New AWS Quick Start – Sitecore

UPDATE July 2020 – Please see this documentation  for the latest AWS Sitecore Quick Start.

Sitecore is a popular enterprise content management system that also includes a multi-channel marketing automation component with an architecture that is a great fit for the AWS cloud! It allows marketers to deliver a personalized experience that takes into account the customers’ prior interaction with the site and the brand (they call this feature Context Marketing).

Today we are publishing a new Sitecore Quick Start Reference Deployment.  This 19-page document will show you how to build an AWS cluster that is fault-tolerant and highly scalable. It builds on the information provided in the Sitecore Scaling Guide and recommends an architecture that uses the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Elastic Load Balancing, and Auto Scaling.

Using the AWS CloudFormation template referenced in the Quick Start, you can launch Sitecore into a Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) in a matter of minutes. The template creates a fully functional deployment of Sitecore 7.2 that runs on Windows Server 2012 R2. The production configuration runs in two Availability Zones:

You can use the template as-is, or you can copy it and then modify it as you see fit. If you decide to do this, the new CloudFormation Visual Designer may be helpful:

The Quick Start includes directions for setting up a test server along with some security guidelines. It also discusses the use of Amazon CloudFront to improve site performance and AWS Web Application Firewall to help improve application security.

— Jeff;