Introduction

Use Cases

You can refer to this document for a list of Helix Core use cases.

AWS Resources

Here is a list of AWS resources that will be created as a part of the Enhanced Studio Deployment. The CloudFormation deployment provides some parameters that influence if some resources will be skipped. True in the Optional column indicates that the deployer can opt out of using that AWS resources.

Resource Type Description Optional
VPC The ESP creates its own VPC so the user does not have to satisfy this prerequisites False
Internet Gateway The Internet Gateway is used to allow traffic into and out of the VPC False
Access Control List (ACL) Standard ACL rules are applied to all subnets False
Subnets Two public and two private subnets are created. Today only a single public subnet is used. The other subnets were included for future growth. False
EC2 Instances Helix Core, Helix Swarm, and Hansoft each get their own EC2 instance. Helix Swarm and Hansoft are optional. Helix Core EC2 is mandatory. True
Elastic IP Helix Core, Helix Swarm, and Hansoft each get their own EIP for end user connectivity False
Security Groups Helix Core, Helix Swarm and Hansoft each get their own security group with just the required open ports False
EBS Volumes Helix Core requires three data volumes and Hansoft requires one data volume False
Data Lifecycle Management Policy This is used to define a policy to create block level snapshots of data volumes. True
IAM Managed Policy Helix Core optionally requires access to a SNS Topic for sending system alerts True
IAM Role Helix Core uses a role to access S3 and an SNS Topic False
SNS Topic SNS Topic is optionally included to subscribe deployer email address for system notifications True
SNS Subscription SNS Subscription is optionally included to subscribe deployer email address for system notifications True

Deployment Options

The AWS Enhanced Studio Pack CloudFormation template will deploy all resources to a single Region. The VPC (subnets, NAT Gateways, Route Tables, etc) will be setup to span across two Availability Zones.

This deployment is intended to be a starting place. Additional components can be layered on at a future date as requirements change. For example if you deploy the ESP in us-east-1 you will end up with a single Helix Core Commit server in us-east-1. If your user base grows to include Europe it would be possible to add on a Helix Core Edge in eu-west-1 at a later date.

Deployment Time

Collecting the inputs that are required for the deployment (instance type, volume size, etc) will take a few hours of investigation. See Prerequisites and Requirements for the specifics of what will need to be investigated. The deployment time itself will take about 20 minutes.

AWS Supported Regions

The AWS Enhanced Studio Pack strives to support all standard regions. GovCloud and China regions are not supported today.

If you identify a standard region that we do not support please reach out to us.

Products

The following products are included in this deployment

  • Helix Core
  • [SDP] (https://swarm.workshop.perforce.com/projects/perforce-software-sdp/) - Helps with installation and on going maintenance of Helix Core
  • Helix Swarm
  • Hansoft