Role: Cloud Engineer – Portfolio Project
Objective: Migrate a legacy static web application created in 2021 from Netlify (PaaS) to AWS, implementing a fully serverless 3-tier architecture with CI/CD automation.
Live Site: https://www.smithanddaughters.org
GitHub Repository: https://github.com/tsmith173/TanishaSite
User Browser
↓
Amazon S3 (Static Website)
↓
API Gateway (REST API)
↓
AWS Lambda (Python Function)
↓
DynamoDB (Form Data Storage)
CI/CD Flow:
GitHub → CodePipeline → S3 (Auto-deployment)
Security:
IAM Roles → Lambda & CodePipeline Permissions
Frontend Tier
- Amazon S3: Static website hosting
- Content: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Application Tier
- API Gateway: RESTful API endpoints (
POST /contact,OPTIONS /contact) - AWS Lambda: Serverless Python function for form processing
Data Tier
- DynamoDB: NoSQL database for persistent storage
DevOps Pipeline
- GitHub: Source code repository
- CodePipeline: Automated CI/CD deployments
Security Layer
- IAM: Role-based access control for all services
---
## 📊 Technical Architecture
### **Frontend Layer**
- **Amazon S3**: Static website hosting with public access
- **Bucket**: `tanisha-smith-portfolio`
- **Content**: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (ES6+)
### **CI/CD Pipeline**
- **AWS CodePipeline**: Automated deployment from GitHub to S3
- **Pipeline Name**: `tanisha-portfolio-cicd`
- **Trigger**: Manual release (webhook configuration available)
- **Deployment Time**: ~2 minutes
### **Backend Layer (Serverless)**
- **Amazon API Gateway**: HTTP API for RESTful endpoints
- `POST /contact` - Form submission endpoint
- `OPTIONS /contact` - CORS preflight handling
- **AWS Lambda**: Serverless compute function
- **Runtime**: Python 3.12
- **Function**: `ContactFormHandler`
- **Features**: Form validation, data transformation, CORS handling
### **Data Layer**
- **Amazon DynamoDB**: NoSQL database for form submissions
- **Table**: `ContactFormSubmissions`
- **Pricing Model**: On-demand (pay-per-request)
- **Primary Key**: `submissionId` (UUID)
### **Security & Access**
- **AWS IAM**: Role-based access control
- Lambda execution role with DynamoDB permissions
- CodePipeline service role
- S3 bucket policy for public read access
---
## 💻 Technology Stack
### **AWS Services** (7 total)
- Amazon S3 (Storage & Hosting)
- AWS CodePipeline (CI/CD)
- AWS Lambda (Serverless Compute)
- Amazon API Gateway (REST API)
- Amazon DynamoDB (NoSQL Database)
- Amazon SES (Email Service - Sandbox)
- AWS IAM (Identity & Access Management)
### **Development**
- **Frontend**: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (Fetch API)
- **Backend**: Python 3.12
- **Data Format**: JSON
- **Version Control**: Git/GitHub
- **Documentation**: Markdown, Mermaid diagrams
---
## 🚀 Features
### ✅ Implemented
- Static website hosting on S3 with custom error pages
- CI/CD pipeline for automated deployments
- Serverless contact form with real-time submission
- NoSQL data persistence in DynamoDB
- CORS-enabled API for cross-origin requests
- Form validation and error handling
- IAM role-based security
### 🔄 In Progress
- CloudFront CDN for global content delivery
- Custom domain configuration (Route 53)
- SSL/TLS certificate management
- Email notifications (pending SES production access)
---
## 📋 Project Management
This project follows **Agile methodology** with sprint-based development.
