Forem: Lauren Omosa

Creating a Node.js web app service and SQL Database in Azure

Lauren Omosa — Thu, 25 May 2023 19:06:21 +0000

Hello everyone.
Today I will show you how to create a web app service and SQL Database in Azure. We will use a node.js web app for this practical.

1. Login to Azure Portal
To be able to access these services in azure, make sure to log in to your azure portal using your credentials
2. Create an App Service
Once you are logged in to your portal, navigate to the search bar and search for app service.
Create a resource group for the services you are about to deploy as shown below

Specify the instance details by filling in the name, choosing what to publish, in this case will be the code, the runtime stack which in this case will be NODE 16 LTS, operating system to be linux and region being East US.

The pricing plans and zone redundancy has already been predetermined by Azure. So you can leave it as is.

Next will be configuring your deployment by clicking on 'Next: Deployment' button

To be able to continuously deploy your app you will have to enable Github Actions.
You have to select Github details so that Azure can be able to access your repositories.

After that, we will click on "Next: Networking" to configure the networking details.
Make sure to enable public access to the internet and disable network injections
You have to make sure that the project you are deploying is a Nodejs project before deploying. I used this repository and you can fork it to your github in order to test it out.

The rest you can leave to default and proceed to review + create
Click on create and wait for it to deploy. After deployment you can go to resources and check out your app service details.

3. Create a database
Navigate to search bar and search for SQL Database and click on create.
Fill in your project details by filling in a resource group. It is advisable to use the same one as your app service for easy management.

Click on create server and fill in your details as follows

To avoid high costs of using a database, click on configure and choose a basic service tier because it fits your workload and in this case is a simple web app.

You can also choose how your database is replicated by using backup storage redundancy. In this case I went with the default which is geo-redundant back-up storage. Then we click on "Next: Networking"

The networking part is the most important part as it will be the determinant of whether your web app can access the database or not.

Choose the public endpoint for your connectivity method as it allows connectivity to the server. Also make sure to click yes on the firewall rules that allow Azure services and resources to access this server. This allows communications from all resources inside the Azure boundary, that may or may not be part of your subscription.

For the connection policy and encrypted connections, you can leave it to the default setting.

For security settings, additional settings and tag settings, you can leave it as it is and click on "Review + Create"

Confirm all your details and click on create. It will take a few minutes and once it is done deploying you can go to resources to check out your database.

4. Connect your app service to database using connection string
To connect your web app to the database you created, head over to your database and on the side navigation, click on connection strings. Click on ODBC and copy the string provided below it.

Then head over to your app service, and on the side navigation select configuration which is under settings.
On application settings, click on new application setting and choose whatever name you want to give it and in the value field, paste the string that we copied from the database ODBC tab and click ok to save it. This will allow connection to the database.

5. View your deployed web app
To view your deployed app, you go back to the overview page of your app service and click on the url that has been provided under 'default domain' tag.

There you have it. You can now deploy your own Node.js web app in Azure which is connected to a database.
Here is the final link to the deployed web app
Make sure to sign up and log in in order to get the full experience of the web app.

Happy Learning!!!

Creating Database Server and SQL Database in Azure and connect to Azure Studio.

Lauren Omosa — Sun, 14 May 2023 20:31:14 +0000

Creating a database server and SQL database in Azure is a relatively straightforward process that can be completed in a few simple steps. In this article, I will guide you through the process of creating a database server and SQL database in Azure and connecting it to Azure Studio.

Step 1: Create a Resource Group
The first step is to create a resource group. A resource group is a logical container for your Azure resources, and it helps you manage your resources as a single unit. To create a resource group, follow these steps:

Login to the Azure Portal and select "Resource Groups" from the left-hand menu.
Click on the "Add" button to create a new resource group.
Enter a name for your resource group and select your desired subscription and region.
Click "Review + create" and then "Create" to create your resource group.

Step 2: Create a Database Server
The next step is to create a database server. A database server is a logical container for your SQL databases. To create a database server, follow these steps:

Click on the "Create a resource" button in the Azure portal.
Search for "SQL Server" and select the "SQL Server" option.
Click on the "Create" button to start creating your database server.
Fill in the required information, such as the server name, server admin login, and password.
Select the appropriate subscription and resource group.
Choose the location where you want to deploy your database server.
Select the desired performance level and pricing tier for your database server.
Click on the "Review + create" button and then click on "Create" to create your database server.

