AWS Lift and Shift Migration Project

A comprehensive Terraform-based solution for migrating 2-tier web applications from on-premises to AWS cloud infrastructure using industry best practices.

Overview

This project automates the migration of traditional web applications to AWS using a lift-and-shift approach. It includes complete infrastructure provisioning, database migration, and monitoring setup using Infrastructure as Code principles.

Architecture

View the detailed Architecture Documentation for comprehensive diagrams and technical specifications.

Key Components

• VPC: Multi-AZ networking with public/private subnets
• Application Load Balancer: Traffic distribution with health checks
• EC2 Instances: Auto-scalable web servers
• RDS MySQL: Managed database with automated backups
• S3: Object storage for application files
• CloudWatch: Comprehensive monitoring and alerting
• DMS: Database migration service
• Secrets Manager: Secure credential storage

Features

Production-Ready Infrastructure

• Multi-AZ high availability deployment
• Auto Scaling Groups for dynamic capacity
• Automated backups and disaster recovery
• SSL/TLS encryption and security best practices
• Cost-optimized resource allocation

Migration Tools

• Database Migration Service (DMS) for MySQL migration
• Application Migration Service (MGN) launch templates
• Automated file migration to S3
• Zero-downtime migration capabilities

Monitoring & Observability

• CloudWatch dashboards and custom metrics
• Automated alerting via SNS
• Log aggregation and analysis
• Performance monitoring and optimization

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• AWS CLI configured with appropriate permissions
• Terraform >= 1.0 installed
• SSH key pair created in AWS

Deployment

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/Copubah/aws-lift-shift-migration.git
   cd aws-lift-shift-migration

2. Configure variables

   cp terraform/terraform.tfvars.example terraform/terraform.tfvars
   # Edit terraform.tfvars with your specific values

3. Deploy infrastructure

   ./scripts/deploy.sh

4. Monitor deployment

   ./scripts/monitoring.sh health

Configuration

Required Variables

project_name = "your-project-name"
environment  = "dev"
aws_region   = "us-east-1"
key_pair_name = "your-key-pair"

# Source database for migration
source_db_endpoint = "192.168.1.100"
source_db_username = "root"
source_db_password = "your-password"

Optional Customizations

# Instance sizing
instance_type = "t3.medium"
db_instance_class = "db.t3.small"

# Network configuration
vpc_cidr = "10.0.0.0/16"

# Monitoring
alert_email = "alerts@yourcompany.com"

Project Structure

├── README.md                    # This file
├── ARCHITECTURE.md              # Architecture diagrams and details
├── PROJECT_STRUCTURE.md         # Detailed project structure
├── scripts/                     # Automation scripts
│   ├── deploy.sh               # Main deployment script
│   └── monitoring.sh           # Health monitoring script
└── terraform/                  # Infrastructure as Code
    ├── main.tf                 # Main configuration
    ├── variables.tf            # Variable definitions
    ├── outputs.tf              # Output values
    ├── terraform.tfvars.example # Example configuration
    ├── user_data.sh            # EC2 initialization script
    └── modules/                # Terraform modules
        ├── vpc/                # VPC and networking
        ├── security/           # Security groups
        ├── rds/               # Database configuration
        ├── s3/                # Storage buckets
        ├── alb/               # Load balancer
        ├── iam/               # IAM roles and policies
        ├── cloudwatch/        # Monitoring and alerting
        └── dms/               # Database migration service

Operations

Deployment Commands

# Full deployment
./scripts/deploy.sh

# Plan only (no changes)
./scripts/deploy.sh plan

# Destroy infrastructure
./scripts/deploy.sh destroy

Monitoring Commands

# Check all components
./scripts/monitoring.sh health

# Check specific components
./scripts/monitoring.sh alb
./scripts/monitoring.sh rds
./scripts/monitoring.sh ec2

# Generate health report
./scripts/monitoring.sh report

Security

Implemented Security Features

• Network segmentation with private subnets
• Security groups with least privilege access
• Encryption at rest and in transit
• AWS Secrets Manager for credential storage
• VPC Flow Logs for network monitoring
• Automated security patching

Security Best Practices

• Enable AWS Config for compliance monitoring
• Implement AWS GuardDuty for threat detection
• Use AWS Systems Manager for patch management
• Enable CloudTrail for API logging
• Regular security assessments

Cost Optimization

• Right-sized instances by environment
• S3 lifecycle policies for storage optimization
• Automated resource tagging for cost allocation
• Reserved Instance recommendations
• CloudWatch billing alarms

Migration Process

Database Migration

1. Create DMS replication instance
2. Configure source and target endpoints
3. Start full load and CDC replication
4. Monitor migration progress and validate data

Server Migration

1. Install MGN agent on source servers
2. Configure launch templates
3. Test and cutover instances
4. Validate application functionality

File Migration

1. Sync existing files to S3
2. Update application configuration
3. Implement S3 SDK integration
4. Test file upload/download functionality

Monitoring

Access the CloudWatch dashboard after deployment:

terraform output cloudwatch_dashboard_url

Key Metrics Monitored

• Application response times
• Database performance and connections
• Infrastructure utilization
• Error rates and availability
• Cost and resource usage

Support

Troubleshooting

• Check CloudWatch logs for application errors
• Verify security group configurations
• Monitor DMS task status for database migration
• Review target group health for load balancer issues

Documentation

• Terraform Documentation
• Project Structure
• Architecture Details

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Portfolio Value

This project demonstrates:

• Cloud architecture and migration expertise
• Infrastructure as Code best practices
• DevOps automation and monitoring
• AWS security implementation
• Real-world migration scenarios
• Operational excellence principles

Perfect for showcasing cloud engineering skills in technical interviews and portfolio presentations.