Portfolio Details

  • Home
  • /
  • Building a Secure and Scalable Serverless Web Application on AWS Using Terraform and Okta

Building a Secure and Scalable Serverless Web Application on AWS Using Terraform and Okta

Project Overview:

Unified Technologies was engaged by an American multinational manufacturing company involved in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of electronic circuit board assemblies and systems. The client sought to build a secure, scalable web application to improve internal operations and facilitate data-driven decision-making. The application, a Single Page Application (SPA), would be hosted on Amazon S3, with Okta as the Identity Provider (IdP) to authenticate users. The backend logic would be managed using AWS Lambda, accessed through Amazon API Gateway, while Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL would be used for data persistence.

Challenges:

  • User Authentication and Authorization: Ensuring secure, seamless authentication through Okta while providing access control to backend resources.
  • Scalable and Reliable API Management: Creating a single entry point that effectively routes requests and scales with demand.
  • Data Management: Building a robust and scalable data layer using Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL.
  • Performance and Cost Efficiency: Balancing performance requirements with cost management using a serverless architecture.
  • High Availability and Fault Tolerance: Designing the application to be resilient and highly available to support business continuity.

Objectives:

  • Secure User Authentication: Integrate Okta as the primary Identity Provider for secure user authentication and authorization.
  • Scalable Backend Services: Implement a serverless backend using AWS Lambda to handle dynamic business logic without infrastructure overhead.
  • Efficient Data Management: Use Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL to ensure scalable and secure data storage.
  • Cost Optimization: Leverage AWS’s serverless and managed services to optimize costs.
  • High Availability: Ensure the application is highly available and can scale automatically to meet fluctuating user demands.

Solution Design and Implementation:

  • Static Website Hosting:
    • The SPA content (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) is hosted on Amazon S3 with static website hosting enabled, allowing fast and secure delivery of frontend resources.
    • Amazon CloudFront is configured to serve as a CDN, caching content globally to reduce latency and improve user experience.
  • Authentication with Okta:
    • Okta is integrated as the Identity Provider (IdP) using OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect (OIDC) for secure user authentication.
    • The SPA uses the Okta SDK to authenticate users, retrieving access and ID tokens upon successful login, which are stored securely in the browser for API access.
  • API Management via Amazon API Gateway:
    • Amazon API Gateway serves as the centralized entry point for all HTTP(S) requests, routing them to AWS Lambda functions based on defined routes.
    • API Gateway is configured with a JWT authorizer to validate Okta-issued tokens, ensuring that only authorized users can access backend services.
  • Serverless Backend Architecture:
    • AWS Lambda functions handle various backend operations, such as data processing and business logic execution.
    • These functions are triggered by API Gateway requests and are configured to securely connect to the Amazon RDS PostgreSQL database.
  • Data Persistence and Management:
    • An Amazon RDS PostgreSQL instance is provisioned for data storage, configured with automated backups and Multi-AZ deployment for high availability.
    • The Lambda functions access the RDS instance using securely managed credentials in AWS Secrets Manager.
  • Security and Compliance:
    • All data exchanges between the client, API Gateway, and backend services are encrypted using HTTPS.
    • Access controls are implemented using IAM roles, policies, and security best practices to protect data and resources.

Outcomes:

  • Improved Security: The integration of Okta and API Gateway’s JWT validation provides a secure authentication and authorization mechanism, ensuring that only authorized users can access sensitive data.
  • High Availability and Scalability: AWS Lambda, API Gateway, and Amazon S3 collectively provide a highly available, scalable, and resilient application architecture.
  • Cost Savings: The serverless model, leveraging AWS managed services, reduces the costs associated with infrastructure management and scales with demand.
  • Enhanced Performance: CloudFront’s global distribution network and API Gateway’s efficient routing enhance the application’s performance, delivering a faster user experience.
  • Future-Ready Infrastructure: The modular design allows for easy upgrades and scalability, ensuring the solution can adapt to future requirements and growth.

Conclusion:

By partnering with Unified Technologies, the client was able to successfully deploy a secure, scalable, and cost-efficient web application that meets their needs for secure user access, reliable backend processing, and efficient data management. This solution has positioned them to improve operational efficiency and continue to innovate in their field.

 

Project Information