Preparation steps

Preparation Steps for AWS Landing Zone Deployment

Overview

This guide outlines the setup process for creating a Landing Zone using AWS Organizations. It will help you structure your AWS accounts and resources for a well-architected multi-account environment. The primary focus is to create and organize four Organizational Units (OUs), establish core accounts, and implement cross-account communication strategies.

By the end of this exercise, you will have:

  • A functional AWS Organization with:
    • Four Organization Units (OUs): Security, Shared Services, Logging, and Application.
    • Each OU will group its designated AWS accounts.
  • AWS Accounts created with the following purposes:
    • Security Account for centralized security management.
    • Shared Services Account for shared networking and management services.
    • Logging Account to consolidate AWS CloudTrail, Config, and VPC Flow Logs.
    • Application Account for specific business unit workloads.

These foundational steps will enable governance, security controls, and cost management within your AWS environment.

Target Accounts and Resources

  • Logging Account:

    • This serves as a centralized repository for storing Amazon VPC Flow Logs, AWS CloudTrail logs, and AWS Config data.

  • Security Account:

    • Host a GuardDuty master account, manage AWS Security Hub, and aggregate security alerts.

  • Shared Services Account:

    • Provision a shared VPC for resource access across accounts.
    • Establish AWS Direct Connect, Transit Gateway, and other shared network resources.

  • Application Accounts:

    • Business unit-specific accounts for production and non-production workloads.
    • Analytics, Dev/Test, and other application-specific resources.

Lab Architecture Diagram

Lab Diagram

Steps to Implement

  1. Create AWS Account in AWS Organization:

    • Establish the core accounts (Security, Shared Services, Logging, and Application) under your AWS Organization.
    • Use the AWS Management Console or AWS CLI to automate account creation and structure.

  2. Setting up Organization Unit:

    • Configure Organization Units (OUs) for logical grouping.
    • Create policies to enforce specific security or compliance requirements for each OU.

  3. Invite Existing AWS Accounts to the AWS Organization:

    • Link any existing accounts to the AWS Organization using an invite process.
    • Validate and assign each account to its corresponding OU.

  4. Access Member Accounts in the Organization:

    • Enable cross-account access using IAM roles.
    • Set up AWS SSO or IAM Role Switch to streamline management and operational tasks across accounts.

Important Considerations

  • Cost Optimization: Ensure that each account’s usage is tracked separately to optimize billing and monitoring.
  • Security Posture: Implement security controls, such as SCPs (Service Control Policies) and centralized logging, to maintain compliance.
  • Networking: Plan for network isolation and interconnectivity using VPC Peering, Transit Gateway, and Direct Connect configurations.

Refer to the AWS Landing Zone Documentation for more advanced configurations and best practices.