Forem: Syed Mustafa Hassan

Getting Started with Cloud Computing: A Simple Introduction.

Syed Mustafa Hassan — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 10:08:50 +0000

Welcome to this beginner's guide to Cloud Computing. In this blog, we will learn all the basics of Cloud Computing. Let's get started!

What is Cloud Computing?

"When we use the Internet for processing power, storage, or applications instead of our own computer, it is called Cloud Computing."

For example, when we talk about processing power, end servers can be used for website hosting or complex calculations for a large enterprise. Storage means saving any kind of data on the internet, such as music, photos, files, on an online database, or on Google Drive. Applications refer to all the software you use on the internet, such as system software like virus tracking or application software like Netflix, Roblox, Zoom, and platforms provided by Microsoft, IBM, and others.

So what is the need of cloud computing?

Before the popularity of the internet, if companies needed more computing power, they used to rely on on-premise installations. On-premise means that if they needed a big computer, they had to buy it. Apart from investing in hardware, they also had to invest in software, electricity, security, data backup, disaster recovery, and maintenance. This meant that the expenses were high.

On top of that, the actual utilization of computing power was only up to 30-40%. With the advent of cloud computing, companies have saved a lot because now, instead of buying expensive computers and data centers, they can use internet-based processing power, storage, or applications. Now, you don't have to worry about computer upgrades or maintenance. Because data is stored on the internet, all employees can access and share it, which also increases their productivity. The more we use, the more we pay.

History Of Cloud Computing

If we look at the history of cloud computing, in the 1960s, when computers were very expensive, IBM and DEC used to offer their computers for time-sharing. You could submit your calculations or jobs to IBM mainframes to run. The use of the cloud symbol was first seen in 1977. When the internet and the World Wide Web began, many telecommunication companies started providing VPN or Virtual Private Network services. Compaq started providing online disk space where you could store files. The word "cloud" was first used in the world of computers by Ramesh Jalappa in 1997. The term was used to represent the internet, and the cloud symbol was used to depict some computing equipment or power on the internet. In 1999, companies like Salesforce and VMware emerged and became very popular. In 2002, Amazon started Amazon Web Services. In 2006, Hadoop was launched. In 2008, Google launched Google App Engine. By 2010, Microsoft released Microsoft Azure, and in the next few years, almost all the big companies were talking about cloud computing.

Cloud Computing Models

Cloud services can be divided into three types based on the deployment model: public, private, and hybrid.

Let's take an example to understand them. Suppose you have to travel somewhere, then you can either go by bus, or by your car, or by rental car. Bus is a public transport which is available everywhere, but you have to share it with others. It is a cheap option and you pay for the distance you travel. The second option is that you can buy your own private car. It takes a lot of money to buy a car and it also requires regular maintenance. But in this you get privacy and you can go as per your time which is not possible in public transport. There is another way of taxi service which is more expensive but you get privacy but it is not your car it is called a hybrid model.

1) Public Cloud:

Similarly, in cloud computing, public cloud is where servers and storage belong to some other company and it provides service through the internet. Payment is done until you use it. Because it is a third party, we share storage, hardware and network devices with other companies who have also subscribed to it. But it is easy for you to use it because all the setup is done by the cloud company from the beginning.

2) Private Cloud:

Private cloud is completely different from this. In this, big companies or enterprises make their own cloud, which means they keep the servers in a big place called a data center. You can access it from anywhere on the network through virtual machines.

3) Private Cloud:

Private cloud is only for your use, so data security is better in it. It follows all data regulations and its control is completely in your hands. In hybrid clouds, the company uses both public and private clouds on the basis of its needs. For example, you use a private cloud to store your data, but you use a public cloud for its backup. You can see it according to your convenience how much risk you want to take and how much flexibility you want.

There are also some negative points of all these models. Security or security is less in the public cloud and flexibility is also limited. Private cloud takes more investment and you have to bear the cost of maintenance every year. Hybrid is expensive and it is also very complex.

Types Of Cloud Computing Services

There are three main types of cloud services: IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), and SaaS (Software as a Service).

