demands, you can reduce energy consumption and associated carbon emissions.

Read the Sustainability whitepaper 

Implementation resources

The sample code is a starting point. It is industry validated, prescriptive but not definitive, and a peek under the hood to help you begin.
Open sample code on GitHub

Related content

How ktown4u built a custom auto scaling architecture using an Amazon Aurora mixed-configuration cluster to respond to sudden traffic spikes

This blog post demonstrates how ktown4u built a custom auto scaling architecture using an Amazon Aurora mixed-configuration cluster to respond to sudden traffic spikes.

Learn more

Disclaimer

The sample code; software libraries; command line tools; proofs of concept; templates; or other related technology (including any of the foregoing that are provided by our personnel) is provided to you as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement, or the relevant written agreement between you and AWS (whichever applies). You should not use this AWS Content in your production accounts, or on production or other critical data. You are responsible for testing, securing, and optimizing the AWS Content, such as sample code, as appropriate for production grade use based on your specific quality control practices and standards. Deploying AWS Content may incur AWS charges for creating or using AWS chargeable resources, such as running Amazon EC2 instances or using Amazon S3 storage.

References to third-party services or organizations in this Guidance do not imply an endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation between Amazon or AWS and the third party. Guidance from AWS is a technical starting point, and you can customize your integration with third-party services when you deploy the architecture.