Fall 2024
IT601P – System and Network Administration (Practical)
Assignment No. 2
BC200202399 Hamza imdad
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# Assignment Solution
## Task 1: Container-based Environment Recommendation
### Comparison: VMs vs. Containers
**Virtual Machines (VMs):**
- Each VM requires a separate operating system, consuming significant resources.
- Start-up times are longer compared to containers.
- Resource utilization is less efficient as each VM carries its own OS overhead.
**Containers:**
- Containers share the host OS kernel, leading to lower resource overhead.
- Faster start-up times and better resource utilization.
- Ideal for microservices architecture and environments requiring high scalability.
**Recommendation:**
A container-based environment is better for this scenario as it allows:
- Efficient resource utilization across 10 web servers.
- Scalability to handle increased traffic.
- Easy management of dependencies using container images.
## Task 2: Container Image Requirements
### Number of Container Image Files Required
- **Web Server Image:** 1 container image to host the web application.
- **Database Server Image:** 1 container image for MariaDB.
### Scripts for Creating Container Image Files
**Web Server Container Image (Dockerfile):**
```dockerfile
# Web Server Dockerfile
FROM nginx:latest
COPY ./webapp /usr/share/nginx/html
EXPOSE 80
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]
```
**MariaDB Container Image (Dockerfile):**
```dockerfile
# Database Server Dockerfile
FROM mariadb:latest
ENV MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=my-secret-pw
ENV MYSQL_DATABASE=mydb
COPY ./init.sql /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/
EXPOSE 3306
CMD ["mysqld"]
```
**Required Configuration Files:**
- `webapp` directory: Contains the web application files.
- `init.sql`: Script to initialize the MariaDB database.
## Task 3: IP Addressing Plan
### IP Addressing
Given the network prefix `192.16.x.0/24` (with `x = 9`):
- **Load Balancer:** 192.16.9.1
- **Web Servers:** 192.16.9.2 - 192.16.9.11
- **Database Servers:** 192.16.9.12, 192.16.9.13
- **Subnet Mask:** 255.255.255.0
- **Gateway:** 192.16.9.254
### Network Diagram
## Task 4: Deployment File
**Docker Compose File (`docker-compose.yml`):**
```yaml
version: '3.8'
services:
load-balancer:
image: nginx:latest
volumes:
- ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
ports:
- "443:443"
depends_on:
- web
web:
image: custom-webapp
build:
context: ./web
dockerfile: Dockerfile
deploy:
replicas: 10
update_config:
parallelism: 2
delay: 10s
restart_policy:
condition: on-failure
networks:
- app-network
ports:
- "80"
db:
image: custom-mariadb
build:
context: ./db
dockerfile: Dockerfile
environment:
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: my-secret-pw
MYSQL_DATABASE: mydb
volumes:
- db_data:/var/lib/mysql
networks:
- app-network
networks:
app-network:
driver: bridge
volumes:
db_data:
```
### Load Balancer Configuration (`nginx.conf`):
```nginx
http {
upstream backend {
ip_hash; # Ensures session persistence
server 192.16.9.2;
server 192.16.9.3;
server 192.16.9.4;
server 192.16.9.5;
server 192.16.9.6;
server 192.16.9.7;
server 192.16.9.8;
server 192.16.9.9;
server 192.16.9.10;
server 192.16.9.11;
server {
listen 443 ssl;
server_name localhost;
ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/nginx.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/nginx.key;
location / {
proxy_pass http://backend;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
