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Amazon Fargate is a groundbreaking serverless compute engine for containers that operate on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This significant innovation in cloud computing was introduced in November 2017 during the re:Invent conference. With its unveiling, AWS significantly expanded the horizons of possibilities and efficiency for software developers worldwide. Fargate's unique design allows developers to focus on creating applications without concerning themselves with the operational logistics traditionally associated with running and managing servers. It eliminates the necessity to choose server types, decide when to scale clusters, or optimize cluster packing. Consequently, it offers an enhanced level of abstraction over these details which ultimately facilitates more efficient application development. The introduction of Fargate marked a pivotal departure from traditional methods where one had first to provision virtual machines (VMs) or physical servers before deploying applications. By abstracting away infrastructure management tasks such as scaling clusters and selecting server types, Fargate has simplified containerized application deployment significantly. Amazon Fargate supports both Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) as well as Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS). ECS represents AWS's proprietary orchestrator while EKS serves as their managed Kubernetes service offering an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling and management of containerized applications. Historically speaking, prior to the advent of solutions like Fargate, managing servers was an intricate task requiring specialized knowledge involving capacity planning decisions based on traffic predictions. However, post-Fargate era ushered in not just simplification but also cost-saving opportunities by enabling users only pay for resources per-application actually consumes rather than having idle resources sitting unused within their infrastructure landscape. From a scholarly perspective examining computer science evolution and cloud computing paradigms specifically – one can argue that AWS’s introduction of Fargate represents another step towards true Serverless architecture wherein all low-level infrastructural aspects are abstracted away leaving developers free to focus solely on code logic implementation thereby accelerating software delivery cycles exponentially. In conclusion - Amazon’s innovative nature is clearly evident with its creation like Fargatae; An effective solution eliminating substantial complexities inherent within traditional application deployment methodologies while simultaneously catalyzing optimization opportunities throughout digital transformation journeys.

Ask the right questions secure the right Fargate talent among an increasingly shrinking pool of talent.

First 20 minutes

General Fargate app knowledge and experience

The first 20 minutes of the interview should seek to understand the candidate's general background in Fargate application development, including their experience with various programming languages, databases, and their approach to designing scalable and maintainable systems.

How would you describe the benefits of using AWS Fargate?

AWS Fargate eliminates the need to provision and manage servers, allows you to specify and pay for resources per application, improves security through application isolation, and enables you to focus on building and running applications.

What are the main components of a Fargate task?

A Fargate task includes the Docker image for your application, the CPU and memory resources for the task, the networking and IAM policies for the task, and the launch type, which is Fargate.

How would you configure a Fargate task to use a specific Docker image?

You can specify the Docker image in the task definition. The image is specified in the 'image' parameter in the 'containerDefinitions' section of the task definition.

Describe the difference between Fargate and EC2 launch types in AWS ECS.

With Fargate, there is no need to manage the underlying EC2 instances. With EC2 launch type, you have to manage the server infrastructure, but you have more control over the instances.

What are the steps to deploy an application on Fargate?

First, create a Docker image of your application. Then, create a task definition that uses this image. Finally, run the task or service on Fargate.

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What you’re looking for early on

Does the candidate have a solid understanding of AWS Fargate?

Can the candidate demonstrate experience with containerization technologies?

Has the candidate shown problem-solving skills?

Is the candidate familiar with CI/CD practices?

Next 20 minutes

Specific Fargate development questions

The next 20 minutes of the interview should focus on the candidate's expertise with specific backend frameworks, their understanding of RESTful APIs, and their experience in handling data storage and retrieval efficiently.

How would you monitor the performance of a Fargate application?

You can use CloudWatch to monitor the CPU and memory usage of your Fargate tasks. You can also use CloudWatch Logs to collect and analyze the logs from your application.

What are the networking options for a Fargate task?

A Fargate task can use either the 'awsvpc' network mode, which provides each task with its own network interface, or the 'bridge' network mode, which uses Docker's built-in virtual network.

How would you scale a Fargate application?

You can use the Service Auto Scaling feature of ECS to automatically adjust the number of running tasks based on the demand.

Describe the difference between a Fargate task and a Fargate service.

