Build Multi-Region Apps on AWS
Deploy your web app to multiple AWS regions with automatic GitHub deployments. The foundation for disaster recovery that Netflix and Uber rely on.
Difficulty
Beginner
Time to complete
45 minutes
Availability
Free
BUILD
What you'll build
Deploy your web application across multiple AWS regions with GitHub Actions. Learn the multi-region deployment pattern that powers high-availability systems at Netflix, Uber, and Airbnb.
1. Launch Your App in Virginia (us-east-1)
Deploy your web application to AWS App Runner in us-east-1, the primary AWS region closest to most US traffic.
2. Expand to Oregon (us-west-2)
Add a second deployment in us-west-2, creating geographic redundancy for West Coast users and disaster recovery capability.
3. Add Region Detection
Implement region-aware responses so you can see exactly which AWS region is serving each request in real-time.
4. Secret Mission: Measure Real-World Latency
Compare response times from both regions to understand how geographic distribution improves user experience.
Your portfolio builds as you work.
Every project documents itself as you go. Finish the work, and your proof is ready to share.
PROJECT
Real world application
Skills you'll learn
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Multi-Region Architecture
Deploy applications across AWS regions for geographic redundancy and improved latency
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AWS App Runner
Use fully managed container service for automatic scaling and deployment
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CI/CD Automation
Connect GitHub repositories for automatic deployments on every push
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Region Detection
Build region-aware applications that identify their serving location
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Latency Optimization
Reduce response times by serving users from geographically closer regions
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Disaster Recovery Foundation
Establish the multi-region base required for failover and high availability
Tech stack
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App Runner
AWS fully managed container service that automatically builds, deploys, and scales web applications from source code or containers
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GitHub Actions
Automate deployments with CI/CD pipelines that trigger on code push for seamless multi-region updates
Seeing my app running in two regions simultaneously was eye-opening. The latency difference from Oregon vs Virginia is real, and now I understand why companies like Netflix invest so heavily in multi-region.
Marcus Chen
Cloud Engineer
OUTCOME
Where this leads.
Relevant Jobs
Roles where these skills matter:
- Cloud Engineer
- DevOps Engineer
- Site Reliability Engineer
- Platform Engineer
Disaster Recovery
Continue the Disaster Recovery series with CloudFront failover, Pulumi infrastructure-as-code, and more high-availability patterns.
Disaster Recovery
Continue the JourneyFAQs
Everything you need to know
This is Part 1 of the 3-part Disaster Recovery series. This project teaches multi-region deployment, giving you applications running in two AWS regions. Part 2 (CloudFront Failover) adds automatic traffic switching when regions fail. Part 3 completes your DR toolkit with infrastructure-as-code using Pulumi. Together, these three projects give you a complete disaster recovery strategy for production systems.
These are the two most established AWS regions in North America. us-east-1 (Virginia) is the oldest and most feature-complete region, while us-west-2 (Oregon) provides West Coast coverage and is geographically distant enough to survive regional disasters. This pairing is the standard starting point for North American multi-region architectures.
App Runner abstracts away container orchestration, load balancing, and auto-scaling. Unlike ECS or EKS which require cluster management, or EC2 which needs manual scaling configuration, App Runner handles all infrastructure automatically. The trade-off is less customization, but for standard web applications it reduces operational overhead significantly.
App Runner charges based on compute and memory usage. For this project with minimal traffic, expect under $2 per region per day when active. App Runner can pause to $0 when idle, but for disaster recovery you want both regions always running. Delete resources after completing the project to stop charges.
Yes, the pattern works with any AWS regions. Popular alternatives include eu-west-1 (Ireland) and ap-northeast-1 (Tokyo) for global coverage. Choose regions based on your user base location. The project uses US regions for simplicity, but the concepts apply universally.
No container knowledge is required. App Runner builds containers automatically from your source code. You push code to GitHub, and App Runner handles containerization, deployment, and scaling. This is one of the main advantages of App Runner for teams without deep container expertise.
A CDN caches static content at edge locations but still routes to a single origin for dynamic requests. Multi-region deployment means your actual application servers run in multiple locations. You get both lower latency for dynamic content AND the foundation for failover. The next project in this series combines both approaches.
One Project. Real Skills.
45 minutes from now, you'll have completed Build Multi-Region Apps on AWS. No prior experience needed. Just step-by-step guidance and a real project for your portfolio.
Beginner-friendly