AWS Infrastructure Skill

Purpose

Build production-grade AWS infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/CDK) following cloud-native best practices, security, and cost optimization.

When to Use This Skill

Auto-activates when working with:

• Terraform configurations
• AWS CDK applications
• CloudFormation templates
• AWS service configuration
• Infrastructure automation
• Multi-account AWS setups
• Security and compliance
• Cost optimization

Core Principles

1. Infrastructure as Code

• Version control all infrastructure
• Modular, reusable components
• Automated deployment
• State management

2. Security by Design

• Least privilege IAM
• Encryption at rest and in transit
• Network segmentation
• Audit logging

3. Cost Optimization

• Right-sizing resources
• Auto-scaling
• Reserved instances
• Lifecycle policies

Quick Start Examples

Terraform Project Structure

infrastructure/
├── terraform/
│   ├── environments/
│   │   ├── dev/
│   │   │   ├── main.tf
│   │   │   ├── variables.tf
│   │   │   └── terraform.tfvars
│   │   ├── staging/
│   │   └── prod/
│   ├── modules/
│   │   ├── vpc/
│   │   ├── eks/
│   │   ├── rds/
│   │   └── s3-data-lake/
│   └── shared/
│       └── backend.tf

VPC Module (Terraform)

# modules/vpc/main.tf
resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
  cidr_block           = var.vpc_cidr
  enable_dns_hostnames = true
  enable_dns_support   = true

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-vpc"
  })
}

# Public subnets
resource "aws_subnet" "public" {
  count                   = length(var.public_subnet_cidrs)
  vpc_id                  = aws_vpc.main.id
  cidr_block              = var.public_subnet_cidrs[count.index]
  availability_zone       = data.aws_availability_zones.available.names[count.index]
  map_public_ip_on_launch = true

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-public-subnet-${count.index + 1}"
    "kubernetes.io/role/elb" = "1"  # For EKS
  })
}

# Private subnets
resource "aws_subnet" "private" {
  count             = length(var.private_subnet_cidrs)
  vpc_id            = aws_vpc.main.id
  cidr_block        = var.private_subnet_cidrs[count.index]
  availability_zone = data.aws_availability_zones.available.names[count.index]

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-private-subnet-${count.index + 1}"
    "kubernetes.io/role/internal-elb" = "1"  # For EKS
  })
}

# Internet Gateway
resource "aws_internet_gateway" "main" {
  vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-igw"
  })
}

# NAT Gateway
resource "aws_eip" "nat" {
  count  = var.enable_nat_gateway ? length(var.public_subnet_cidrs) : 0
  domain = "vpc"

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-nat-eip-${count.index + 1}"
  })
}

resource "aws_nat_gateway" "main" {
  count         = var.enable_nat_gateway ? length(var.public_subnet_cidrs) : 0
  allocation_id = aws_eip.nat[count.index].id
  subnet_id     = aws_subnet.public[count.index].id

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-nat-${count.index + 1}"
  })
}

# Route tables
resource "aws_route_table" "public" {
  vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id

  route {
    cidr_block = "0.0.0.0/0"
    gateway_id = aws_internet_gateway.main.id
  }

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-public-rt"
  })
}

resource "aws_route_table" "private" {
  count  = length(var.private_subnet_cidrs)
  vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id

  route {
    cidr_block     = "0.0.0.0/0"
    nat_gateway_id = aws_nat_gateway.main[count.index].id
  }

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = "${var.environment}-private-rt-${count.index + 1}"
  })
}

EKS Cluster (Terraform)

# modules/eks/main.tf
resource "aws_eks_cluster" "main" {
  name     = "${var.environment}-eks-cluster"
  role_arn = aws_iam_role.eks_cluster.arn
  version  = var.kubernetes_version

  vpc_config {
    subnet_ids              = var.subnet_ids
    endpoint_private_access = true
    endpoint_public_access  = true
    public_access_cidrs     = var.cluster_endpoint_public_access_cidrs

    security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.eks_cluster.id]
  }

  encryption_config {
    provider {
      key_arn = aws_kms_key.eks.arn
    }
    resources = ["secrets"]
  }

  enabled_cluster_log_types = ["api", "audit", "authenticator", "controllerManager", "scheduler"]

  depends_on = [
    aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.eks_cluster_policy,
    aws_cloudwatch_log_group.eks,
  ]

  tags = var.tags
}

# Node group
resource "aws_eks_node_group" "main" {
  cluster_name    = aws_eks_cluster.main.name
  node_group_name = "${var.environment}-node-group"
  node_role_arn   = aws_iam_role.eks_nodes.arn
  subnet_ids      = var.private_subnet_ids

  scaling_config {
    desired_size = var.desired_size
    max_size     = var.max_size
    min_size     = var.min_size
  }

  instance_types = var.instance_types
  capacity_type  = var.capacity_type  # ON_DEMAND or SPOT

  update_config {
    max_unavailable_percentage = 33
  }

  labels = {
    Environment = var.environment
    ManagedBy   = "terraform"
  }

  tags = var.tags

  depends_on = [
    aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.eks_worker_node_policy,
    aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.eks_cni_policy,
    aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.eks_container_registry_policy,
  ]
}

