I'm new to the whole cloud concept.
I have set up a Windows VM with GCE, remote desktopped into it, installed Apache HTTPD and set the firewall rules, turning this Google GCE into a web server. I intend to install Perl, which is my primary programming language and isn't supported in App Engine.
I am looking for an alternative to my current hosting solution for better uptime and availability, or at least a fall-back service.
Is it recommended to use GCE in this way or am I barking up the wrong tree?
GCE is a very general solution, you can use your VM for whatever purpose you want. In particular GCE is recommended for all workloads that do not fit in the rather strict limitations of App Engine.
Having said that, web hosting was probably the first and main use case for GCE when it was being implemented. On top of having a single VM serving your traffic you can trivially scale your solution up by using load balancers and/or autoscaling. On top of that you can use a managed DB if your web server needs storage, etc. So the answer is, yes, GCE is definitely designed to be used as a web server.
Related
I am working in a project where we are using Go as a web server and MySQL.
We have been told to implement fault tolerance to handle a hardware crash. We were given 2 servers which have MySQL and the Go-server on them.
We have succesfully set up replication in MySQL, but we are struggling with the failover part. Our thought was to get an extra server with HAProxy to have a primary server and then being able to failover to the backup server.
We also considered using MySQL failover, but did not see how we could redirect the traffic using it.
Is this a reasonable plan? Or what would you recommend that we do instead?
If you want two identical servers connecting to their local MySQL instances, you need a way of deciding which one is the production server. There are a number of solutions for that, including
Setting up a reverse proxy, as you mention, but then, your proxy
itself becomes a SPOF,
Using a floating IP, also known as a failover
IP, but this only works if your host supports it. Cloud providers
typically support them, as well as some bare metal server providers.
There is nothing specific to Go as far as I know.
From what I gather, the only way to use a MySQL database with Azure websites is to use Cleardb but can I install MySQL on VMs provided in Azure Cloud Services. And if so how?
This question might get closed and moved to ServerFault (where it really belongs). That said: ClearDB provides MySQL-as-a-Service in Azure. It has nothing to do with what you can install in your own Virtual Machines. You can absolutely do a VM-based MySQL install (or any other database engine that you can install on Linux or Windows). In fact, the Azure portal even has a tutorial for a MySQL installation on OpenSUSE.
If you're referring to installing in web/worker roles: This simply isn't a good fit for database engines, due to:
the need to completely script/automate the install with zero interaction (which might take a long time). This includes all necessary software being downloaded/installed to the vm images every time a new instance is spun up.
the likely inability for a database cluster to cope with arbitrary scale-out (the typical use case for web/worker roles). Database clusters may or may not work well when a scale-out occurs (adding an additional vm). Same thing when scaling in (removing a vm).
less-optimal attached-storage configuration
inability to use Linux VMs
So, assuming you're still ok with Virtual Machines (vs stateless Cloud Service vm's): You'll need to carefully plan your deployment, with decisions such as:
Distro (Ubuntu, CentOS, etc). Azure-supported Linux distro list here
Selecting proper VM size (the DS series provide SSD attached disk support; the G series scale to 448GB RAM)
Azure Storage attached disks being non-Premium or Premium (premium disks are SSD-backed, durable disks scaling to 1TB/5000 IOPS per disk, up to 32 disks per VM depending on VM size)
Virtual network configuration (for multi-node cluster)
Accessibility of database cluster (whether your app is in the vnet or accesses it through a public endpoint; and if the latter, setting up ACL's)
Backup / HA / DR planning
Someone else mentioned using a pre-built VM image from VM Depot. Just realize that, if you go that route, you're relying on someone else to configure the database engine install for you. This may or may not be optimal for what you're trying to achieve. And the images may or may not be up-to-date with the latest versions, patches, etc.
Of course, what I wrote applies to any database engine you install in your own virtual machines, where a service provider (such as ClearDB) tends to take care of most of these things for you.
If you are talking about standard VMs then you can use a pre-built images on VMDepot for that.
If you are talking about web or worker roles (PaaS) I wouldn't recommend it, but if you really want to you could. You would need to fully script the install of the solution on the host. The only downside (and it's a big one) you would have would be the that the host will be moved to a new host at some point which would mean your MySQL data files would be lost - if you backed up frequently and were happy to lose some data then this option may work for you.
I think, that the main question is "what You want to achieve?". As I see, You want to use PaaS solution with Web Apps or Cloud Service and You need a MySQL database. If Yes, You have two options (both technically as David Makogon said). First one is to deploy Your own (one) server with MySQL and connect to it from the outside (internet side). Second solution is to create one MySQL server or cluster and connect Your application internally in Azure virtual network. WIth Cloud Service it is simple but with Web App it is not. You must create VPN gateway in Azure VM and connect Your Web App to this gateway. In this way You will have internal connection wfrom Your application to Your own MySQL cluster.
I'm setting up an application on Heroku that uses a MySQL database.
