2.5. Reflection Checkpoint: Core Architectural Design Patterns Mastery

You have now explored the core building blocks of AWS architecture: compute, storage, networking, and databases. You can evaluate different services within each category and understand the critical trade-offs involved in selecting the right tool for the job.

Scenario: You are tasked with designing a complete, three-tier web application. You must select the most appropriate services for the web/presentation tier (compute), the application/logic tier (compute), and the data tier (database and storage), ensuring all components can communicate securely and scale effectively.

Reflection Question: How does a change in requirements for one layer (e.g., choosing a serverless compute model for the application tier) influence your design choices for the other layers (e.g., database and storage), especially regarding data access patterns, consistency, and cost optimization? Provide a specific example.

Self-Assessment Prompts:

• Can you explain the difference between object, block, and file storage and name a primary AWS service for each?
• Are you confident in choosing between an "Application Load Balancer" and a "Network Load Balancer" based on specific application requirements?
• What are the key factors that would lead you to choose "DynamoDB" over "RDS", or vice-versa, for a given workload?
• Can you describe a basic, secure "VPC" layout with public and private subnets, including how traffic flows to/from the internet?

Storytelling Checksum: You've assembled your toolkit. You now have the essential components—the compute engines, the storage vaults, the network pathways, and the data libraries—ready to be combined into powerful, well-crafted solutions.