Step 3: Create a SQL Database

The next step is to create a SQL database. A SQL database is a database that is based on the SQL language. To create a SQL database, follow these steps:

Click on your newly created database server in the Azure portal.
Click on the "Databases" option in the left-hand menu.
Click on the "Add" button to create a new database.
Fill in the required information, such as the database name and collation.
Select the appropriate pricing tier for your database.
Click on the "Review + create" button and then click on "Create" to create your SQL database.

Step 4: Connect to Azure Studio

The final step is to connect to Azure Studio. Azure Studio is a web-based management tool that allows you to manage your SQL databases in Azure. To connect to Azure Studio, follow these steps:

Click on your newly created database server in the Azure portal.
Click on the "Firewalls and virtual networks" option in the left-hand menu.
Add your client IP address to the allowed IP addresses list.
Click on the "Save" button to save your changes.
Click on the "Connection strings" option in the left-hand menu.
Copy the connection string for your SQL database.
Open Azure Studio in your web browser and sign in to your Azure account.
Click on the "New Query" button to create a new query.
Paste your connection string into the query window and press enter. You should now be connected to your SQL database in Azure Studio.

Conclusion
In conclusion, creating a database server and SQL database in Azure is a simple process that can be completed in just a few steps. By following the steps outlined in this article, you should be able to create your own database server and SQL database in Azure and connect it to Azure Studio.

Happy Learning Everyone!!!

Azure Pricing Calculator VS TCO Calculator

Lauren Omosa — Sun, 14 May 2023 18:47:52 +0000

Hi everyone. Have you ever wondered what the difference between the Azure Pricing Calculator and TCO calculator is?
We will be covering the difference and how to use these tools in this article.

Azure Pricing Calculator
The Azure pricing calculator is a tool used to calculate your estimated hourly or monthly costs of using Azure.
To access the calculator click here
To calculate the estimates, search for your product or select from one of the categories below the search bar to add a product to your estimates. Click the 'saved estimates' tab to view your estimates

You can input the specifications on your product such as the type, region, service tier, billing options and you will be able to view the estimate as usage hours, days or months. This estimate will also include the services required for use with selected products.
You can also modify the configuration of each products in your estimate as you continue adding products. This will allow you to check if resources overlap.

When done calculating your estimates, you can Export to Excel, Save or share your report.

Azure Total Cost of Ownership Calculator(TCO)
This is to estimate the cost savings you can realize by migrating to the cloud.
To access the TCO calculator click here
1. Define your workload

Enter details of your on-premise infrastructure into the TCO Calculator using the following categories

Servers
Databases
Storage
Networking

2. Adjust Assumptions

Specify whether your on-premise licenses are enrolled for Software Assurance. This will enable you to reuse existing licenses on Azure, thus eliminating the costs associated with purchasing additional licensing. You can specify your need to replicate storage to another Azure region to increase redundancy.

3. View Report

The TCO calculator lets you choose a time frame between one and five years. The calculator then generates a report based on information entered.

You can also view a side by side comparison of the cost breakdown of operating your workload on azure vs on-premise.

There you have it!!
You now know the difference between the Azure Pricing Calculator and the TCO Calculator.

Happy Learning :)

Create a Static Web App on Microsoft Azure

Lauren Omosa — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 11:41:54 +0000

Today, we will be learning how to create a static web app on Microsoft Azure. In this step by step procedure, you will realize that it easier than you actually thought.

1. Log in to your Azure portal and search for static web apps
After logging in to your account, input 'static web apps' on the search bar and enter. This will lead you to the static web app module and you can create a static web app from here.

2. Fill in the necessary static web app details
First, we have to fill out the subscription and choose a resource group. If you don't have an existing resource group, proceed to create one and make sure you give it a globally unique name.

After that we fill in the static web app details by giving it a name.

We also look at the different hosting plans with two different types which is the free plan for hobbies and personal projects and the standard plan for general production plan. Choose whichever you want.

You can also look at the different plans available, compare them and choose what suits you most.

Next is choosing the region you want it to be hosted.

For the deployment details, you will have to choose between GitHub, Azure DevOps or another platform, but in this case we will go with GitHub. Sign in to access your GitHub account.

Fill in the next steps with the repository, branch and build details of your repository that is to be deployed.

Preview your workflow file, then review and create.

Details of your static web app will be shown and you can proceed with create.

After a few seconds, your deployment will be complete.

Head over to your resource and check the details of the static web app, you will see that a URL is provided for you if the deployment was successful.

Click on the URL and there you have it, your static web app has been created and deployed!

I hope you liked this tutorial. If you have any questions please feel free to ask :)

Creating S3 buckets with AWS

Lauren Omosa — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 07:49:52 +0000

Have you had trouble creating an S3 bucket with AWS? Well, this tutorial is here to help you. We will go through a step by step procedure on how to create AWS buckets and how to upload files in them so be keen and follow along.

