Cloud Computing Assignment

Now that you understand and have created a virtual machine, your Caduceus CTO, Eliza, has asked you to extend that application and provision infrastructure in the cloud. Specifically, you will provision multiple operating systems to include Microsoft Windows and Linux in the cloud and can use the

Amazon WorkSpace Client

 for access.  You may also use any other software that provides a secure connection between your device and the AWS virtual machines you create.  The provisioned infrastructure could be accessed by any end-user device running the AWS Client, or any other software allows for secure connections. This includes a desktop running Microsoft Windows, a Mac device running Apple MacOS, iPad, Android Tablet, and even a Google Chromebook. You will use any of the aforementioned end-user devices to access the provision infrastructure once this is set up.  Finally, you will demonstrate additional services that are offered through AWS.

Step 1: Log in to the AWS Dashboard

CMIT 495 requires you to complete hands-on assignments in the

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

 virtual environment.

To get started, log in to the

free AWS Educate account

you created in Week 1.

Step 2: Download the

Week 2 Assignment Template

Next, download the Week 2 Assignment Template. You will answer the questions and embed the appropriate screenshots of your cloud infrastructure provision as you work.

When providing a detailed overview of the steps required to install the Windows operating system on the virtual machine, make sure to include screenshots of each step in the process. Specific details and instructions are included within the Week 2 Assignment Template.

Note, you will have to install more than just the Microsoft Windows operating system to complete the Week 2 assignment.  For example, question 3 of the Week 2 Assignment template asks you to create a network file system using Amazon Elastic File System (EFS).  However, AWS documentation states, “Using Amazon EFS with Microsoft Windows–based Amazon EC2 instances is not supported.”  Therefore, students will have to launch a Linux instance as they did in Week 1 to complete question 3.  A successful outcome for the Week 2 Assignment requires students to read the appropriate AWS documentation about the task they are being asked to complete.  The documentation will make clear whether the Microsoft Windows Operating System or some other Operating System is required.

Step 3: Install and Configure the Appropriate Operating System

• Provision cloud infrastructure via Amazon and a OS platform (PaaS) by installing and configuring the most appropriate Operating System to answer each question of the template.  Access should be made possible via the Amazon WorkSpace Client, or a software of your choosing.

  Research and use AWS documentation and tutorials for instructions and guidance to complete the assignment.
  Consult the AWS Connection Documentation in order to connect to the Operating System.
  Configure additional AWS services per the Week 2 Assignment Template.

Step 4: Upload Your Work to the Assignment Folder

• When complete, export your file as a PDF and upload to the LEO Assignments Folder (e.g., Week 2 – Cloud Computing).

Step 5: Stop and Terminate Your Amazon Instance

After you complete the Week 2 Assignment, stop and terminate your Amazon deployment/instances.

Week 2 Assignment Template [STUDENT NAME GOES HERE]

CMIT 495 Current Trends and Projects in Computer Networks and Security

Week 2 – Cloud Computing

1. Log in to your newly created AWS account and take a screenshot of the AWS Management Console (Dashboard) and embed it below. The screenshot should include the username you created during setup.

2. Launch a Windows Virtual Machine (VM). Provide a detailed overview of the steps required to install the Microsoft Windows operating system on the VM. The steps may be listed in bullet points or complete sentences. Use as much space as required. Finally, take a screenshot of the desktop and embed it below.

3. Using AWS, create a network file system with Amazon Elastic File Systems (EFS). Use the AWS Use Cases web page for step-by-step instructions. Take a screenshot of the result and embed it below. Specifically, take a screenshot of verifying your file system has been successfully mounted, and the results of creating a test file in your new file system by running a simple dd command to generate a 1GiB file in your new directory. Finally, describe the value of a network file system.

4. Using AWS, store and retrieve a file. Use the AWS Use Cases web page for step-by-step instructions. Take a screenshot of the result and embed it below. Specifically, take a screenshot retrieving the object from the S3 bucket.

5. The CTO will be reviewing this document. You have shown how easy it is to provision a Microsoft operating system using AWS. The CTO chose AWS because it offered a free account. She will now expect a recommendation from you on what cloud service to use for the organization PaaS (e.g. operating system) needs. There is no need for a private cloud, so the public option will work just fine. Describe the difference between the Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure. Make a recommendation to the CTO as to which service provider you would recommend and why. Be explicit and detailed in your recommendation.

6. The CTO appreciated the analysis performed between the cloud service providers (Amazon, Google, and Microsoft). She has decided to proceed with an

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud

. Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) enables you to launch AWS resources into a virtual network that you’ve defined. This virtual network closely resembles a traditional network that you’d operate in your own data center, with the benefits of using the scalable infrastructure of AWS. To begin, the CEO would like you to provision two subnets. One subnet will be for the developers (Subnet A), which will be provisioned with 10.0.0.0/24. The second subnet will for the marketing department (Subnet B), which will be provisioned with 10.2.0.0/16.

