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The company should use infrastructure as code (IaC) to provision the new infrastructure in the DR Region. The company should create a cross-Region read replica for the DB instance. The company should set up AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery to continuously replicate the EC2 instances to the DR Region. The company should run the EC2 instances at the minimum capacity in the DR Region. The company should use an Amazon Route 53 failover routing policy to automatically fail over to the DR Region in the event of a disaster. The company should increase the desired capacity of the Auto Scaling group. This solution will meet the requirements most cost-effectively because AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (AWS DRS) is a service that minimizes downtime and data loss with fast, reliable recovery of on-premises and cloud-based applications using affordable storage, minimal compute, and point-in-time recovery. AWS DRS enables RPOs of seconds and RTOs of minutes1. AWS DRS continuously replicates data from the source servers to a staging area subnet in the DR Region, where it uses low-cost storage and minimal compute resources to maintain ongoing replication. In the event of a disaster, AWS DRS automatically converts the servers to boot and run natively on AWS and launches recovery instances on AWS within minutes2. By using AWS DRS, the company can save costs by removing idle recovery site resources and paying for the full disaster recovery site only when needed. By creating a cross-Region read replica for the DB instance, the company can have a standby copy of its primary database in a different AWS Region3. By using infrastructure as code (IaC), the company can provision the new infrastructure in the DR Region in an automated and consistent way4. By using an Amazon Route 53 failover routing policy, the company can route traffic to a resource that is healthy or to another resource when the first resource becomes unavailable.

The other options are not correct because:

Using AWS Backup to create cross-Region backups for the EC2 instances and the DB instance would not meet the RPO and RTO requirements. AWS Backup is a service that enables you to centralize and automate data protection across AWS services. You can use AWS Backup to back up your application data across AWS services in your account and across accounts. However, AWS Backup does not provide continuous replication or fast recovery; it creates backups at scheduled intervalsand requires manual restoration. Creating backups every 30 seconds would also incur high costs and network bandwidth.

Creating an Amazon API Gateway Data API service integration with Amazon Redshift would not help with disaster recovery. The Data API is a feature that enables you to query your Amazon Redshift cluster using HTTP requests, without needing a persistent connection or a SQL client. It is useful for building applications that interact with Amazon Redshift, but not for replicating or recovering data.

Creating an AWS Data Exchange datashare by connecting AWS Data Exchange to the Redshift cluster would not help with disaster recovery. AWS Data Exchange is a service that makes it easy for AWS customers to exchange data in the cloud. You can use AWS Data Exchange to subscribe to a diverse selection of third-party data products or offer your own data products to other AWS customers. A datashare is a feature that enables you to share live and secure access to your Amazon Redshift data across your accounts or with third parties without copying or moving the underlying data. It is useful for sharing query results and views with other users, but not for replicating or recovering data.

This option allows the solutions architect to use Aurora global database to replicate data across multiple AWS Regions with low latency and high availability1. By launching the solution in the target Region, the solutions architect can ensure that the API Gateway, Lambda functions, and other resources are ready to serve traffic in case of a disaster in the source Region. By configuring the two Regional solutions to work in an active-passive configuration, the solutions architect can minimize costs and avoid data conflicts by having only one primary Region that accepts write operations and one secondary Region that serves as a standby2. The RTO and RPO requirements can be met by using Aurora global database, which supports sub-second failover times and near real-time replication1.

Working with Amazon Aurora global database

Active-passive failover

Setting up an AWS Client VPN endpoint and integrating it with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) using an AD Connector directory enables secure remote access to internal services deployed in a VPC. Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) for AD Connector enhances security by adding an additional layer of authentication. This solution meets the company ' s requirements for secure remote access through a VPN with MFA, ensuring that the security policy is adhered to while providing a seamless experience for the remote engineers.

AWS Documentation on AWS Client VPN and AD Connector provides detailed instructions on setting up a Client VPN endpoint and integrating it with existing Active Directory for authentication. This solution aligns with AWS best practices for secure remote access to AWS resources.