To understand these, we will take an example of a washing machine. Suppose you want to wash your clothes. The first option is IAAS, Infrastructure at Home option. So you buy a washing machine at home. Now you have to do it. To run the machine, washing powder, electricity or anything else is needed, so you have to arrange for it. The next option is PAAS, i.e. Platform as a Service. Here you can go to a common area or laundromat to wash your clothes, where there are many washing machines. You can also pay some fees and buy detergent etc. from there. The next option is SAAS, i.e. Software as a Service. Here you use Laundry service. Where a laundry man comes to your home to pick and returns the clothes in this you did not need washing machine, detergent etc.

On-Premise:

In this way, there is a main difference between the three types of cloud computing that who manages the IT stack i.e. hardware and software. Before the cloud came, the on-premise setup used to be that the company used to set up the entire hardware and software and then maintaining it.

1) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

In Infrastructure as a Service or IAAS, the cloud provider provides infrastructure i.e. in the machine data center, which you have to worry about the setup or maintenance of that hardware. But it is still your responsibility to set up the entire software on this hardware. Software means operating system or OS, middleware, databases and applications that you need for your business.

2) Platform as a Service (PaaS):

Now let's talk about Platform as a Service and PaaS options. In this, Cloud Service Provider not only provides hardware, but also provides a web-based software environment where you can set up your cloud apps. In this, Cloud Service Provider also provides Operating System, Database and Programming Language. language. It is his responsibility to maintain and update it. You just focus on making important apps for your business.

3) Software as a Service (SaaS):

Software as a Service and SaaS Cloud Service Provider not only provides hardware and basic software, it also makes and gives you applications as per your needs. You can subscribe to it, apps like mail, online meeting, data storage, backup and many more. So each cloud model has its own features and you can choose any model from this list.

Conclusion

Cloud computing has revolutionized technology usage by offering scalable, cost-effective, and flexible solutions for both businesses and individuals. By shifting from traditional on-premise setups to cloud services, organizations can significantly reduce their capital expenditure on hardware and software, while benefiting from enhanced collaboration, accessibility, and reliability. The various deployment models (public, private, and hybrid) and service models (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) cater to different needs, providing tailored solutions for any organization.

As cloud technology evolves, it opens up new possibilities for innovation and efficiency, making it a crucial component of modern IT strategy. Embracing cloud computing is not just about adopting new technology; it’s about transforming business operations, enabling greater agility, and positioning organizations for future success. The cloud’s impact will only grow as we continue to explore and harness its full potential, making it an essential tool in today’s digital landscape.

Beginner's Guide to AWS: Creating Your First Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

Syed Mustafa Hassan — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 21:07:58 +0000

Welcome to this beginner-friendly guide to Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the process of creating your first Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on AWS. A VPC allows you to launch AWS resources into a virtual network that you define, providing you with control over your network environment, including IP address range, subnets, routing tables, and network gateways. Let's get started on your journey into AWS VPC!

AWS VPC serves as a logical extension of your on-premises data center into the cloud, offering unparalleled control and flexibility over your cloud network infrastructure. Let's delve into the core components and concepts that underpin AWS VPC:

Components of AWS VPC:

- Subnets:
Subnets are segments of the VPC's IP address range where you can place groups of resources. They are associated with specific availability zones, providing fault tolerance and high availability.

- Route Tables:
Route tables dictate the traffic flow within the VPC. They contain rules, known as routes, that determine where network traffic is directed, whether to other instances within the VPC, to the internet via an internet gateway, or through a virtual private gateway to an on-premises network.

- Internet Gateway:
An internet gateway facilitates communication between instances within the VPC and the internet. It serves as a gateway for outbound traffic and a target for inbound traffic destined for public-facing resources.

- NAT Gateway:
Network Address Translation (NAT) gateway allows instances in private subnets to initiate outbound traffic to the internet while preventing inbound traffic from initiating connections with those instances.

- Elastic IP Addresses:
Elastic IP addresses are static IPv4 addresses designed for dynamic cloud computing. They are associated with your AWS account and can be dynamically remapped to different instances.

