Strapi CMS - Cloud Deployment with Infrastructure as Code

A headless CMS deployed on the cloud using Infrastructure as Code principles.

🌐 Live Demo

Resource	URL
Strapi Server	https://strapi-railway-deployment-production.up.railway.app/
Admin Panel	https://strapi-railway-deployment-production.up.railway.app/admin
Database	PostgreSQL (Railway)

🏗️ Architecture

Production Architecture (AWS - Terraform)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                          AWS Cloud                               │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │                     VPC (10.0.0.0/16)                      │  │
│  │                                                            │  │
│  │  ┌─────────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────────┐       │  │
│  │  │   Public Subnet 1    │    │   Public Subnet 2    │       │  │
│  │  │                      │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  ┌────────────────┐  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  │      ALB       │  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  └───────┬────────┘  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │          │           │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  ┌───────┴────────┐  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  │  NAT Gateway   │  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  └────────────────┘  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  └─────────────────────┘    └─────────────────────┘       │  │
│  │                                                            │  │
│  │  ┌─────────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────────┐       │  │
│  │  │  Private Subnet 1   │    │  Private Subnet 2   │       │  │
│  │  │                      │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  ┌────────────────┐  │    │  ┌────────────────┐  │       │  │
│  │  │  │  ECS Fargate   │  │    │  │  ECS Fargate   │  │       │  │
│  │  │  │   (Strapi)     │  │    │  │   (Strapi)     │  │       │  │
│  │  │  └────────────────┘  │    │  └────────────────┘  │       │  │
│  │  │                      │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  ┌────────────────┐  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  │ RDS PostgreSQL │  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  │  └────────────────┘  │    │                      │       │  │
│  │  └─────────────────────┘    └─────────────────────┘       │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Demo Deployment (Railway - Free Tier)

For cost-effective demonstration:

GitHub Repository
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────────┐      ┌─────────────────┐
│    Railway      │      │    Railway      │
│  (Strapi App)   │◄────►│  (PostgreSQL)   │
└─────────────────┘      └─────────────────┘
       │
       ▼
   Public URL

📁 Project Structure

├── terraform/                # AWS Infrastructure as Code
│   ├── main.tf              # Main configuration
│   ├── variables.tf         # Input variables
│   ├── outputs.tf           # Output values
│   ├── providers.tf         # AWS provider config
│   ├── vpc.tf               # Network configuration
│   ├── security-groups.tf   # Firewall rules
│   ├── rds.tf               # PostgreSQL database
│   ├── ecs.tf               # Container service
│   ├── alb.tf               # Load balancer
│   ├── iam.tf               # Permissions
│   ├── ecr.tf               # Container registry
│   └── terraform.tfvars. example
│
├── config/                   # Strapi configuration
│   ├── admin. js
│   ├── database.js
│   ├── middlewares.js
│   ├── plugins.js
│   └── server.js
│
├── src/                      # Strapi source code
├── public/                   # Static files
├── Dockerfile               # Container definition
├── package.json             # Dependencies
└── README.md                # This file

🚀 Deployment Options

Option 1: Railway (Free - Used for Demo)

# 1. Fork this repository
# 2. Connect to Railway
# 3. Add PostgreSQL database
# 4. Set environment variables
# 5. Deploy!

Option 2: AWS with Terraform

cd terraform

# Initialize Terraform
terraform init

# Preview changes
terraform plan

# Deploy infrastructure
terraform apply

# Build and push Docker image
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin <ecr-url>
docker build -t strapi .
docker tag strapi:latest <ecr-url>:latest
docker push <ecr-url>:latest

🔧 Technologies Used

Technology	Purpose
Strapi	Headless CMS
PostgreSQL	Database
Docker	Containerization
Terraform	Infrastructure as Code
AWS ECS	Container orchestration
AWS RDS	Managed database
AWS ALB	Load balancing
Railway	Demo deployment

💰 Cost Comparison

Platform	Monthly Cost
Railway (Demo)	$0 (Free tier)
AWS (Production)	~$80-120

📊 Terraform Resources

The Terraform configuration creates:

• VPC with public and private subnets
• Internet Gateway for public access
• NAT Gateway for private subnet internet access
• Application Load Balancer for traffic distribution
• ECS Cluster with Fargate tasks
• RDS PostgreSQL instance
• ECR Repository for Docker images
• Security Groups for network isolation
• IAM Roles for permissions

🔐 Security Features

• Database in private subnet (not internet accessible)
• ECS tasks in private subnet
• Security groups restrict traffic
• Encrypted storage (RDS, ECR)
• No hardcoded secrets in code

📹 Demo Video

• Link to screencast video

👤 Author

Anurag Sharma

📄 License

MIT