Mission: Impossible — Linux Server Edition (Spoiler: It’s Totally Possible)

Hello and thank you for taking time to come read my article.

We are going to streamline the launching and updating our Apache server on Linux in out AWS Environment! (As seen in : https://medium.com/@paul13lavecchia/linux-server-circus-juggling-bytes-and-bandwidth-5c66dd3beaec )

The Lore : The Level-Up Bank wants to move its website and online banking platform to the cloud to improve scalability, reliability, and security. As the bank grows, it can easily scale its EC2 instances up or down depending on demand. The bank can also use AWS services, such as Elastic Load Balancing and Auto Scaling, to automatically balance traffic and ensure high availability and performance.

So to begin this journey we are going to go to your AWS account and use the t2.micro to stay within the free tier for this project.

We are going to create a Key pair to connect to the Instances.

Since we are going to be launching a web server we would need to correctly configure it to get inbound traffic via port 80 (HTTP).

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So now we are going to preconfigure a bash script to run on the EC2 instances.

You will have to open up “Advanced details”

Scroll all the way to the bottom within the Advanced Detail and find “User data”

#!/bin/bash
yum update -y
yum install -y httpd
systemctl start httpd
systemctl enable httpd

You can copy paste this command to download Apache.

When you are finished with the configurations lets launch!

When the launch is completed we are going to verify it is up and running by going to the instance ID and copying the public IP. You can find it near the top as seen here :

Paste this IP into your browser and…..

So you may be asking why is the bank even migrating everything to the cloud. There are many benefits to moving to the cloud but they are different for every organization.

The WHY?

Scalability: ● On-premises infrastructure can be difficult and expensive to scale. By moving its app to an EC2 instance on AWS, the bank can take advantage of the cloud’s scalability. EC2 instances can be easily scaled up or down depending on demand, allowing the bank to handle spikes in traffic without having to invest in additional hardware or infrastructure. This means that the bank can quickly respond to changes in customer demand and avoid the risk of under-provisioning or overprovisioning resources.

Reliability: ● AWS offers a highly reliable infrastructure with multiple availability zones and automatic failover capabilities. By moving its app to AWS, the bank can ensure that it is highly available and that customers can access it at all times. AWS’s infrastructure is designed to be fault-tolerant, which means that the bank’s app can continue to function even if there is an issue with a server or availability zone. This helps to minimize downtime and ensure that customers can access the bank’s services whenever they need them.

Security: ● Banks are a prime target for cyber attacks, and securing customer data is paramount. AWS provides robust security features, such as encryption, access controls, and network security, that can help the bank improve the security of its app and customer data. AWS also offers compliance certifications for various industry standards, which can help the bank meet regulatory requirements and protect against legal and reputational risks.

Cost savings: ● Maintaining on-premises infrastructure can be expensive, requiring significant upfront investment in hardware, software, and personnel. By using AWS, the bank can take advantage of pay-as-you-go pricing and avoid the upfront costs of purchasing and maintaining hardware. This means the bank can focus its resources on improving its app and services rather than managing and maintaining infrastructure. Additionally, AWS offers cost optimization tools and resources to help the bank optimize its infrastructure and reduce costs over time.

Flexibility: ● The banking industry is constantly evolving, and banks need to be able to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and customer needs. Moving its app to AWS gives the bank the flexibility to quickly spin up new instances, test new features, and experiment with different configurations. This can help the bank innovate and respond more quickly to changing market conditions, giving it a competitive advantage.

Thank you for coming by and taking time for reading the article!!!