- Security Groups:
Security groups act as virtual firewalls for your instances, controlling inbound and outbound traffic. You can define rules that allow specific types of traffic based on protocol, port, and source/destination IP address.

- Network Access Control Lists (NACLs):
NACLs are stateless, numbered sets of rules that act as a firewall at the subnet level. They control traffic entering and exiting subnets by allowing or denying traffic based on IP addresses, protocols, and ports.

5 Reasons to Use Amazon VPC:

1. Enhanced Security:
With AWS VPC, you can create isolated sections of the AWS Cloud, ensuring that your resources are securely contained within your virtual network. You can implement security groups and network access control lists (NACLs) to control inbound and outbound traffic.

2. Custom Networking:
AWS VPC enables you to design a network topology that meets your specific requirements. You can define your IP address range, create subnets across multiple availability zones, and configure routing tables to control traffic flow.

3. Scalability:
As your infrastructure grows, AWS VPC scales with you. You can easily add or remove subnets, modify routing configurations, and expand your IP address range to accommodate your evolving needs.

4. Integration with AWS Services:
VPC seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, allowing you to connect your VPC to resources such as Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon RDS databases, and AWS Lambda functions securely.

5. Hybrid Cloud Connectivity:
AWS VPC provides options for connecting your on-premises infrastructure to the AWS Cloud, enabling hybrid cloud architectures. You can establish VPN connections or use AWS Direct Connect to extend your corporate network into the cloud.

Now, let’s walk you through the process of Creating AWS virtual private cloud. Let's begin!

Step 1: Navigate to the VPC Dashboard
Navigate to the AWS Management Console by visiting https://console.aws.amazon.com/. Sign in with your AWS credentials and search for “VPC”:

Step 2: Create a VPC
Click on "Create VPC" to initiate the VPC creation wizard. Provide the following details:

Name Tag: Assign a descriptive name to your VPC.
IPv4 CIDR Block: Define the IPv4 address range for your VPC, ensuring it does not overlap with other networks.
IPv6 CIDR Block: Optionally, specify an IPv6 CIDR block.
Tenancy: Choose between default or dedicated tenancy based on your requirements.

Click "Create" to create your VPC.

Step 3: Configure Subnets
Navigate to the "Subnets" section and click on "Create subnet." Specify the subnet details, including name, VPC, availability zone, and IPv4 CIDR block. Repeat this step to create additional subnets for different tiers of your application.

Select your "VPC".

Here we are creating four different subnets in two different zone.
Follow these steps to create the required subnets:

1. Create Subnet for Zone 2a (Public1):

Name: Public1
VPC: Select the VPC created in Step 2.
Availability Zone: Choose Zone 2a.
IPv4 CIDR Block: Define the IPv4 CIDR block for this subnet.
Leave IPv4 CIDR block blank or choose an appropriate value.
Click "Add new subnet."

2. Create Subnet for Zone 2a (Private1):

Name: Private1
VPC: Select the same VPC.
Availability Zone: Choose Zone 2a.
IPv4 CIDR Block: Define the IPv4 CIDR block for this subnet. It should be within the same address range as the public subnet but with a different range to denote it as a private subnet.
Leave IPv4 CIDR block blank or choose an appropriate value.
Click "Add new subnet."

3. Create Subnet for Zone 2b (Public2):

Name: Public2
VPC: Select the same VPC.
Availability Zone: Choose Zone 2b.
IPv4 CIDR Block: Define the IPv4 CIDR block for this subnet.
Leave IPv4 CIDR block blank or choose an appropriate value.
Click "Add new subnet."

4. Create Subnet for Zone 2b (Private2):

Name: Private2
VPC: Select the same VPC.
Availability Zone: Choose Zone 2b.
IPv4 CIDR Block: Define the IPv4 CIDR block for this subnet. It should be within the same address range as the public subnet but with a different range to denote it as a private subnet.
Leave IPv4 CIDR block blank or choose an appropriate value.

Click "Create subnet."

Step 4: Set Up Internet Connectivity
If your resources require internet access, attach an internet gateway to your VPC. Create a new internet gateway, attach it to your VPC, and update the route table to route internet-bound traffic through the gateway.

