Design scalable three-tier web architectures on AWS

Three-tier architecture separates an application into distinct presentation, application, and data layers, helping teams improve scalability, resilience, and maintainability.

On this course, you’ll apply core AWS architecture principles to the design of a complete three-tier web application.

You’ll explore how networking, compute, load balancing, storage, and database services can be combined to support each layer of the architecture while considering availability, performance, security, and future growth.

Structure applications across three architectural tiers

Examine the role of the presentation, application, and data layers and how separating responsibilities can support more resilient cloud applications.

You’ll consider how traffic and data move between tiers and where different AWS services fit within the overall design.

Design for availability and changing demand

Explore how services such as Amazon EC2, load balancing, and scaling capabilities can help applications respond to fluctuating traffic and reduce the impact of individual component failures.

You’ll also consider how networking choices influence accessibility and resilience.

Connect applications to reliable data services

Consider how database and storage requirements shape the data tier, including how services such as Amazon RDS can support application workloads.

You’ll evaluate design choices around performance, availability, connectivity, and data protection.

By the end, you’ll understand how the individual layers of a three-tier application come together on AWS and be better equipped to assess and design scalable web architectures for real-world requirements.

Syllabus

Week 1
AWS Solutions Architect - Designing a Three-Tier Web Architecture
- Building a Proof of Concept (POC)
  In this activity, you will gather information regarding customer requirements and define network, compute, and storage specs to build an AWS proof-of-concept architecture.
- Validating Requirements
  In this activity, you will design a basic three-tier architecture to put your knowledge into practice by building a proof-of-concept database solution.
Week 2
AWS Solutions Architect - Designing a Containerized Architecture
- Designing a Containerized Architecture
  In this activity, you will explore AWS container fundamentals and services, design multi-region S3 storage solutions with robust access controls, and configure edge services like CloudFront, Route 53, and Global Accelerator.
- Designing Multi-Region Database Solutions
  In this activity, you will design a multi-region containerized architecture for a serverless application using AWS services like Amazon Aurora, Route 53, and Elastic Load Balancing.
- Working with Amazon Elastic Container Service
  In this activity, you will use Amazon ECS to create task definitions, launch an EC2-backed cluster, deploy and update containerized applications, and scale your cluster workloads.

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Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Identify the specific roles and functions of presentation, application, and data layers within a three-tier web architecture.
Describe how AWS compute, load balancing, and scaling capabilities respond to changing traffic demands.
Discuss database and storage service options, such as Amazon RDS, used to manage data layer workloads.
Explain how data and network traffic move securely and reliably between distinct architectural tiers.
Explore key design choices that improve system availability, data protection, and resilience against component failures.

Who is the course for?

This course is for learners with foundational AWS architecture knowledge who want to apply it to web application design. It is particularly relevant for aspiring solutions architects, cloud engineers, and technical professionals working with AWS.

Who developed the course?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS is the world’s most comprehensive cloud, enabling organizations to accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and scale more efficiently.

About this Professional Certificate

Progress from AWS architecture fundamentals to secure, scalable, serverless solutions and focused certification preparation.

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