The company should create a second target group that is referenced by the ALB. The company should deploy the new logic to EC2 instances in this new target group. The company should update the ALB listener rule to use weighted target groups. The company should configure ALB target group stickiness. This solution will meet the requirements because weighted target groups are a feature that enables you to distribute traffic across multiple target groups using a single listener rule. You can specify a weight for each target group, which determines the percentage of requests that are routed to that target group. For example, if you specify two target groups, each with a weight of 10, each target group receives half the requests1. By creating a second target group and deploying the new logic to EC2 instances in this new target group, the company can have two versions of its business logic running in parallel. By updating the ALB listener rule to use weighted target groups,the company can control how much traffic is sent to each version. By configuring ALB target group stickiness, the company can ensure that a customer uses the same version of the business logic during the testing window. Target group stickiness is a feature that enables you to bind a user’s session to a specific target within a target group for the duration of the session2.

The other options are not correct because:

Creating a second ALB and deploying the new logic to a set of EC2 instances in a new Auto Scaling group would not be as cost-effective or simple as using weighted target groups. A second ALB would incur additional charges and require more configuration and management. Updating the Route 53 record to use weighted routing would not ensure that a customer uses the same version of the business logic during the testing window, as DNS caching could affect how requests are routed.

Creating a new launch configuration for the Auto Scaling group and replacing it on the Auto Scaling group would not allow for gradual traffic shifting between versions. A launch configuration is a template that an Auto Scaling group uses to launch EC2 instances. You can specify information such as the AMI ID, instance type, key pair, security groups, and block device mapping for your instances3. However, replacing the launch configuration on an Auto Scaling group would affect all instances in that group, not just 10% of customers.

Creating a second Auto Scaling group and changing the ALB routing algorithm to least outstanding requests (LOR) would not allow for controlled traffic shifting between versions. A second Auto Scaling group would require more configuration and management. The LOR routing algorithm is a feature that enables you to route traffic based on how quickly targets respond to requests. The load balancer selects a target from the target group with the fewest outstanding requests4. However, this algorithm does not take into account customer sessions or weights.

Option C is correct because AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager is the AWS-native service for scalable patch management across managed instances. Patch baselines define approved patches, while delegated administration and OU targeting allow centralized control across many accounts in AWS Organizations. Applying patches first to the non- production OU and then to the production OU with approval gates satisfies the security policy and reduces rollout risk. Systems Manager Compliance and AWS CloudTrail provide auditability for patch status and administrative actions. Option A relies heavily on custom Automation and EventBridge logic, which increases overhead. Option B requires account-by-account configuration and does not scale cleanly across thousands of instances. Option D uses AWS Config for detection, but Config does not provide full patch orchestration by itself.

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/autoscaling/ec2/userguide/create-asg-instance-type-requirements.html#use-attribute-based-instance-type-selection-prerequisites

Cross region with AWS Backup:https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/cross-region-backup.html

Deploying the application on Amazon EKS with managed node groups simplifies the operational overhead of managing the Kubernetes cluster. Running the web servers and application as Kubernetes deployments ensures that the desired number of pods are always running and can scale up or down as needed. Storing the frontend web server session data in an Amazon DynamoDB table provides a fast, scalable, and durable storage option that can be accessed across multiple Availability Zones. Creating an Amazon EFS volume that all applications will mount at the time of deployment allows the application to share data that is frequently accessed between the web and application tiers. References:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/managed-node-groups.html

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/deployments.html

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/Introduction.html

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/efs/latest/ug/mounting-fs.html

GitHub Webhooks to Trigger CodePipeline:

Configure GitHub webhooks to trigger the AWS CodePipeline pipeline. This ensures that every code push to the repository automatically triggers the pipeline, initiating the build and deployment process.

