Navigating the Amazon: A Guided Journey of AWS with TekStream Solutions
Brandon Prasnicki, Senior Solutions Cloud Architect
As a fisherman from Minnesota, I know a few of my local waters and species well. There’s a comfort in knowing exactly where the hidden rock piles are or the perfect spot to cast my line. Every once in a while, I will have the pleasure of trying a new lake or part of the Mississippi to fish, where I can use my map to find a few places to try, tackle potential navigation challenges, and may even have some general success while enjoying the process of learning the new body of water. However, there may be more contrasted extremes, like unfamiliar parts of the Mississippi or even the ocean, where the experience is completely different. There are new species to catch, different equipment required, and unexpected challenges, such as tides or hidden obstacles under the surface that I may not have the knowledge to be successful. In these cases, having a trusted guide makes all the difference.
The same applies when navigating AWS (Amazon Web Services). AWS is like the Amazon River—vast, complex, and ever-changing. While I may be familiar with certain parts of this cloud ecosystem, it takes a team to truly master it. At TekStream Solutions, we believe that our collective skills make us the perfect captain to help you succeed in navigating the vast AWS waters. We are, after all, “The People to Power Your Success.”
Understanding the Tributaries: Integrating Essential Non-AWS Technologies
Before embarking on your cloud journey, it’s important to understand that AWS is not an isolated body of water. Just as the Amazon River is fed by countless tributaries, your AWS environment is connected to critical technologies that may not directly come from AWS but are essential to its success. These tributaries represent integrations with on-premise systems, VPNs, or technologies like Active Directory for user management.
You might also need expertise in different architectures for structuring applications or knowledge of the nuances of essential services in AWS like load balancers, web servers, filesystem operations, and backup strategies. These are vital components of ensuring your cloud ecosystem runs smoothly and securely. TekStream understands the importance of these tributaries, helping you create an environment that seamlessly integrates AWS with these crucial technologies, ensuring the whole river system flows together.
Other Rivers: Understanding Multi-Cloud Environments
Each cloud platform has its strengths, and there are a variety of reasons to have a multi-cloud approach. While I may personally not be an expert in Azure or Google Cloud, I need to at least be aware of their existence. If a project dictates deeper expertise in these other cloud areas, TekStream can build the team of collective experts to be the guide you need to navigate not just through AWS, but these other “rivers” as well, tailoring solutions for multi-cloud or hybrid environments to best meet your needs.
Changing River Conditions: High Availability and Low Flow Challenges
Just like the real-world challenges of fishing—whether it’s dealing with river flooding or low water levels—cloud environments face their own obstacles. In fishing, flooding can make navigation tricky, but low flow presents its own dangers, such as exposing hidden rock piles or tree stumps that can damage your boat’s motor.
In AWS, Availability Zones (AZs) help address similar challenges related to high availability. When one part of the river (or zone) becomes difficult to navigate due to an outage, you can shift your services to another part of the river where conditions are safer. Whether AWS services are “flooded” by too much traffic or challenged by other failures, TekStream ensures that your infrastructure has the resilience and failover capability to stay operational—just like navigating to a safer, more accessible part of the river in times of low water or obstructions.
Casting, Netting, and Landing the Big One
Once you’ve charted your course through AWS, it’s time to cast your line. TekStream begins every project with a QuickStream, where we start by collecting and defining project requirements, asking the right questions to get the project moving. It’s very similar to knowing where to cast your line for a walleye or a bluegill, and ensuring you have the right bait, timing, and location to succeed.
After hooking the fish, the next step is to carefully net your catch. In cloud terms, this corresponds to the QA testing phase—ensuring your application or service functions perfectly before going live. Just as you wouldn’t rush to reel in a fish without being certain your net is secure, you shouldn’t go live without thoroughly testing for potential issues.
Finally, you get to land the big one—the moment when your service goes live and all your hard work pays off. Much like holding up a trophy fish for a photo, your Go Live moment is the culmination of your planning, effort, and execution. TekStream ensures this critical moment is seamless, supporting you throughout deployment and beyond to guarantee success.
TekStream Solutions: Your Captain to Navigate AWS
Fishing the familiar waters of Minnesota taught me a lot about precision and patience. But stepping into larger, more complex bodies of water—whether it’s the Mississippi or the ocean—reminds me of the importance of having the right guide, especially when the environment is new and unpredictable. AWS is no different.
While you might know your current environment and even certain parts of AWS well, its vastness can quickly overwhelm even experienced users. That’s why TekStream, with our collective skills, is the best captain for your journey. Whether you need help with familiar services or want to explore new areas like serverless, machine learning, or multi-cloud strategies, we’ll guide you to success.
Together, we’ll navigate the complex tributaries, analyze the entire workload landscape, and overcome any challenges along the way. At TekStream, we’re proud to be The People to Power Your Success—helping you land the big one on your cloud journey.
Learn more about our AWS services here.