Navigate to the "Internet Gateways" section and click on "Create Internet Gateways."

Name your internet gateway and click on "Create Internet Gateways."

Now you have to Attach to a VPC click on "Action" from dropdown select "Attach to a VPC"

Here select your VPC and click on "Attach internet gateway".

Step 5: Define Route Tables
Create custom route tables to control the flow of traffic within your VPC. Associate the route tables with the appropriate subnets and define routes for local traffic and internet-bound traffic.

Navigate to the "Route Tables" section and click on "Create Route Table."

Give the name to your route table and select your VPC then click on "Create Route Table."

Here your Route Table is created now click on "Edit Route".

Then in "Edit Route" click "Add route" and select 0.0.0.0/0 as "Destination" select your created Internet Gateway in "Target" now click on "Save Changes".

From here will go to "subnet associations" to give the access of internet to your required subnets. So, for that click on "Edit Subnet Associations".

select those subnets and click on "Save Associations".

By doing this public subnets will use public route table which we created and private subnets will use default route table.

Step 6: Configure Security Groups and NACLs
Define security groups to control inbound and outbound traffic to your instances based on port, protocol, and source/destination IP addresses. Configure network ACLs to provide an additional layer of security at the subnet level.

Configure Security Groups:

First navigate to the "security groups" section and click on "Create security group."

Provide a name and description for the security group (e.g., "Public-SG").
Select the VPC created in Step 2.
Define inbound and outbound rules:
Inbound: Allow traffic on necessary ports for your public instances (e.g., HTTP, HTTPS, SSH).
Outbound: Allow all traffic (default outbound rule).
Click "Create security group."

Configure Network Access Control Lists (NACLs): (Optional)

Go to the "Network ACLs" section in the VPC dashboard.

Click on "Create network ACL."
Provide a name and description for the NACL (e.g., "Public-NACL").
Select the VPC created in Step 2.

Congratulations! You've successfully created your first Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on AWS. Your VPC provides a secure and customizable network environment for deploying your AWS resources. As you continue your journey with AWS, explore more advanced networking concepts and features to optimize your infrastructure and enhance your cloud experience.

Remember to manage your VPC resources securely and follow AWS best practices for network security and compliance. With AWS VPC, you have the flexibility and control to build scalable and resilient cloud architectures tailored to your organization's needs.

Conclusion

AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) empowers organizations to design and deploy secure, isolated, and highly customizable network environments in the cloud. By mastering the creation and configuration of VPCs, businesses can architect cloud infrastructures that meet their specific requirements for scalability, security, and connectivity. Whether hosting simple web applications or complex enterprise workloads, AWS VPC provides the essential framework for building resilient and efficient cloud architectures. Embrace the power of AWS VPC and unlock endless possibilities in the realm of cloud computing.

Keep exploring, learning, and leveraging the power of cloud computing with AWS!🌟🚀

Getting Started with AWS EC2: Create Your First EC2 Instance

Syed Mustafa Hassan — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 11:47:36 +0000

Welcome to this beginner-friendly guide to AWS EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud). In this video, I’ll briefly overview EC2, its benefits, and why you would use it. Then in a hands-on tutorial, I’ll walk through how to create a new EC2 instance (using the Windows Amazon Machine Image or AMI), how to connect, and then finally how to terminate the instance.

What is EC2?

Elastic Cloud Compute, or EC2, is the core service for Compute in Amazon Web Services (AWS). An EC2 instance is effectively a virtual server that you “rent,” meaning you only pay for what you use.

The problem that Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) solves: a story

Suppose I'm working for a startup that's creating a website and a mobile app that shows the location of air pumps for tires, my boss, indoors apparently came up with this idea after he had a low tire on his car one day had to drive all over town looking for a gas station that had an air pump because they're a startup they're on a shoestring budget My uncle had an old windows server sitting in his garage so he donated that to the cause it sits at the back of their co-working using to host things one day someone on Reddit mentions their humble little site and it starts to get more traffic the server gets totally overwhelmed and promptly crashes I tell my boss the news and he starts stressing about how they're going to buy a new server to manage the increased website traffic I worked with AWS a little bit in the past and suggested they consider switching to the cloud and also tells him that rather than hosting their application on a single server in AWS instead called an EC2 Instance.