Unit Testing with Jenkins and AWS CodeBuild:

Use Jenkins integrated with the AWS CodeBuild plugin to perform unit testing. Jenkins will manage the build process, and the results will be handled by CodeBuild.

Notifications for Bad Builds:

Configure Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service) to send alerts for any failed builds. This keeps the engineering team informed of build issues immediately, allowing for quick resolutions.

Blue/Green Deployment with AWS CodeDeploy:

Utilize AWS CodeDeploy with a blue/green deployment strategy. This method reduces downtime and risk by running two identical production environments (blue and green). CodeDeploy shifts traffic between these environments, allowing you to test in the new environment (green) while the old environment (blue) remains live. If issues arise, you can quickly roll back to the previous environment.

This solution provides seamless, zero-downtime deployments, and the ability to quickly roll back changes if necessary, fulfilling the requirements of the startup company.

References

AWS DevOps Blog on Integrating Jenkins with AWS CodeBuild and CodeDeploy【32】.

Plain English Guide to AWS CodePipeline with GitHub【33】.

Jenkins Plugin for AWS CodePipeline【34】.

Amazon Connect is a cloud-based contact center service that allows you to set up a virtual call center for your business. It provides an easy-to-use interface for managing customer interactions through voice and chat. Amazon Connect integrates with other AWS services, such as Amazon S3 and Amazon Kinesis, to help you collect, store, and analyze customer data for insights into customer behavior and trends. On the other hand, Amazon Pinpoint is a marketing automation and analytics service that allows you to engage with your customers across different channels, such as email, SMS, push notifications, and voice. It helps you create personalized campaigns based on userbehavior and enables you to track user engagement and retention. While both services allow you to communicate with your customers, they serve different purposes. Amazon Connect is focused on customer support and service, while Amazon Pinpoint is focused on marketing and engagement.

Aurora Auto Scaling enables your Aurora DB cluster to handle sudden increases in connectivity or workload. When the connectivity or workload decreases, Aurora AutoScaling removes unnecessary Aurora Replicas so that you don ' t pay for unused provisioned DB instances

https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/hands-on/move-to-managed/migrate-mongodb-to-documentdb/

This solution will meet the requirement with the least operational overhead because it directly denies the creation of the security group inbound rule with 0.0.0.0/0 as the source, which is the exact requirement. Additionally, it does not require any additional steps or resources such as invoking a Lambda function or adding a Config rule.

An SCP (Service Control Policy) is a policy that you can use to set fine-grained permissions for your AWS accounts within your organization. You can use SCPs to set permissions for the root user of an account and to delegate permissions to IAM users and roles in the accounts. You can use SCPs to set permissions that allow or deny access to specific services, actions, and resources.

To implement this solution, you would need to create an SCP that denies the ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress action when the value of the aws:SourceIp condition key is 0.0.0.0/0. This SCP would then be applied to the NonProd OU. This would ensure that any security group inbound rule that includes 0.0.0.0/0 as the source will be denied, thus meeting the requirement.

By splitting the 12 instances across three Availability Zones, the system can maintain high availability and availability of resources in case of a failure. Option D also uses a combination of On-Demand Instances with Capacity Reservations and Spot Instances, which allows for scheduled jobs to be run on the On-Demand instances with guaranteed capacity, while also taking advantage of the cost savings from Spot Instances for the user jobs which have lower SLA requirements.

Utilizing an IP access control group rule with the list of public addresses from branch offices and associating it with the Amazon WorkSpaces directory is the most operationally efficient solution. This method ensures that access to WorkSpaces is restricted to specified locations, aligning with the corporate security policy. This approach offers simplicity and flexibility, especially with the potential addition of a new branch office, as updating the IP access control group is straightforward.

AWS Documentation on Amazon WorkSpaces and IP Access Control Groups provides detailed instructions on how to implement access restrictions based on IP addresses. This solution aligns with best practices for securing virtual desktops while maintaining operational efficiency.