The client would like to use a MySQL database that has an explicit whitelist that allows it to connect. However, due to the dynamic IP nature of Heroku, this proves to be quite complex; we have to use an add-on such as QuotaGuard to provide us a static IP in which we can access the database.
This proxy routing is causing issues for us in other places as other services that use dynamic IPs are attempting to access the database and are failing.
My question is the degree of security a whitelist really provides rather than a complex username/password with SSL.
Has anyone had experience with the two and can speak to the advantages disadvantages?
Thanks
Allow me to rephrase your question:
What is the advantage of setting up a complex dynamic IP tracker system vs. simply securing the link?
An IP can be spoofed, by the way, so this solution is not that secure (right, such an attack requires some non-trivial black magic, but is quite feasible in fact).
Configuring MySQL for SSL support is really not that complicated and very well documented.
And if you can't recompile or reconfigure MySQL, you can still establish a simple VPN between your client application and your MySQL server (and only allow connections from this VPN).
Unfortunately, I don't know if your provider allows this level of configuration on your instances.
So if all of the above in not possible, you can still create a random 10000-character long password. Not secure enough for a purist, but I wish the hackers good luck :)
I have a publicly accessed database on RDS that works like a charm from Netbeans. I would like to deploy my Java application on AWS. What is the simplest way to do this? I will only use the application for some very basic tasks, getting used to cloud computing working on a small scale. Is EC2 my best bet and is it possible to upload apps as easily as with the Google App Engine plugin. Can I use the same jdbc driver as I use locally, and can I use JPA against the database? I would rather not use Eclipse for now as I am in a bit of a hurry and need to get this working as soon as possible.
This is a lot of questions for one question, but I'll see if I can help you out.
1. Simplest Way to deploy to AWS
If this application is as simple as you say it is, the most cost effective solution while you're getting used to AWS will be to deploy to a micro instance and take advantage of the free tier. From Amazon:
AWS Free Tier includes 750 hours of Linux and Windows Micro Instances each month for one year. To stay within the Free Tier, use only EC2 Micro instances.
The simplest way to deploy directly from Netbeans is to use the integrated Elastic Beanstalk support. This saves you from having to configure things yourself.
Another option is to launch a Ubuntu AMI and install Tomcat. Create a WAR file from your application and place it where Tomcat can find it. I suggest using the first method.
2. Is EC2 my best bet?
This is a little open ended. For a nice learning experience as you get accustomed to AWS, the free tier for EC2 is a nice platform to learn with. If your application needs to eventually scale, using EBS is a pretty simple way to manage an application. My answer is an opinion because "best bet" depends solely on the requirements of your application, but I say yes.
3. Is it possible to upload apps as easily as with the Google App Engine plugin?
For simple applications I think so. I think it's even easier if you switch to Eclipse and use the toolkit for AWS. Whether Google App Engine or AWS is easier for you will once again depend on personal preference, the application, and your requirements.
4. Can I use the same JDBC driver as I use locally?
If you're using MySQL Connector/J then yes. Read this to understand how it works with RDS.
5. Can I use JPA against the database?
Yes. You'll change the endpoint from localhost to the endpoint of your RDS instance.
6. I would rather not use Eclipse for now...
Another personal preference, but the AWS toolkit for Eclipse is very easy to use and can speed the process up a bit.
I have a dedicated server with WHM and cPanel installed on it.
recently I decided to move to cloud services since the dedicated server is costly and I'm not actually using any of its power, freedom and functionality.
I was considering moving to AWS or Heroku since they are less expensive, scalable and I don't need to manage the server myself.
I only have few websites on my server and I'm managing them via cPanel and WHM
I'm only using mySql database
I have also have some cron jobs setup
I use ftp to upload and maintain my websites (no git)
I was wondering if anyone could explain how I can transfer my files, databases, and domains to either AWS or Heroku.
I prefer the one that is easier and faster to migrate to.
Thanks.
If server/network management is not your strength, I would strongly advise against using AWS (even as big a proponent of AWS as I am). You absolutely must manage the servers yourselves, at least the configuration aspect (not the hardware aspect). In fact, you will find that you have to do things like set up security policies, identity access management, IP addresses, etc. that are not always that intuitive to one who is not used to working in a bit of an operations capacity.
You will also likely have to consider application architecture changes to work best with AWS services. Additionally, you will have to become accustomed to the AWS way of doings things (that starting and stopping server instances may make all your data go away and such).
If you are looking for a hands-off server approach, you might be better served looking at something like Slicehost/Rackspace.
I can't talk much to Heroku as I have only minimal experience prototyping on it. You can think of it more as an application platform. For simple applications that don't have unique traffic demands or architectural requirements, it seems a good solution for getting an application up and running with minimal server-related configuration. Again a legacy app will probably require some re-architecting to do things the Heroku way.
AWS are good but the support at Rackspace is far better and much more suited for someone like you. Rackspaces support is 24/7 and even on their online chat system you don't need to wait more than a few mins to speak to someone who actually knows what they are doing.