S3 Data Lake Bucket (Terraform)

# modules/s3-data-lake/main.tf
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "data_lake" {
  bucket = "${var.environment}-data-lake-${var.bucket_suffix}"

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name        = "${var.environment}-data-lake"
    Purpose     = "Data Lake Storage"
    Environment = var.environment
  })
}

# Versioning
resource "aws_s3_bucket_versioning" "data_lake" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data_lake.id

  versioning_configuration {
    status = "Enabled"
  }
}

# Encryption
resource "aws_s3_bucket_server_side_encryption_configuration" "data_lake" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data_lake.id

  rule {
    apply_server_side_encryption_by_default {
      sse_algorithm     = "aws:kms"
      kms_master_key_id = aws_kms_key.data_lake.arn
    }
    bucket_key_enabled = true
  }
}

# Lifecycle policy
resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "data_lake" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data_lake.id

  rule {
    id     = "archive-old-data"
    status = "Enabled"

    transition {
      days          = 90
      storage_class = "INTELLIGENT_TIERING"
    }

    transition {
      days          = 180
      storage_class = "GLACIER"
    }

    expiration {
      days = 365
    }

    noncurrent_version_expiration {
      noncurrent_days = 30
    }
  }

  rule {
    id     = "delete-temp-data"
    status = "Enabled"

    filter {
      prefix = "temp/"
    }

    expiration {
      days = 7
    }
  }
}

# Block public access
resource "aws_s3_bucket_public_access_block" "data_lake" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data_lake.id

  block_public_acls       = true
  block_public_policy     = true
  ignore_public_acls      = true
  restrict_public_buckets = true
}

# Bucket policy
resource "aws_s3_bucket_policy" "data_lake" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data_lake.id

  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Sid    = "DenyInsecureTransport"
        Effect = "Deny"
        Principal = "*"
        Action = "s3:*"
        Resource = [
          aws_s3_bucket.data_lake.arn,
          "${aws_s3_bucket.data_lake.arn}/*"
        ]
        Condition = {
          Bool = {
            "aws:SecureTransport" = "false"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  })
}

RDS Database (Terraform)

# modules/rds/main.tf
resource "aws_db_instance" "main" {
  identifier = "${var.environment}-${var.db_name}"

  engine               = "postgres"
  engine_version       = "15.4"
  instance_class       = var.instance_class
  allocated_storage    = var.allocated_storage
  storage_type         = "gp3"
  storage_encrypted    = true
  kms_key_id           = aws_kms_key.rds.arn

  db_name  = var.db_name
  username = var.master_username
  password = random_password.master.result

  vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.rds.id]
  db_subnet_group_name   = aws_db_subnet_group.main.name

  backup_retention_period = var.backup_retention_period
  backup_window           = "03:00-04:00"
  maintenance_window      = "mon:04:00-mon:05:00"

  enabled_cloudwatch_logs_exports = ["postgresql", "upgrade"]
  performance_insights_enabled    = true
  performance_insights_retention_period = 7

  deletion_protection = var.environment == "prod" ? true : false
  skip_final_snapshot = var.environment == "prod" ? false : true
  final_snapshot_identifier = "${var.environment}-${var.db_name}-final-snapshot"

  tags = var.tags
}

Resource Files

resources/terraform-best-practices.md

• Module design
• State management
• Variable patterns
• Testing strategies

resources/aws-cdk-patterns.md

• CDK constructs
• TypeScript patterns
• Testing CDK apps
• Custom constructs

resources/security-compliance.md

• IAM least privilege
• Encryption strategies
• Network security
• Compliance automation

resources/cost-optimization.md

• Right-sizing
• Spot instances
• Reserved capacity
• Cost monitoring

resources/multi-account-strategy.md

• AWS Organizations
• Account structure
• Cross-account access
• Centralized logging

Best Practices

• Use remote state with locking (S3 + DynamoDB)
• Implement modules for reusability
• Tag all resources consistently
• Enable encryption by default
• Use IAM roles over access keys
• Implement least privilege access
• Enable CloudTrail and Config
• Use VPC endpoints for AWS services
• Implement backup and disaster recovery
• Monitor costs with budgets and alerts
• Use infrastructure testing (Terratest)
• Implement CI/CD for infrastructure
• Document architecture decisions

Common Patterns

Multi-Environment Setup

# environments/prod/main.tf
module "vpc" {
  source = "../../modules/vpc"

  environment = "prod"
  vpc_cidr    = "10.0.0.0/16"

  public_subnet_cidrs  = ["10.0.1.0/24", "10.0.2.0/24", "10.0.3.0/24"]
  private_subnet_cidrs = ["10.0.11.0/24", "10.0.12.0/24", "10.0.13.0/24"]

  tags = local.common_tags
}

Remote State

terraform {
  backend "s3" {
    bucket         = "terraform-state-bucket"
    key            = "prod/vpc/terraform.tfstate"
    region         = "us-east-1"
    encrypt        = true
    dynamodb_table = "terraform-state-lock"
  }
}

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Status: Production-Ready Last Updated: 2025-11-04 Focus: Security, scalability, cost optimization