A Fargate task is a single running copy of your application. A Fargate service is a group of tasks that are maintained at a desired count and are used to enable long-running applications.

What are the security options for a Fargate task?

You can use IAM roles to control the permissions of your Fargate tasks. You can also use security groups to control the inbound and outbound traffic to your tasks.

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At this point, a skilled Fargate engineer should demonstrate strong problem-solving abilities, proficiency in Fargate programming language, and knowledge of software development methodologies. Red flags include lack of hands-on experience, inability to articulate complex concepts, or unfamiliarity with standard coding practices.

Digging deeper

Code questions

These will help you see the candidate's real-world development capabilities with Fargate.

What does this code do in AWS Fargate?
{ 'family': 'myFamily', 'networkMode': 'awsvpc', 'containerDefinitions': [{ 'name': 'myContainer', 'image': 'myImage', 'cpu': 100, 'memory': 200, 'essential': true }] }
This code defines a task definition in AWS Fargate. It specifies a single container 'myContainer' running an image 'myImage', with the CPU set to 100 units and memory to 200 units. The 'essential' attribute is set to true, meaning if this container fails, all other containers in the task will be stopped.
What will be the output of this AWS CLI command?
aws ecs register-task-definition --cli-input-json file://my-task-definition.json
This command will register a new task definition from a JSON file named 'my-task-definition.json' and output the full description of the registered task definition.
What does this code do in AWS Fargate?
{ 'family': 'myFamily', 'networkMode': 'awsvpc', 'containerDefinitions': [{ 'name': 'myContainer', 'image': 'myImage', 'cpu': 100, 'memory': 200, 'essential': true, 'environment': [{ 'name': 'ENV_VAR', 'value': 'myValue' }] }] }
This code defines a task definition in AWS Fargate with an environment variable. The 'environment' attribute specifies an array of environment variables to pass to the container. In this case, it's passing a single variable 'ENV_VAR' with the value 'myValue'.
What does this code do in AWS Fargate?
{ 'family': 'myFamily', 'networkMode': 'awsvpc', 'containerDefinitions': [{ 'name': 'myContainer', 'image': 'myImage', 'cpu': 100, 'memory': 200, 'essential': true, 'portMappings': [{ 'containerPort': 80, 'hostPort': 80, 'protocol': 'tcp' }] }] }
This code defines a task definition in AWS Fargate with a port mapping. The 'portMappings' attribute maps a port on the host (instance or container) to a port on the container. In this case, it's mapping host port 80 to container port 80 using the TCP protocol.

Wrap-up questions

Final candidate for Fargate Developer role questions

The final few questions should evaluate the candidate's teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, assess their knowledge of microservices architecture, serverless computing, and how they handle Fargate application deployments. Inquire about their experience in handling system failures and their approach to debugging and troubleshooting.

How would you troubleshoot a failing Fargate task?

You can use CloudWatch Logs to view the logs from your task. You can also use the 'DescribeTasks' and 'DescribeTaskDefinition' API operations to get more information about the task.

What are the limitations of using Fargate compared to EC2?

Fargate does not support all the features of EC2, such as instance-level metrics, instance-level security groups, and the ability to log in to your instances.

How would you optimize the cost of running a Fargate application?

You can use the Fargate Spot pricing model to run your tasks at a lower cost. You can also optimize the CPU and memory resources of your tasks to match the requirements of your application.

Fargate application related

Product Perfect's Fargate development capabilities

Beyond hiring for your Fargate engineering team, you may be in the market for additional help. Product Perfect provides seasoned expertise in Fargate projects, and can engage in multiple capacities.

Fargate Consultive assessments

Fargate Application Conversion Assessment Fargate Application Integration Assessment Fargate Data & Database Integration Assessment

Custom Fargate development projects

Custom Fargate App Conversion Fargate Custom App Development Process App UI Design for Fargate Facelifts

Hiring guide for Fargate Engineers

Fargate Developer Hiring Guide

What you’re looking for early on

The ideal back-end app developer

What you’re looking to see on the Fargate engineer at this point.

Fargate Consultive assessments

Custom Fargate development projects