Given the aforementioned CIDR notation address space, how many total virtual

machines are possible for subnet A and B? Perform the necessary calculations and

explain your answer.

7.

Confirm that you have stopped and terminated your Microsoft virtual machine, deleted your file system from the Amazon EFS console. To confirm, simply type your name below.

Upon completion of this assignment, export your file as a PDF and upload to the LEO/Assignments folder.

Week 2 Assignment Template [name]

CMIT 495 Current Trends and Projects in Computer Networks and Security

Week 2 – Cloud Computing

1. Log in to your newly created AWS account and take a screenshot of the dashboard and embed it below. The screenshot should include the username you created during setup.

Launch a Windows Virtual Machine (VM). Provide a detailed overview of the steps required to install the Microsoft Windows operating system on the VM. The steps may be listed in bullet points or complete sentences. Use as much space as required. Finally, take a screenshot of the desktop and embed it below.
-Step 1: Log into the following website

https://us-east-2.console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/v2/home?region=us-east-2#Home

:. From the EC2 Management right underneath Create Instance click on the blue Launch Instance button and select “Launch Instance.”

-Step 2: Scroll down until you find the Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Base 64-bit (x86) instance and click on the blue “Next” button.

-Step 3: When choosing the Instance Type selected the General Purpose t2.micro for my instance type (the second option) and clicked on the blue “Next” button.

-Step 4: From here you can either click on the blue “Review and Launch” button or click on the gray button for Configure Instance Details. If you select Review and Launch option all the VM configurations will be the default. If you select the Configure Instance Details you can specific your settings. I’m going to select Review and Launch since I do not have the need to specific those configurations.

-Step 5: This window is your last chance to make any configuration changes prior to launching the VM. If you are satisfied with all your settings click on the blue “Launch” button.

-Step 6: A window will pop up stating “Select an existing key pair or create a new key.” In the first box you will have three option: Choose an existing key pair; Create a new key pair, or proceed without a key pair. You do not want to select proceed without a key pair because you will need a private key to access your VM. I selected “Create a new key pair” because I deleted my previous key from the last assignment. In the next dialog you are required to name your key pair so I gave it the name “Key.” Click the gray box for “Download Key Pair.” It’s going to run and there will be a pop-up box asking if you want to open or save key.pem. I’m going to click the down arrow beside save and select save as and annotate where I save the key.pem. Now you can click on the blue “Launch Instances” button. There is another blue “View Instance” button at the bottom right of the window.

-Step 7: The VM is going to initialized and go through a series of systems checks. From your web browser go back into the management console click on your VM and click on the gray “Connect” button. A popup box will display. First you need to download the “Download Remote Desktop File.”

-Step 8: The public DNS and Administrator login information will already be populated. Beside Password click on “Get Password.”

-Step 9: In the “Key Pair Path” browse to where you saved the key that was generated when the VM was created. Then click Open

-Step 10: In the next box you will see —–BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY—– followed by a bunch of random characters. Right below that box you will see the words “Decrypt Password.” Click on that box.

-Step 11: Now right beside the word password you will see a password that is consisted of random alphanumeric characters. You have the option to copy the password by pointing your cursor to the very right of the last character of the password as seen in the screenshot below. Copy the password so you can paste it into the password box and click ok so you can connect to the VM. There may be another popup to display regarding the Identity of the remote computer cannot be verified. Do you want to connect anyway? I’m going to select the for Don’t ask me again for connections to this computer and click on the Yes button to continue.

2. Using AWS, create a network file system with Amazon Elastic File Systems (EFS). Use the AWS Use Cases web page for step-by-step instructions. Take a screenshot of the result and embed it below. Specifically, take a screenshot of verifying your file system has been successfully mounted, and the results of creating a test file in your new file system by running a simple dd command to generate a 1GiB file in your new directory. Finally, describe the value of a network file system.

3. Using AWS, store and retrieve a file. Use the AWS Use Cases web page for step-by-step instructions. Take a screenshot of the result and embed it below. Specifically, take a screenshot retrieving the object from the S3 bucket.

4.

Using AWS, create a WordPress website. Use the AWS Use Cases web page for step-by-step instructions. Take a screenshot of the result and embed it below. Specifically, edit the default WordPress website and insert your name in lieu of “Hello World”, and embed the screenshot below.

5. Using AWS, run a serverless “Hello, World”. Use the AWS Use Cases web page for step-by-step instructions. Take a screenshot of the result and embed it below. Specifically, take a screenshot of the results in the console upon successful execution.

6. Using AWS, create and connect to a MySQL Database. Use the AWS Use Cases web page for step-by-step instructions. Take a screenshot of the result and embed it below. Specifically, take a screenshot of the successful connection to the database via the MySQL Workbench.