1. Log in to your console and go to left navigation panel
Once you log into your console, go to the left navigation panel and look for storage. It will bring another navigation panel and choose the S3 option.

2. Create a bucket
A new page opens once you choose the S3 option. Since objects stored in S3 are in buckets, you will have to create a bucket.

3. Fill in necessary bucket information
When you create a bucket you are prompted to fill in the necessary information about the buckets.
First you will name the bucket. Make sure the name is unique so that it does not match any other buckets in the system.

Next is to choose the bucket ownership. This is to determine who can access the objects stored in your bucket.

After that is block public access settings for your bucket. If you chose ACL disabled in the previous step, the block public access setting will be automatically checked off.

After that, the rest are automatically determined by AWS so we will leave them like that.

Making sure all the required fields are filled, proceed to create a bucket.

When the bucket is created successfully, you will see the notification as shown below.

4. Uploading files to your bucket.
To be able to upload files to your bucket, click on the specific bucket and once the bucket information loads up, click the upload button.

You can choose to upload a file or a folder to your bucket, so pick whichever you want and upload.

Once it has successfully uploaded, it will direct you to the upload status page where you can see which file you uploaded and details about it.

You will also be able to see the URL of the object you uploaded and you can view the object using the URLs provided from any device.

Congratulations, you have now learnt how to create a bucket and upload files to your bucket.

Be sure to follow for more cloud computing contents.

Creating a virtual machine with AWS

Lauren Omosa — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 21:31:07 +0000

Creating a virtual machine on AWS is as simple as cutting a slice of birthday cake :). Whether you are a beginner or an expert in cloud computing and have difficulty in setting up a virtual machine in AWS, you can follow these simple steps:

1. Set up an account
To set up an account head over to AWS Free Cloud Computing Services and create an account if you do not have one.

You have to fill in the correct details, and also set up your card details so that you can be able to access all features of AWS. AWS will only hold $1 for you to be able to create a virtual machine so this is very important for you to note.

2. EC2 Services.
Once you have completed your account setup, you can login as root user and you'll be directed to the console home. On the navigation bar, you will see a services icon and that will lead you to a sub menu where you can pick the compute section and see the EC2 service where we will be able to create virtual servers in the cloud.

3. Creating an instance
After successfully heading to the EC2 dashboard, you will be able to see and monitor all EC2 resources that are running on your account. To create an instance, on the side bar, you will select the instances option and click on the 'launch instance' button.

After clicking the button you will be able to see the following page where you can choose the features of your instance. The first step is naming your instance and you have to make sure it is a unique name so that it will not be rejected.

Then you will have to select the operating system that you want your virtual machine to run on such as aws linux,mac os, ubuntu, windows, redhat etc., but for this instance let us go with windows.

After that you can select the instance type. There are many instance types you can choose from with different storage capacities and pricing but for this instance, we will go with the default one.

The third step is choosing a key pair. If you do not have one you will have to create one so that it will be able to connect with the RDP.

Use the OpenSSH (pem) key for this instance for ease of use. Click on the create key pair button and this will automatically download a file that will be used later.

After successfully creating a key pair, you leave the rest as default and head over to the summary section to ensure you got all the details of your instance correctly. If the details are okay, you can click on the 'launch instance' button to create your instance.

A successful instance launch will prompt the message below.

4. Connecting to RDP
To connect to an RDP, you will head over to the instances and select the instance that we created and click on the connect button that is right above it.

If you are connecting it using a windows machine, head over to the RDP Client section and select it. This will lead you to the RDP client settings and you will be able to get the password for it.

We previously had a file that automatically downloaded when we created a key pair. We will upload that file private key file here. Decrypt the password and copy it for later use.

Now we can download the Remote desktop file and run it.

A window pop up will show up and you will have to enter the password that you had copied earlier.

Allow connections to the RDP and wait for the virtual machine to load. The following will show up after successful connection.

You have successfully created a virtual machine! Hurray!!

4. Terminating an instance

Remember that you have to terminate an instance in order to not accumulate charges on your account. To terminate your instance you select the instance and click on instant state as shown below. You will have a choice on which instant state you want and select terminate instance.

After selecting terminate instance a pop up window will appear asking you to confirm if you want to terminate the instance. Click terminate and proceed.

You will see a message showing that you have successfully terminated the instance and therefore it is not running anymore and you will not accrue any charges on your account.

You have finally learnt how to create a virtual machine in AWS. Great Job !!