Overviewing EC2 and its benefits:

Elastic Cloud Compute, or EC2, is the core service for Compute in Amazon Web Services (AWS). An EC2 instance is effectively a virtual server that you “rent,” meaning that you need it and you only pay for what you use, and in AWS speak these are called instances.

- Easy to Scale:
It's easy to scale meaning if you suddenly need 10 extra servers to handle increased traffic it's easy to spin those up and that can even happen automatically with a feature called Auto-Scalling.

- Reliable:
EC2 is reliable amazon has billions of dollars of infrastructure around the world and if one of your servers goes down for whatever reason it can automatically be replaced with another one.

-Use with other services:
EC2 is one of the foundational AWS services and as such it works seamlessly with all of the other AWS services like networking storage security and so on.

- Only pay for what you use:
You only pay for what you use so rather than guessing how many servers you need and buying them and shipping them and setting them up and so on all of that has a lot of upfront costs here you use the EC2 Instance when you need it and you only pay for what you used.

Steps to Create an EC2 Instance

Choose AMI

Choose Instance Type

Configure Instance

Add Storage

Add Tags

Configure Security Group

Review

Ready to dive into the world of AWS EC2? Let's start with these step-by-step instructions!

1. Create an AWS Account:

If you don't have an AWS account yet, go to the AWS website and sign up for a new account. You'll need a credit card to complete the registration, but many services, including AWS EC2, offer a free tier for new users to get started.

2. Access the AWS Management Console:

3. Navigate to EC2:

In the AWS Management Console, in AWS Services from the drop-down, All Services find EC2 and click on it or type "EC2" in the search bar at the top and select the "EC2" service from the results.

and here on the EC2 dashboard, we're going to launch our first instance the orange button right here launch instance.

4. Choosing an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for the EC2 instance:

You'll see the steps enumerated up on the top for the first one of choosing our AMI.

So an AMI or Amazon Machine Image is your basic unit of deployment in EC2 without the AMI you don't have anything as you see at the top it has an operating system installed that'll vary depending on what type you choose.

There are a lot of aims provided by AWS there are also several available from the community in the marketplace and you can create your own event.

But scrolling down you'll see the options here several available for Linux, Mac, Rat Hat, Windows, and so on a lot of different options here.

The server we're replacing was Windows and this one is a free tier eligible for the Microsoft windows server 2019 base so we're going to go with that over here choose select.

5. Choosing an instance type for the EC2 instance:

Now we need to choose our instance type these types have different combinations of CPUs and memory networking capacity storage and so on and they're grouped into families like you see here

if you click on the learn more up top this takes you to a page that gives you a lot more detail about what the different families are for

for our purposes, we want to choose the t2 micro which also is free tier eligible and then we'll come down to the next configure instance details

6. Configuring instance details for an EC2 instance:

There's quite a few details on this page here

settings around pricing and networking and access management and shutdown behavior I'll call out a few things as we go but you'll see there are also really handy tool tips here and some of them also have links where you can learn more so check those out as you're going along

but starting up here we're just going to create one instance from this AMI you can create multiple instances if you want

moving down the page spot instances have to do with billing and with these you basically specify or bid on the amount that you want to pay these can potentially save you some money but for our purpose, we're going to skip that

moving down to the networking section you choose your VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) this is your virtual network that's logically isolated in a part of the AWS

you should have one by default like I do here that's what I'm going to go with

but you could also create a new one from here

as well then additional details around the subnet IP's hostname DNS hostname and so on once again I'm just going to go with all the defaults and scroll down the placement group and capacity reservation these have to do with how your instance is logically grouped within an availability zone and the capacity you want to hold for it we're going to leave these as defaults as well

and same goes for this section domain join directory and IMA role these have to do with access and permissions

moving down I do want to call out the shutdown behavior here you'll see that there are two options stop and terminate stop means that the instance is temporarily shut down and that you're going to use it again later when you have an instance that's backed by an elastic block store or EBS volume kind of think of that as the C drive on your regular computer if you stop your instance that EVS volume remains so that it's ready to go next time you start the instance so that it's ready to go next time you start the instance all your data and everything will still be there

if you terminate the instance so that's permanent the instance is shut down and your EBS volume is deleted so in most cases you're going to want to go with stop and

I'll choose that there are some additional options here we'll go with the defaults as well as the advanced details we'll go with defaults here and then next up we'll add storage.

