
Author: murphyslaw4267
Delicious Ribs
A Ribeye
Happy Fourth of July!
Improved Website
The web-server configuration has changed yet again. It used to be highly available with scaling policies and everything but it came at a cost. First of all it carried a price tag, I was using AWS EFS to distribute the files to multiple servers. EFS is a great product but for my use it was also slow. The time to first byte was several seconds. I tried to improve this through memcached and NFS caching utilities but the lowest I got it to was 2.5 seconds to start serving the first byte. Now it is down to half a second and feels much snappier. It is on a single server now with backing EBS as the drive. I’m still running memcached on a seperate instance through AWS’s Elasticache offering. I’m really tempted to stand up an instance on Vultr or Digital Ocean to see how the speeds compare. I will be sure to post the results.
Photogenic wings
Moved to AWS!
This website is now being hosted on a cluster of servers within AWS. I definitely use this website as an excuse to learn more about infrastructure. I’ll post more about it soon, but currently we are fault tolerant. We are using two EC2 instances running apache, EFS holding the files, and an RDS instance running the database. This is behind an Application Load Balancer and the javascript and pictures are being served over CloudFront. It’s a little slow though for me, I’m trying to figure out why. If you aren’t logged in you’ll have a better experience. I’m gathering metrics on load times to help see what the story is.
SCript Race: Azure VS AWS
Let us compare the data I collected from both my scripts I made for AWS and Azure. Each script accomplishes the same things:
- Deploy two Windows Server VMs from the providers official image repository
- Deploy one internet facing load balancer with the two servers behind it on port 80
- Use the providers built in orchestration method to install IIS and place a simple webpage in the root web directory
- Validate the website is being served over the internet through the Load Balancer
Here is a comparison of the common tasks:

Here is a table of all the data:
Azure | |||
Task | Seconds | Duration in Seconds | Duration in Minutes |
Script Start | 0 | 0.00 | |
Create Load Balancer | 14 | 14 | 0.23 |
Create VM1 | 176 | 162 | 2.70 |
Install IIS On VM1 | 816 | 640 | 10.67 |
Deploy Website on VM1 | 878 | 62 | 1.03 |
Add VM1 to LoadBalancer | 954 | 76 | 1.27 |
Create VM2 | 1115 | 161 | 2.68 |
Install IIS On VM2 | 1485 | 370 | 6.17 |
Deploy Website on VM2 | 1547 | 62 | 1.03 |
Add VM2 to LoadBalancer | 1601 | 54 | 0.90 |
Website Available | 1602 | 1 | 0.02 |
Script Complete (Total) | 1602 | 1602 | 26.70 |
AWS | |||
Task | Seconds | Duration in Seconds | Duration in Minutes |
Script Start | 0 | 0.00 | |
Create Load Balancer | 8 | 8 | 0.13 |
Create VM1 | 15 | 7 | 0.12 |
Create VM2 | 21 | 6 | 0.10 |
Assign SSM IAM Role on VM1 | 37 | 16 | 0.27 |
Assign SSM IAM Role on VM2 | 41 | 4 | 0.07 |
Deploy System Management Agent on VM1 | 167 | 126 | 2.10 |
Deploy System Management Agent on VM2 | 170 | 129 | 2.15 |
Execute Install IIS & Website On VM1 | 172 | 2 | 0.03 |
Execute Install IIS & Website On VM2 | 173 | 1 | 0.02 |
Add VM1 to LoadBalancer | 175 | 2 | 0.03 |
Add VM2 to LoadBalancer | 177 | 2 | 0.03 |
Website Available | 260 | 83 | 1.38 |
Script Complete (Total) | 260 | 260 | 4.30 |
Certain tasks in AWS do not wait for their execution to complete. Checks were added in the script and the duration column indicates which were essentially run in parallel. |
As you can see from the data above, in terms of automation AWS is much faster.
INFRASTRUCTURE AS CODE: AWS EDITION
As a follow on to my script that deploys a cluster of two load balanced Windows servers, installs IIS, and deploys a website for Azure, I created a similar script to do so in AWS. A few things of note that I feel makes AWS’s script better.
- Certain tasks are non blocking and do not wait for the action to complete. I added wait states in the script to make sure time comparisons are true.
- AWS actions are much faster. On average in my script it takes Azure 65 seconds to add a VM to a load balancer where in AWS its an average of 2 seconds.
