Comprehensive Study on Linux Server Administration Practices

The document covers a practical assignment on Linux Server Administration which involves three main sections: comparison of three cloud service providers based on various features; creation and configuration of a virtual server instance using an IaaS provider, specifically focusing on an Ubuntu server setup; and installation and testing of a web server. The first section compares AWS, Azure, and Google Compute Engine across service features, IPv4/IPv6 support, and security. The second demonstrates setting up an Ubuntu-based virtual machine with NGINX web server installation steps included. Lastly, it details configuring the server to allow HTTP traffic and verifying its operation through accessing a webpage via public IP. This assignment is supplemented by bibliographic references for further reading on cloud computing technologies.

Running head: LINUX SERVER ADMINISTRATION
Linux Server Administration
Part 2 – Practical
Student Name: Kiran Kumar Chaudhari
University Name:

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Table of Contents
1. Comparing three Cloud Service Providers..................................................................................2
a. Service features........................................................................................................................2
b. IPv4 and IPv6 addressing........................................................................................................3
c. Redundancy and Backup..........................................................................................................4
2. Account with an IaaS virtual server hosting provider.................................................................4
2.1 Creating a virtual server instance..........................................................................................4
2.2 Configuring the virtual server................................................................................................7
2.3 Testing the server using SSH and checking of processes....................................................10
3. Configure and test a Web server................................................................................................12
3.1 Installing and configuring a web server...............................................................................12
3.2 Testing the operation of web server.....................................................................................17
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................18

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1. Comparing three Cloud Service Providers
In this section, three cloud service providers that is Amazon Web Services (AWS),
Microsoft Azure and Google Compute Engine is compared based on the different criteria such as
Service features, IPv4 and IPv6 addressing along with Redundancy and Backup.
a. Service features
Name
Services
Amazon Web Services
(AWS)
Microsoft Azure Google Compute
Engine
Hosting Amazon Elastic and
Beanstalk
Cloud Services, Azure
Websites and Apps, Azure
Batch, Azure Scheduler
and Logic Apps
Google App Engine
Storage File Storage (Elastic File
System)
File Storage (Azure File
Storage)
Open-source fuse adapter
for file storage.
Virtual
machine
management
and network
services
 Administration and
Security - AWS
Directory Service,
AWS Identity and
Access Management
(IAM)
 Networking options -
Amazon VPC
 Administration and
Security - Azure
Active Directory
 Networking options -
Azure Virtual
Network
 Administration and
Security - Cloud
Identity & Access
Management (IAM)
 Networking options -
Cloud Virtual
Network
Supported Amazon Linux, CentOS, CentOS, CoreOS, Debian, CentOS, CoreOS,

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Linux
distributions
Debian, Kali Linux, Red
Hat SUSE and Ubuntu.
Oracle Linux, Red Hat
Enterprise Linux, SUSE
Linux Enterprise,
openSUSE and Ubuntu.
Debian, Red Hat
Enterprise Linux, SUSE
Linux Enterprise and
Ubuntu.
b. IPv4 and IPv6 addressing
IPv4 IPv6
Amazon Web
Services (AWS)
 32-bit format (4 groups of 4
numerical digits)
 Cannot be removed
 CIDR block size can be from /16 to
/28
 Supported in EC2-Classic, and EC2-
Classic connections with a VPC via
ClassicLink
 128-bit format (8 groups of 4
hexadecimal digits)
 Supports Opt-in only.
 CIDR block size is fixed at /56
 Not supported in EC2-Classic, and
not supported for EC2-Classic
connections with a VPC via
ClassicLink.
Microsoft Azure Public and Private IP addresses are used. This is used for Azure Load Balancer.
Inbound and outbound-initiated native
IPv6 connections.
Google Compute
Engine
Reserved IP address. Features supported by IPv4 load
balancing are also supported by IPv6
load balancing.

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c. Redundancy and Backup
Amazon Web Services
(AWS)
Microsoft Azure Google Compute Engine
Backup Amazon Glacier Azure Backup Google Cloud Storage
Disaster
recovery
None Azure Site Recovery None
2. Account with an IaaS virtual server hosting provider
2.1 Creating a virtual server instance
Step 1: Creating a new virtual machine

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Step 2: Search for version of Linux (Ubuntu)
Step 3: Select the version of Ubuntu Server (Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS has been chosen)

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Step 4: Creating the instance of Linux server
Step 5: Choosing the appropriate size and features for the server (DS1 Standard has been chosen

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Step 6: Directed to server instance for configuration
2.2 Configuring the virtual server
Step 1: Configuring Availability set

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Step 2: Deployment of Server
Step 3: Purchase and Deployment of server

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Step 4: Deployment of Ubuntu Server in progress
Step 5: Installed instance of the Linux Server

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2.3 Testing the server using SSH and checking of processes
Step 1: Connecting to the server using SSH
Step 2: Logging into the server using SSH
Connect using ssh kiran-vm@13.75.142.37
Now enter password as kiran-VM 2017
Now connection has been established with the server as below:

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Step 3: Checking of processes running on the server

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List of all processes running on the server
3. Configure and test a Web server
3.1 Installing and configuring a web server
Step 1: Connect to server using SSH

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Step 2: After connection to the server using SSH  Update package source with the command
as below:
sudo apt-get -y update
Step 3: Now install NGINX package with the following command:
sudo apt-get -y install nginx

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Step 4: Now exit the SSH session and open port 80 for web traffic
Click the name of resource group
Now select network security group

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Clicking the network security group opens the configuration window as below:
Now click on Inbound Security rules on the left hand menu

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Next click on Add and set the configuration as below:
Now after clicking ok a message will be that security rule created successfully as shown below:

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Now default webpage can be seen by accessing the Public IP address of the server as below:
3.2 Testing the operation of web server
The IP address for the server is 13.75.142.37

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Bibliography
Garg, S. K., Versteeg, S., & Buyya, R. (2013). A framework for ranking of cloud computing
services. Future Generation Computer Systems, 29(4), 1012-1023.
Jaatun, M. G., Pearson, S., Gittler, F., & Leenes, R. (2014, December). Towards strong
accountability for cloud service providers. In Cloud Computing Technology and Science
(CloudCom), 2014 IEEE 6th International Conference on (pp. 1001-1006). IEEE.
Moulik, S., Misra, S., & Gaurav, A. (2017). Cost-effective mapping between wireless body area
networks and cloud service providers based on multi-stage bargaining. IEEE
Transactions on Mobile Computing, 16(6), 1573-1586.
Mouratidis, H., Islam, S., Kalloniatis, C., & Gritzalis, S. (2013). A framework to support
selection of cloud providers based on security and privacy requirements. Journal of
Systems and Software, 86(9), 2276-2293.
Paul, D., Zhong, W. D., & Bose, S. K. (2016). Energy efficiency aware load distribution and
electricity cost volatility control for cloud service providers. Journal of Network and
Computer Applications, 59, 185-197.
Ramachandran, M., & Chang, V. (2016). Towards performance evaluation of cloud service
providers for cloud data security. International Journal of Information
Management, 36(4), 618-625.
Wang, S., Liu, Z., Sun, Q., Zou, H., & Yang, F. (2014). Towards an accurate evaluation of
quality of cloud service in service-oriented cloud computing. Journal of Intelligent
Manufacturing, 25(2), 283-291.

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Wang, S., Liu, Z., Sun, Q., Zou, H., & Yang, F. (2014). Towards an accurate evaluation of
quality of cloud service in service-oriented cloud computing. Journal of Intelligent
Manufacturing, 25(2), 283-291.