**Project Board:** [View on GitHub Projects](../../projects)
### Completed Sprints
**Sprint 1: Infrastructure Setup** ✅
- Created S3 bucket with static hosting
- Configured public access policies
- Deployed initial static assets
**Sprint 2: CI/CD Implementation** ✅
- Set up CodePipeline
- Connected GitHub repository
- Configured automated S3 deployment
**Sprint 3: Serverless Backend** ✅
- Created Lambda function
- Configured API Gateway routes
- Integrated DynamoDB
- Resolved CORS configuration
### Future Enhancements
- CloudFront distribution for CDN
- Route 53 DNS management
- Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/CloudFormation)
- Automated testing pipeline
- CloudWatch monitoring and alerts
---
## 🛠️ Setup Instructions
### Prerequisites
- AWS Account with appropriate permissions
- GitHub Account
- Git installed locally
- AWS CLI configured (optional)
### Deployment Steps
**1. Clone Repository**
```bash
git clone https://github.com/tsmith173/TanishaSite.git
cd TanishaSite
2. Create S3 Bucket
- Bucket name:
your-unique-bucket-name - Region: US East (N. Virginia)
- Enable static website hosting
- Configure bucket policy for public access
3. Set Up CodePipeline
- Create pipeline connected to GitHub repository
- Configure deployment to S3 bucket
- Enable automatic deployments on push
4. Create DynamoDB Table
- Table name:
ContactFormSubmissions - Partition key:
submissionId(String) - Capacity mode: On-demand
5. Deploy Lambda Function
- Runtime: Python 3.12
- Add DynamoDB permissions to execution role
- Deploy function code
6. Configure API Gateway
- Create HTTP API
- Add routes:
POST /contact,OPTIONS /contact - Connect to Lambda function
- Enable CORS
7. Update Contact Form
- Replace API endpoint in
Contact.html - Test form submission
✅ AWS service configuration and integration
✅ Serverless architecture design
✅ Infrastructure deployment and management
✅ Cost optimization strategies
✅ CI/CD pipeline implementation
✅ Automated deployment workflows
✅ Version control with Git/GitHub
✅ Infrastructure documentation
✅ RESTful API development
✅ Backend logic with Python
✅ Frontend JavaScript integration
✅ JSON data manipulation
✅ CORS troubleshooting and resolution
✅ API Gateway integration debugging
✅ IAM permission configuration
✅ Systematic debugging approach
✅ Agile sprint planning
✅ Issue tracking and documentation
✅ Technical specification writing
✅ Kanban board management
Monthly Operating Cost: ~$0.05 - $0.50
- S3: ~$0.023/GB storage + $0.09/GB transfer (minimal for portfolio site)
- Lambda: First 1M requests free, then $0.20/1M requests
- DynamoDB: On-demand pricing, ~$0.25 per million writes
- API Gateway: First 1M requests free, then $1.00/1M requests
- CodePipeline: First pipeline free
Free Tier Coverage: This project operates entirely within AWS Free Tier limits for the first 12 months.
- IAM role-based access control with least privilege principle
- S3 bucket policies for controlled public access
- CORS configuration to prevent unauthorized API access
- Environment-specific configuration management
- No hardcoded credentials in code
- Separate execution roles for each service
- Public access limited to static assets only
- API Gateway rate limiting (default)
- CORS Configuration: Understanding preflight OPTIONS requests is critical for cross-origin API calls
- Case Sensitivity: S3 object keys are case-sensitive; maintain consistent file naming
- IAM Permissions: Lambda functions require explicit permissions for each AWS service they access
- API Gateway Integration: HTTP APIs differ from REST APIs in configuration and features
- Testing Strategy: Test each layer independently before integration
- Documentation: Clear issue tracking prevents context-switching overhead
- Iterative Development: Sprint-based approach allows for manageable complexity
- Troubleshooting: Browser developer tools are essential for debugging API calls
- AWS Lambda Developer Guide
- Amazon S3 User Guide
- API Gateway Developer Guide
- DynamoDB Developer Guide
This project was developed as a portfolio piece demonstrating cloud engineering and DevOps capabilities for junior-level cloud positions.
Project Timeline: December 2024
Development Time: 6-8 hours
Status: Production-ready (Phase 1 complete)
- GitHub: @tsmith173
- Email: tansmith@gmail.com
- Portfolio: Live Demo
This project is available for educational and portfolio demonstration purposes.
- AWS Free Tier for providing accessible cloud resources
- GitHub for project management and version control tools
- Open source community for documentation and best practices
⭐ If you found this project helpful, please consider starring the repository!