REL11-BP01: Monitor all components of the workload to detect failures
Comprehensive monitoring is the foundation of building resilient workloads. By implementing monitoring across all layers of your architecture - from infrastructure to application to business metrics - you can detect failures quickly and trigger appropriate recovery mechanisms before they impact users.
Implementation Steps
1. Infrastructure Monitoring
Set up monitoring for all infrastructure components including compute, storage, network, and database resources.
2. Application Performance Monitoring
Implement application-level monitoring to track performance metrics, error rates, and user experience indicators.
3. Business Metrics Monitoring
Monitor key business indicators that reflect the health and performance of your workload from a user perspective.
4. Synthetic Monitoring
Deploy synthetic transactions and canaries to proactively detect issues before real users are affected.
5. Log Aggregation and Analysis
Centralize logs from all components and implement automated analysis to detect patterns and anomalies.
Detailed Implementation
AWS Services
Primary Services
- Amazon CloudWatch: Core monitoring service for metrics, alarms, and dashboards
- Amazon CloudWatch Synthetics: Synthetic monitoring with canaries
- Amazon CloudWatch Logs: Log aggregation and analysis
- AWS X-Ray: Distributed tracing for application insights
Supporting Services
- Amazon SNS: Notification delivery for alerts
- AWS Lambda: Custom monitoring logic and automated responses
- Amazon EventBridge: Event-driven monitoring workflows
- AWS Systems Manager: Operational insights and parameter management
Benefits
- Early Detection: Identify issues before they impact users
- Comprehensive Coverage: Monitor all layers from infrastructure to business metrics
- Automated Response: Trigger recovery mechanisms automatically
- Operational Insights: Gain deep understanding of system behavior
- Compliance: Meet monitoring requirements for regulatory standards