7. Adding storage to an EC2 instance:

As I mentioned above the EBS or Elastic Block Volume is where you specify that so by default we're getting a purpose state

the volume type if you want to update some of these other settings you can also add new volumes if you need them

but we're going to go with it and next to add tags.

8. Adding tags to an EC2 instance:

Tags are a really useful way to organize and manage your resources so maybe this machine is going to be used for development only as opposed to testing or production so let's add a tag for the environment and our value will be dev or development and we're going to apply this to the instances volumes and network interfaces and say next configure security group.

9. Configuring security groups for an EC2 instance:

Security groups are basically your firewall rules that allow or disallow traffic for your instance we're going to create a new one and then you want to add your rules

so for example, if we were hosting a public website here we'd' need to go in and specify HTTP for example access on port 80 and you continue with the same for other rules that you need but I'll get rid of that one as the default rule that was added for us is the remote desktop access on port 3389

and the source here with the zeros basically means that we're opening up access to any IP address to RDP into our server generally this is not a good idea that's why you're getting the warning here

as a best practice, you'll want to restrict this to only known IP addresses but for what we're doing we're going to proceed to review and launch

10. Reviewing and launching an EC2 instance:

Review all of the details you'll see we're still getting that warning

about having the RDP open to the world again in the real world you would want to change that but everything else looks good here and we're going to say launch

11. Creating a key pair for an EC2 instance:

Next, we're going to be prompted for a key pair and this is required to log into the instance which we're going to do by remote desktop once it's launched we'll go ahead and create a new one

For the key pair name, I'll say MyTTTkeypair and then you're going to need to download it I'll add it to the demo folder that I have and say save

and then launch instances

it'll take a minute or two for everything to launch you can view the launch log here

to see what's going on there are some other links you can check here while you're waiting but you can also view instances

this will take you to the list of instances in the ec2 console and you'll see here the status check it's initializing and the instant state is running

you can click on this though and down here below you'll see the details of the instance

a lot of information here there are also additional tabs security networking storage and so forth so here's where you can manage all the information about your instance you can also do this through the command line interface or the CLI or programmatically as well, now everything looks good here

12. Connecting to an EC2 instance through Remote Desktop:

Here I'll select the instance and click on connect

there are a few different ways to connect to your instance we're going to go with the RDP client remote desktop client here and click on download remote desktop file

this will create a shortcut basically that you just need to click on it's going to connect you to our instance I'll save that on my hard drive

I'm putting that up over here I'll just double-click this and we'll say connect here

you're prompted for the administrator password

so you might remember that key pair that we we working with before we needed to go get the password using that

so we'll click on get password here and browse for that key pair file

the dot pem file and open then

we need to decrypt the password here

I'll copy that

and then back to our RDP client I'll paste in the password here and hit ok

once again we'll say yes

and here's our Windows server in the cloud and there you go here's where you can do your development work or hosting or whatever you need to do.

Terminating an EC2 instance:

If you're following along I want to make sure you go delete your instance

we are using the free tier but no sense in leaving things running out there unnecessarily so back here to your instances go ahead and select this instant state and terminate the instance

remember this is a permanent action your instance will be shut down and your EBS volume or kind of virtual hard drive is going to be deleted as well. so you really want to do this we'll say terminate

the instant state is shutting down

this might take a minute or two and it will appear here as terminated for a while but it'll eventually drop off your list.

You can explore deploying applications, hosting websites, running databases, and more. Optimize costs by stopping or terminating instances when not in use. As you continue your journey into the world of AWS, don't forget to discover the other services and capabilities that AWS offers.

So, keep learning, experimenting, and leveraging the power of cloud computing with AWS!🌟