AWS Multi-Account Best Practices

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1. Utilize AWS Organizations

  • Use AWS Organizations to centrally manage multiple AWS accounts.
  • Create Organizational Units (OUs) to classify accounts by purpose.
    • Example Structure:
      • Root OU (Root)
        • Security OU (For security management)
          • Logging Account (For log aggregation)
          • Security Account (For IAM & audit purposes)
        • Infrastructure OU (For shared resources)
          • Networking Account (For VPC & Transit Gateway)
          • Shared Services Account (For Active Directory, monitoring tools)
        • Workload OU (For environment separation)
          • Production Account (For live workloads)
          • Development Account (For testing & development)
          • Staging Account (For pre-production validation)

2. Clear Account Separation

  • Separate environments (Production, Development, Testing, etc.).
  • Isolate teams/projects to prevent unwanted access.
  • Dedicated accounts for security and auditing (IAM, logging, monitoring).
  • Restrict access following the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP).

3. Identity Management

  • Use AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) for centralized access management.
  • Avoid IAM users; instead, use IAM roles for cross-account access.

4. Security Management

  • Centralized Logging
    • Enable AWS CloudTrail across all accounts and store logs in a dedicated account.
    • Use Amazon GuardDuty for threat detection.
    • Utilize AWS Security Hub for unified security insights.
    • Enable AWS Config for compliance monitoring.
  • Policy Enforcement
    • Use Service Control Policies (SCPs) to enforce security restrictions.
    • Restrict AWS services and regions where necessary.
    • Limit the use of root accounts.

5. Network Design

  • Use AWS Transit Gateway or AWS PrivateLink for secure VPC interconnectivity.
  • Assign dedicated VPCs per account and interconnect them as needed.
  • Limit internet exposure by centralizing Internet Gateway (IGW) in a shared account.

6. Cost Management

  • Utilize AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Budgets for cost tracking.
  • Enable Consolidated Billing to benefit from volume discounts.
  • Implement a Tagging Strategy for cost allocation and resource tracking.

7. CI/CD Pipeline Management

  • Use AWS CodePipeline or GitHub Actions with AWS Deploy for automated deployments.
  • Define a structured pipeline:
    • Development → Staging → Production
    • Automate deployments while maintaining necessary approvals.

8. Monitoring & Operations

  • Use Amazon CloudWatch to aggregate logs and metrics.
  • Monitor account health via AWS Health Dashboard.
  • Regularly review AWS Trusted Advisor for security and cost recommendations.

9. Account Creation & Deletion

  • Utilize AWS Control Tower to enforce governance when creating new accounts.
  • Follow a structured deactivation process for unused accounts.

10. Disaster Recovery & Backup

  • Regular Backups:
    • Use AWS Backup for multi-account, multi-region backups.
  • Disaster Recovery (DR) Strategy:
    • Store critical backups in separate accounts or regions.
    • Document cross-account recovery procedures.

Conclusion

Proper AWS multi-account management enhances security, cost efficiency, and operational effectiveness. Leveraging AWS Organizations, SCPs, and IAM Identity Center ensures strong governance and control.