amazon-ecs

3 posts

aws

AWS Weekly Roundup: AWS Lambda for .NET 10, AWS Client VPN quickstart, Best of AWS re:Invent, and more (January 12, 2026) (opens in new tab)

The AWS Weekly Roundup for January 2026 highlights a significant push toward modernization, headlined by the introduction of .NET 10 support for AWS Lambda and Apache Airflow 2.11 for Amazon MWAA. To encourage exploration of these and other emerging technologies, AWS has revamped its Free Tier to offer new users up to $200 in credits and six months of risk-free experimentation. These updates collectively aim to streamline serverless development, enhance container storage efficiency, and provide more robust authentication options for messaging services. ### Modernized Runtimes and Orchestration * AWS Lambda now supports .NET 10 as both a managed runtime and a container base image, with AWS providing automatic updates to these environments as they become available. * Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow (MWAA) has added support for version 2.11, which serves as a critical stepping stone for users preparing to migrate to Apache Airflow 3. ### Infrastructure and Resource Management * Amazon ECS has extended support for `tmpfs` mounts to Linux tasks running on AWS Fargate and Managed Instances; this allows developers to utilize memory-backed file systems for containerized workloads to avoid writing sensitive or temporary data to task storage. * AWS Config has expanded its monitoring capabilities to discover, assess, and audit new resource types across Amazon EC2, Amazon SageMaker, and Amazon S3 Tables. * A new AWS Client VPN quickstart was released, providing a CloudFormation template and a step-by-step guide to automate the deployment of secure client-to-site VPN connections. ### Security and Messaging Enhancements * Amazon MQ for RabbitMQ brokers now supports HTTP-based authentication, which can be enabled and managed through the broker’s configuration file. * RabbitMQ brokers on Amazon MQ also now support certificate-based authentication using mutual TLS (mTLS) to improve the security posture of messaging applications. ### Educational Initiatives and Community Events * New AWS Free Tier accounts now include a 6-month trial period featuring $200 in credits and access to over 30 always-free services, specifically targeting developers interested in AI/ML and compute experimentation. * AWS published a curated "Best of re:Invent 2025" playlist, featuring high-impact sessions and keynotes for those who missed the live event. * The 2026 AWS Summit season begins shortly, with upcoming events scheduled for Dubai on February 10 and Paris on March 10. Developers should take immediate advantage of the new .NET 10 Lambda runtime for serverless applications and review the updated ECS `tmpfs` documentation to optimize container performance. For those new to the platform, the expanded Free Tier credits provide an excellent opportunity to prototype AI/ML workloads with minimal financial risk.

aws

Happy New Year! AWS Weekly Roundup: 10,000 AIdeas Competition, Amazon EC2, Amazon ECS Managed Instances and more (January 5, 2026) (opens in new tab)

The first AWS Weekly Roundup of 2026 highlights a strategic focus on community-driven AI innovation and significant performance upgrades to the EC2 instance lineup. By combining high-stakes competitions like the 10,000 AIdeas challenge with technical releases such as Graviton4-powered instances, AWS is positioning itself to lead in both "Agentic AI" development and high-performance cloud infrastructure. **AI Innovation and Professional Mentorship** * The "Become a Solutions Architect" (BeSA) program is launching a new six-week cohort on February 21, 2026, specifically focused on Agentic AI on AWS. * The Global 10,000 AIdeas Competition offers a $250,000 prize pool and recognition at re:Invent 2026, with a submission deadline of January 21, 2026. * Competition participants are required to utilize the "Kiro" development tool and must ensure their applications remain within AWS Free Tier limits. **Next-Generation EC2 Instances and Hardware** * New M8gn and M8gb instances utilize AWS Graviton4 processors, providing a 30% compute performance boost over the previous Graviton3 generation. * The M8gn variant features 6th generation AWS Nitro Cards, delivering up to 600 Gbps of network bandwidth, the highest available for network-optimized instances. * The M8gb variant is optimized for storage-heavy workloads, offering up to 150 Gbps of dedicated Amazon EBS bandwidth. **Resilience Testing and Governance** * AWS Direct Connect now integrates with the AWS Fault Injection Service (FIS), allowing engineers to simulate Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) failovers to validate redundant pathing. * AWS Control Tower has expanded its governance capabilities by supporting 176 additional Security Hub controls within the Control Catalog. * These controls address a broad spectrum of requirements across security, cost optimization, operations, and data durability. **Hybrid Cloud and Windows Support** * Amazon ECS Managed Instances now support Windows Server for on-premises and remote environment management. * The service uses AWS Systems Manager (SSM) to register external instances, which can then be managed as part of an ECS cluster using Windows-based ECS-optimized AMIs. Developers and infrastructure architects should prioritize the January 21 deadline for AI project submissions while evaluating the M8gn instances for high-throughput networking requirements. Additionally, organizations running hybrid Windows workloads should explore the new ECS Managed Instances support to unify their container orchestration across on-premises and cloud environments.

aws

AWS Weekly Roundup: Amazon ECS, Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon Cognito and more (December 15, 2025) (opens in new tab)

The AWS Weekly Roundup for mid-December 2025 highlights a series of updates designed to streamline developer workflows and enhance security across the cloud ecosystem. Following the momentum of re:Invent 2025, these releases focus on reducing operational friction through faster database provisioning, more granular container control, and AI-assisted development tools. These advancements collectively aim to simplify infrastructure management while providing deeper cost visibility and improved performance for enterprise applications. ## Database and Developer Productivity * **Amazon Aurora DSQL** now supports near-instant cluster creation, reducing provisioning time from minutes to seconds to facilitate rapid prototyping and AI-powered development via the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. * **Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL** has integrated with **Kiro powers**, allowing developers to use AI-assisted coding for schema management and database queries through pre-packaged MCP servers. * **Amazon CloudWatch SDK** introduced support for optimized JSON and CBOR protocols, improving the efficiency of data transmission and processing within the monitoring suite. * **Amazon Cognito** simplified user communications by enabling automated email delivery through Amazon SES using verified identities, removing the need for manual SES configuration. ## Compute and Networking Optimizations * **Amazon ECS on AWS Fargate** now honors custom container stop signals, such as SIGQUIT or SIGINT, allowing for graceful shutdowns of applications that do not use the default SIGTERM instruction. * **Application Load Balancer (ALB)** received performance enhancements that reduce latency for establishing new connections and lower resource consumption during traffic processing. * **AWS Fargate** cost optimization strategies were highlighted in new technical guides, focusing on leveraging Graviton processors and Fargate Spot to maximize compute efficiency. ## Security and Cost Management * **Amazon WorkSpaces Secure Browser** introduced Web Content Filtering, providing category-based access control across 25+ predefined categories and granular URL policies at no additional cost. * **AWS Cost Management** tools now feature **Tag Inheritance**, which automatically applies tags from resources to cost data, allowing for more precise tracking in Cost Explorer and AWS Budgets. * **Amazon Step Functions** integration with Amazon Bedrock was further detailed in community resources, showcasing how to build resilient, long-running AI workflows with integrated error handling. To take full advantage of these updates, organizations should review their Fargate task definitions to implement custom stop signals for better application stability and enable Tag Inheritance to improve the accuracy of year-end cloud financial reporting.