After watching 289 talks, I can now confidently share my re:Invent 2022 recap π΅οΈββοΈ
Verdict: I am whelmed. Not underwhelmed or overwhelmed, just whelmed.
Since there were a bunch of other "unboxing" recaps already, here's a thread with an β¨actionableβ¨ recap.
Beware #1: I am a dum-dum working with partial information here. There's a fair chance this thread will have at least a couple mistakes or bad takes. Always hedge your bets!
Beware #2: I am only *only* talking about re:Invent launches. No pre-invent releases!
TL;DR:
1οΈβ£ AWS CxOs keeps ostrich-ing it β hiding their head in a π° instead of going through a desperately-needed corporate crisis
2οΈβ£ the release train keeps chugging along: we got some amazing low-level releases, some nice middle-level ones, and some high-level disappointments
π Do you run intense Java Lambdas?
If yes, adopt Lambda SnapStart right now!
If not, ignore this as yet another checkbox in the Lambda UI and as yet another nail in the FaaS coffin.
TL;DR: start your Intel Java11 Lambdas from a snapshot, reducing cold start time by up to 90%
π Do you have a custom Lambda that modifies EventBridge messages?
If yes, consider dropping it and moving to EventBridge Pipes.
TL;DR: for a subset of EventBridge sources and destinations, filter & transform the messages
π Are you running any Apache Spark workloads?
If yes, see if you can migrate any to Amazon Athena for Apache Spark.
TL;DR: serverless Spark!
π Keep an eye on: AWS Verified Access
TL;DR: let's get rid of VPNs with zero-trust!
It's in preview now so there's not much to do, but looks great. This will also replace a bunch of ALB+OIDC/Congito+SSO setups.
π Keep an eye on: Amazon OpenSearch Serverless
Can't move to Athena/ChaosSearch? Chaotic load? Over-provisioning and over-paying OR under-provisioning and getting throttled? This'll save you!
It's in preview now, but I'd try to get in if you're a fit.
π Keep an eye on: VPC Lattice
TL;DR: fancy networking mesh / alternative to VPC peering and Transit Gateways.
It's in preview, so not much to do, but VPC Lattice and EFA/ENA Express+SRD are finally moving networking from "datacenter light" to "cloud native"!
Sidenote: AWS has been gradually replacing* all the base cloud building blocks
EC2 was replaced by Fargate.
S3 was replaced by itself. Seriously, S3 today and S3 in 2010 are worlds apart.
It looks like it's finally the VPC's turn β€οΈ
*: yeah yeah, not full replacements, sush!
π Keep an eye on: ECS Service Connect
TL;DR: get rid of internal ALBs with this kinda service-discovery / managed-meshy thing.
It's single-account for now, so meh. Keep an eye on how this evolves and how it integrates with VPC Lattice π
π Keep an eye on: Amazon Verified Permissions
Tl;DR: permission management and authorization. Check out the main competition, @osoHQ to easily understand this.
It's in preview, but looks good. It'll eliminate a lot of boring, differentiated, and potentially dangerous work.
π« Ignore and add to your block list: Amazon CodeCatalyst
TL;DR: GitHub + GitHub Issues + GitHub Actions + templates + GitHub Codespaces
It's in preview, but I've seen all I needed to see.
I want to keep this thread positive so I'll leave it at that and limit myself to one π«.
πΉοΈ Got some free time this weekend? Bored in the office during the holidays?
Try out AWS Application Composer!
TL;DR: what if you could draw your infrastructure and get CloudFormation out? With helpful assistance!
It's in preview, but it's a pretty fun experience π
And that's it!
The other announcements were specific, so I won't cover them here. I love 800Gbps instances and the Inf2 chip, but I doubt many of y'all care about that. Also shoutout to RDS and Glue cause they had some awesome launches!
Want more? π
aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/top-announcements-of-aws-reinvent-2022/
What about Kubernetes?
There were no major releases this re:Invent. That's great and fills me with hope π Kubernetes and EKS both have some really rough edges and I hope this means AWS is focused on those instead of flashy announcements.
Plus, KubeCon happened 1 month agoΒ π
In case you're bored, the next bunch of tweets will have interesting talks to check out. Otherwise, thank you for reading and goodbye π
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Having watched 289 talks, I can tell you that some are fantastic, some are ok, and some are definitely malpractice.
I can't list all the fantastic talks here, but I'll share a small subset of them. Since a bunch of other people already shared lists, I'll focus on hidden gems!
"Quantum applications and taking POCs to production (QTC202)"
I love how AWS covered quantum at re:Invent π
"Look, it's new and not ready for 99% of the things out there, but let's empower people to experiment and let's see how this might be useful"
"SaaS architecture patterns: From concept to implementation (SAS305-R)"
As always, AWS SaaS Factory has awesome talks π This is just one talk from them, you really should find all the others! Seriously, mandatory viewing for SaaS/multi-tenant systems!
"AWS Impact Accelerator: Being the megaphone (DEI207)"
Yes AWS, please, more of this! π
"Accelerate GraphQL API app development & collaboration w/AWS AppSync (FWM316)"
AppSync is getting awesome and this is a perfect overview π― GraphQL is finally past its painful exercise / FAANG cosplay / great demo fails in prod era.
"A dynamic opportunity: Understand AWS China and grow your business (ENT230)"
Ever wondered about AWS China? Here you go!
"Deliver great experiences with QUIC on Amazon CloudFront (NET401)"
A quick history and fascinating deep dive into the *why* and *how* of HTTP3 π
"How Amazon uses better metrics for improved website performance (AMZ302)"
Hihihihi, corporate breakdown due to bad metrics :lolsob: Executives setting goals and roadmaps is not as easy as people think!
"Water stewardship and renewable energy at scale (SUS211)"
Yeah, this is a bit self-indulgent but it shows how complex building a datacenter is. Sure, the cloud is just another datacenter. Colocated racks are the same. Suuuuure.
"Security alchemy: How AWS uses math to prove security (SEC310)"
Yaaas, automated reasoning, math, and one the best slide titles ever: "From muggle to math" π§
"Emotional intelligence can supercharge innovation (INO203)"
To build awesome stuff you first need to be a good human! This talks shares some great first steps π£
"Supporting extensibility in SaaS environments (SAS302)"
No you don't need Web Assembly to offer extensibility in your SaaS app. Counter-example from Figma: figma.com/blog/how-we-built-the-figma-plugin-system/
"Cloud strategies for equity valuation and investor readiness (STP206-R)"
This is a panel that techies should definitely watch to understand that "ooh, that's why we did not do that perfect snowflake then". Seriously, build we build tech *for* business!
"Shipping securely: How strong security can be your strategic advantage (ENT220)"
Holy moly is this a fantastic speaker! Watch this to learn how to position and explain security βοΈ
"Decode user requirements to design well-architected applications (BOA314)"
This became mandatory viewing for any Senior and for all Architects! It's a high bar, there's only 1 other talk in that list π
Sidenote: the other talk is the amazing "Software Management Lessons from the 1960s"
Watch this too, even though it's not part of re:Invent.
"Protecting secrets, keys, and data: Cryptography for the long term (SEC403)"
AWS cares deeply about security and this talks showcases exactly how much π
"How Riot Games is reinventing remote esports broadcasts (CMP311)"
This is a bit different, but it's a big and complex deep dive into an intense usecase and I so wanna see more of these π€©