EUCREL01-BP01 Add redundancy and remove single points of failure in your environment

The principle of assuming that failures will occur represents a paradigm shift in the approach to designing Amazon WorkSpaces and WorkSpaces Applications environments. By adopting this mindset, organizations can prioritize resilience and develop strategies that minimize the impact of failures, thereby reducing downtime and mitigating potential business disruptions.

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: High

Implementation guidance

When designing an Amazon WorkSpaces or WorkSpaces Applications environment, the approach should prioritize resilience and minimize the impact of failures by assuming that failures will occur and implementing robust strategies.

Implement redundancy at every layer of your architecture. This includes network paths, storage, and virtual desktops. Use multiple instances of Amazon WorkSpaces or WorkSpaces Applications so that if one fails, others can take over seamlessly. For WorkSpaces Applications, use automatic scaling to match the number of running instances to user demand, keeping performance consistent even during usage spikes.

Regularly test your failure recovery procedures. Use AWS tools such as AWS Fault Injection Service to simulate different failure scenarios and validate your recovery strategies.

Implement robust data backup and disaster recovery plans. Regularly back up user data and configurations, and verify that you have a tested recovery plan in place to restore operations quickly in case of a failure.

Set up comprehensive monitoring using Amazon CloudWatch to keep track of the performance and health of your WorkSpaces and WorkSpaces Applications environments. Create alarms and automated responses to detect and remediate detected issues promptly.

Continuously review and improve your architecture and operational procedures. Learn from historical incidents and update your strategies to help prevent future occurrences.