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Amazon Simple Workflow Service

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4 views10 pages

Amazon Simple Workflow Service

Uploaded by

Srikar Ganesh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Amazon SWF (Simple Workflow Service)

• Amazon Simple Workflow Service (SWF) is a


managed workflow service by AWS that allows
for the coordination of tasks in distributed
applications.
• Particularly useful for complex workflows that
include both automated and human steps.
Key Concepts in Amazon SWF
• Workflow: A series of steps (tasks) defined by the
developer, representing the overall business process.
• Workflows can contain decision points and branching
logic.
• Tasks: The individual units of work in the workflow. There
are two types:
• Activity Tasks: Actions executed by a worker (e.g.,
processing a payment).
• Decision Tasks: Logic that determines the next steps in
the workflow (e.g., deciding the next task based on
previous task results).
Key Concepts in Amazon SWF
• Domains: Logical partitions for separating workflows.
• Domains allow workflows for different applications,
teams, or departments to be organized and managed
independently.
• Workers and Deciders:
• Workers: Applications that poll SWF to pick up and
execute activity tasks.
• Deciders: Applications that poll SWF to manage the
flow of tasks, making decisions about the next steps.
Amazon SWF Workflow Execution: Step-
by-Step
• Define the Workflow: Create a workflow using SWF APIs,
defining the sequence and conditions for each task.
• Start Workflow Execution: Trigger a workflow instance in
SWF. SWF assigns tasks to workers based on the defined
sequence and logic.
• Worker Polling: Workers (applications or services) poll SWF
for tasks, perform the work, and report back when a task is
complete.
• Decision Making: Deciders process the outcome of tasks and
control the next step in the workflow, e.g., trigger another
task or end the workflow.
• Monitoring: SWF logs the entire execution history, enabling
easy tracking and troubleshooting.
Example 1: Order Fulfillment in E-
commerce
• An e-commerce company wants to automate its order fulfillment process.
The workflow includes several steps like inventory check, payment
processing, packing, and shipping, with specific conditions and retries at
each step.
• Inventory Check: An SWF worker checks the inventory. If the item is in
stock, it proceeds; otherwise, it pauses the workflow until inventory is
updated.
• Payment Processing: SWF schedules an activity for payment. If payment
fails, SWF retries up to three times or cancels the order if it cannot be
processed.
• Packing: Once payment is successful, a packing worker is notified to
prepare the package.
• Shipping: The final step sends shipping information to the logistics team
or carrier service.
Example 2: Media Processing Pipeline
• A media company uses SWF to automate the video processing
pipeline. This workflow includes tasks for video encoding,
watermarking, and uploading to a content delivery network (CDN).
• Video Encoding: A worker application encodes the video in various
formats. If the encoding task fails, SWF can retry automatically or
alert a human operator.
• Watermarking: Once encoding is complete, SWF schedules a
watermarking task to overlay a logo on the video.
• Quality Check: A human operator reviews the watermarked video
for quality assurance.
• Upload to CDN: After the quality check, SWF uploads the video to a
CDN for distribution.
Example 3: Financial Transactions and
Approvals
• In the financial sector, SWF can help manage processes like loan
approvals, which require multiple steps and human approvals.
• Application Submission: A worker application submits the loan
application.
• Risk Analysis: SWF assigns an activity task to analyze the applicant’s
credit risk. Based on the analysis, a decider may branch to a
different workflow path if high risk is detected.
• Approval Process: If the applicant meets the criteria, SWF triggers a
decision task that sends the application to a human underwriter for
review.
• Final Approval: Once reviewed, SWF assigns the final approval task,
notifying the applicant of the result.
Human-in-the-Loop Document Review
• In industries like legal, healthcare, or insurance, document
processing often requires human review. SWF can manage a
workflow that combines automated and manual steps.
• Document Ingestion: A worker uploads a new document and
initiates the workflow.
• Automated Preprocessing: SWF assigns tasks for OCR (Optical
Character Recognition) to convert scanned documents into text
and perform initial data extraction.
• Human Review: After preprocessing, SWF triggers a manual
review task where a human validates the extracted data for
accuracy.
• Approval and Storage: Once the review is complete, the
document is marked as approved and stored in a database.
Comparison to AWS Step Functions
• Complexity: SWF is designed for complex workflows,
especially those involving human interaction, long-
running tasks, and legacy system integration.
• Control: SWF offers fine-grained control over
workflow execution, such as task timeouts and
retries.
• Long-Running Workflows: SWF supports workflows
that can last days or weeks, unlike Step Functions,
which is more suited for short-lived or serverless
workflows.
Benefits of Amazon SWF
• Reliability: SWF ensures workflow consistency even
in the face of errors or failures.
• Scalability: It can handle thousands of parallel
workflows across large-scale applications.
• Auditing: SWF provides a comprehensive execution
history, allowing for easy tracking and
troubleshooting.
• Cost-Effectiveness: SWF’s pay-as-you-go pricing
means you only pay for the resources used.

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