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Cased Documentation

Visualizing AWS Infrastructure

Cased can create interactive, real-time visualizations of your AWS infrastructure by querying live AWS APIs and generating dynamic graphs showing VPCs, subnets, EC2 instances, RDS databases, ECS services, and more.

Understanding your AWS infrastructure at a glance is crucial for effective cloud management. Cased provides powerful visualization capabilities that help you see the relationships between your resources, identify potential issues, and make informed decisions about your infrastructure.

How it Works

Cased’s AWS infrastructure visualization is built on live API queries and interactive graph rendering:

  1. Live API Scanning: Cased queries your AWS APIs in real-time to get current resource states - no stale data from cached inventories.
  2. Intelligent Grouping: Resources are automatically organized by VPC and subnet relationships for logical grouping.
  3. Interactive Graphs: The visualization uses React Flow to create interactive, expandable graphs that you can navigate and explore.
  4. Rich Metadata: Each resource shows detailed information including instance types, states, IP addresses, security groups, and more.

Supported AWS Resources

The infrastructure graphing tool supports a comprehensive set of AWS resources:

Compute Resources

  • EC2 Instances: Shows instance types, states, IP addresses, availability zones, and security groups
  • ECS Services: Displays service status, desired/running counts, cluster information, and task definitions
  • Lambda Functions: (Coming soon)

Data Resources

  • RDS Instances: Shows database engine, version, instance class, storage details, and endpoint information
  • ElastiCache Clusters: Displays cluster status, node types, replication groups, and configuration details
  • DynamoDB Tables: (Coming soon)

Networking Resources

  • VPCs: Primary organizational containers for your resources
  • Subnets: Shows availability zones and resource distribution
  • Security Groups: Displays firewall rules and associations
  • Load Balancers: (Coming soon)

Getting Started

To visualize your AWS infrastructure, you’ll need:

  1. AWS Connection: Ensure your AWS data source is connected and working in Cased
  2. Proper Permissions: Your AWS role needs read permissions for the resources you want to visualize
  3. Agent Access: Simply ask the Cased agent to “graph my AWS infrastructure” or “show me my infrastructure”

Example Queries

Here are some example requests you can make to the Cased agent:

Basic Infrastructure Overview

"Graph my AWS infrastructure"
"Show me my current infrastructure"
"Visualize my AWS resources"

Filtered Views

"Show me only my RDS and EC2 instances"
"Graph my ECS services and their infrastructure"
"Visualize resources in us-east-1"

Specific Resource Types

"Show me all my databases and their network setup"
"Graph my compute resources and their relationships"
"Visualize my container infrastructure"

Interactive Features

The infrastructure graph provides several interactive capabilities:

  • Pan and Zoom: Navigate large infrastructures with smooth pan and zoom controls
  • Expandable Nodes: Click on VPCs and subnets to expand and see contained resources
  • Hover Details: Hover over any resource to see detailed metadata

Visual Organization

  • Hierarchical Layout: Resources are organized in a clear VPC → Subnet → Resource hierarchy
  • Color Coding: Different resource types use distinct colors and icons for easy identification
  • Relationship Lines: Clear visual connections show how resources relate to each other

Resource Details

Each resource node shows relevant metadata:

  • EC2: Instance ID, type, state, IPs, launch time, security groups
  • RDS: DB identifier, engine, version, instance class, endpoint, storage details
  • ECS: Service name, cluster, desired count, running count, task definition
  • ElastiCache: Cluster ID, node type, replication group, configuration details

Use Cases

Infrastructure Auditing

Quickly identify:

  • Unused or idle resources
  • Security group configurations
  • Resource distribution across availability zones
  • Compliance with organizational standards

Troubleshooting

Visualize:

  • Network connectivity between resources
  • Resource dependencies and relationships
  • Configuration inconsistencies
  • Performance bottlenecks

Planning and Optimization

Understand:

  • Resource utilization patterns
  • Cost optimization opportunities
  • Scaling requirements
  • Architecture improvements

Best Practices

  1. Regular Visualization: Use infrastructure graphs regularly to maintain awareness of your AWS environment
  2. Filtered Views: Use resource type filters to focus on specific aspects of your infrastructure
  3. Combine with Monitoring: Use alongside CloudWatch metrics and other monitoring tools for complete visibility
  4. Document Changes: Take snapshots of your infrastructure graphs before major changes
  5. Team Collaboration: Share infrastructure visualizations with team members for better communication

The AWS infrastructure visualization feature provides a powerful way to understand and manage your cloud resources, making complex infrastructure relationships clear and actionable.