The Challenge

The customer was operating a production AWS environment with growing operational and security requirements. As workloads scaled, there was limited visibility into system health, inconsistent backup practices, and increasing cloud costs. The environment also required stronger security controls, audit readiness, and alignment with AWS best practices—without impacting application performance or availability.

Discovery

DevOps TechLab conducted a structured discovery and assessment phase to understand:

– Existing AWS infrastructure and workload patterns
– Security exposure at network and access levels
– Backup, monitoring, and logging gaps
– Cost drivers across compute, storage, and development environments

The assessment identified opportunities to improve network isolation, strengthen monitoring and backups, enforce security controls, and reduce unnecessary spend through right-sizing and scheduling.

Onboarding

The customer was onboarded into a structured AWS optimization framework:

– Review and validation of production workloads
– Definition of security, monitoring, and cost optimization scope
– Alignment on retention policies, access restrictions, and operational requirements
– All activities were planned with minimal disruption and validated before implementation.

Operations & Support

Post-implementation, DevOps TechLab ensured operational readiness by:

– Enabling CloudWatch alarms for CPU, memory, and disk utilization
– Configuring centralized logging and audit trails
– Establishing backup monitoring and retention validation
– Providing guidance for ongoing operational checks and alert handling

This ensured the environment could be monitored and managed proactively.

Optimisation & Advisory

Continuous optimization recommendations were implemented and advised:

– Reserved Instances for predictable production workloads
– Automated stopping of development servers during non-business hours
– Storage lifecycle policies to move infrequently accessed data to cost-effective tiers
– Ongoing cost and security review guidance

These measures reduced waste while maintaining reliability and performance.

Architecture Overview

The solution follows a secure, SMB-optimized AWS architecture:

– Dedicated VPC with public and private subnets
– Restricted network access using security groups and controlled SSH access
– EC2-based application workloads with automated backups
– Managed database backups with defined retention
– Centralized logging using CloudTrail and VPC Flow Logs
– Monitoring and alerting using Amazon CloudWatch

The architecture is designed for security, visibility, and cost efficiency.

Outcome

As a result of this engagement:

– Security posture was significantly improved
– Operational visibility increased with proactive monitoring
– Backup and audit readiness were strengthened
– AWS costs were reduced by approximately 25–35%
– The environment aligned with AWS Well-Architected best practices

AWS Best Practices Applied

– Least-privilege network access using security groups
– Centralized logging and audit trails
– Automated backups and retention policies
– Cost optimization through right-sizing and scheduling
– Monitoring and alerting for operational health

About DevOps TechLab

DevOps TechLab is an AWS-focused consulting and implementation partner helping Small and Medium Businesses design, secure, and optimize their cloud environments. We specialize in AWS security, cost optimization, monitoring, and production readiness using proven AWS best practices and hands-on expertise.