7. The CTO will be reviewing this document. You have shown how easy it is to provision a Microsoft operating system using AWS. The CTO chose AWS because it offered a free account. She will now expect a recommendation from you on what cloud service to use for the organization PaaS (e.g. operating system) needs. There is no need for a private cloud, so the public option will work just fine. Describe the different between the Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure. Make a recommendation to the CTO as to which service provider you would recommend and why. Be explicit and detailed in your recommendation.
There are a few things to consider which trying to determine a cloud provider such as price, technical support availability, reliability, performance and integration with an existing network. Amazon Web Service (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are all reputable companies and are all fairly new to me.

-AWS was launched in 2006 and currently provides 70 services with a large variety of coverages in 16 regions and 40 separate zones. A zone is an available area within a region. Some pros with AWS are it can support large enterprise networks and organizations; they offer a 12-month free membership including 750 hours per month; they support both Windows and Linux operating systems; they offer Block Storage that can be attached to an instance or kept separated; you can upload customized files, and they support NoSQL. The security of AWS is broken into 5 layers: data, application, host, network, and physical. The user data is protected by encryption. A feature that I ran across personally with AWS is prior to deleting you have to type the name of what you want to delete i.e. when I delete my storage I had to type the name of the storage I wanted to delete before I could actually delete it and they have step by step guidelines for almost everything. This minimizes accidental deletions. Some cons with AWS: there are some possible technical support fees, and AWS could potentially become costly.

Microsoft Azure was launched in 2010 and is the second largest cloud provider. Microsoft Azure provides 67 services and has servers in 30 different regions. Some pros for Microsoft Azure are: it can be integrated with Microsoft tools and software; it supports private, public and hybrid cloud computing and Open Source servers, and they support NoSQL. So cons to Microsoft Azure are they lack Hyper-V snapshot support; you cannot upload custom images, and they lack integrated backups.

GCP is the newest as it was recently launched in 2011. GCP currently services 15 data centers worldwide servicing 46 zones and was designed to satisfy IT solutions for Google Search and YouTube. GCP pros are: they are commitment to open source and businesses; they offer a lot of discounts and have flexible pricing; there is no cost upfront and you can choose to pay as you go with no termination fee, they offer top of the line security, and they offer live migration of Virtual Machines. Some cons for GCP are they have fewer features; immaturity as it is the youngest of the three, server coverage is not the best outside of the USA, and their cloud messaging is strictly limited to 4069 bytes.

Although AWS is known to be pricy I would choose to go with them. The features that they offer is awesome and the step by step guides can literally get you through almost anything. In the life of technology sometimes you get what you pay for. Sometimes you have to spend more money to get what you need. What really sold me is the security when you get certain items. I’ve seen my share of accidental deletions and that can save you big. I would say if AWS becomes overbearing in price that would give GCP time to mature a little more and we could consider to switch to them as that would be my second choice.

8. The CTO appreciated the analysis performed between the cloud service providers (Amazon, Google, and Microsoft). She has decided to proceed with an

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud

. Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) enables you to launch AWS resources into a virtual network that you’ve defined. This virtual network closely resembles a traditional network that you’d operate in your own data center, with the benefits of using the scalable infrastructure of AWS. To begin, the CEO would like you to provision two subnets. One subnet will be for the developers (Subnet A), which will be provisioned with 10.0.0.0/24. The second subnet will for the marketing department (Subnet B), which will be provisioned with 10.2.0.0/16.

Given the aforementioned CIDR notation address space, how many total virtual

machines are possible for subnet A and B? Perform the necessary calculations and

explain your answer.

An Internet Protocol (IP) version 4 (IPv4) is a 32-bit address comprised of two components the network prefix (Network ID) and host ID. When assigning IP addresses there are always two IP addresses that are consider not useable. They are the Network ID IP and the Broadcast IP. The network ID identifies the network in which a device is logically on. The broadcast IP is used to send requests out to locate devices on a specific network. When trying to determine how many IP addresses are useable we use the formula 2^x-2. The letter x in the equation represents the bits borrowed. For example, our first network is 10.0.0.0/24 meaning we borrowed 8 bits because it’s a total of 32 bits in an IP address and we have already have 24 (/24) so we need to borrow 8 more bits. The minus 2 is to account for the 2 unusable IP address (the network ID and broadcast). So, 2^8-2 is 254. In the first network we have 254 useable IP addresses with 10.0.0.0 is the network and 10.0.0.255 is the broadcast. The next network is 10.2.0.0/16. You have 16 borrowed bits because we are using 16 with the /16 network. So, 2^16-2 is 65,534. In the first network we have 65,534 useable IP addresses with 10.2.0.0 is the network and 10.2.255.255 is the broadcast. Below is a quick reference that can be used to determine the number of useable IP addresses for a specific network class or subnet.

9.

Confirm that you have stopped and terminated your Microsoft virtual machine, deleted your file system from the Amazon EFS console, deleted your Amazon S3 bucket, removed your WordPress site, deleted your Amazon Lambda function, and deleted the MySQL database instance. To confirm, simply type your name below.

Upon completion of this assignment, export your file as a PDF and upload to the LEO/Assignments folder.