- AWS’s CLI allows for multiple instance IDs to be provided per command to increase efficiency even though my script doesn’t really take advantage of this which provides a more true comparison since I don’t think Azure’s CLI or PowerShell module allows for this.
Here is the script:
#This script creates a number of Windows VMs, installs IIS, a simple webpage, and places them behind a load balancer #run this if needed #aws configure function elapsedTime { $CurrentTime = $(get-date) $elapsedTime = $CurrentTime - $StartTime $elapsedTime = [math]::Round($elapsedTime.TotalSeconds,2) Write-Host "Elapsed time in seconds: " $elapsedTime -BackgroundColor Blue } #Captures start time for script elapsed time measurement $StartTime = $(get-date) #Sets "Constants" to be used to create VMs $imageID = "ami-0182e552fba672768" #Amazon's provided windows 2019 datacenter base $subnet = "subnet-000000000" #my subnet for us-east-2a $securityGroup = "sg-00000000" #My network security baseline $instanceType = "t2.medium" #Instance size, 2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM $keyPair = "ServerHobbyist" #Keypair to retreive administrator password $instanceName = "WebWinApp" #sets base name $class = "disposable" #sets class tag as disposable for easier identification and cleanup #creates load balancer $lbName = "WinWebLB1" Write-Host "Creating Loadbalancer $($LbName)" aws elb create-load-balancer ` --load-balancer-name $lbName ` --listeners "Protocol=HTTP,LoadBalancerPort=80,InstanceProtocol=HTTP,InstancePort=80" ` --subnets $subnet ` --security-groups $securityGroup aws elb add-tags --load-balancer-name $lbName --tags Key=Class,Value=$class #tags elb with disposable class aws elb configure-health-check --load-balancer-name $lbName --health-check Target=HTTP:80/,Interval=5,UnhealthyThreshold=2,HealthyThreshold=2,Timeout=3 #sets a lower threshold for health checks Write-Host "Load Balancer $($Lbname) created" elapsedTime $serverCount = 2 #how many VMs to deploy $instancesDeployed = New-Object System.Collections.Generic.List[System.Object] #creates array list that will contain instance IDs deployed for ($i=1; $i -le $serverCount; $i++){ $instanceNameTag = $instanceName + $i Write-Host "Creating VM $($instanceNameTag)" $instance = aws ec2 run-instances ` --image-id $imageID ` --count 1 ` --instance-type $instanceType ` --key-name $keyPair ` --security-group-ids $securityGroup ` --subnet-id $subnet | ConvertFrom-Json aws ec2 create-tags --resources $instance.instances.InstanceId --tags Key=Name,Value=$instanceNameTag #tags instance with name aws ec2 create-tags --resources $instance.instances.InstanceId --tags Key=Class,Value=$class #tags instance with name $instancesDeployed.Add($instance.Instances.InstanceId) Write-Host "VM $($instanceNameTag) created" elapsedTime } Start-Sleep -Seconds 15 #Checks to make sure each instance deployed from above is in a running state, otherwise it can't recieve the IAM role. foreach ($instanceDeployed in $instancesDeployed){ $instance = aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids $instanceDeployed | ConvertFrom-Json $InstanceTags = $Instance.Reservations.Instances.Tags $InstanceName = $InstanceTags | Where-Object {$_.Key -eq "Name"} $InstanceName = $InstanceName.Value Write-Host "Checking if instance $($InstanceName) is ready to receive IAM role for SSM" while ($instance.Reservations.Instances.State.Name -ne "running") { Write-Host "Instance $($InstanceName) not ready. Waiting to check again" sleep 5 Write-Host "Checking if instance $($InstanceName) is ready to receive IAM role for SSM" $instance = aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids $instanceDeployed | ConvertFrom-Json } Write-Host "Instance $($InstanceName) is now ready, assigning role" elapsedTime aws ec2 associate-iam-instance-profile --instance-id $instanceDeployed --iam-instance-profile Name=AmazonSSMRoleForInstancesQuickSetup } Start-Sleep -Seconds 15 #Checks to make sure each instance deployed from above has the SSM agent. Otherwise commands can't be sent through AWS's orchestration system foreach ($instanceDeployed in $instancesDeployed){ $instance = aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids $instanceDeployed | ConvertFrom-Json $InstanceTags = $Instance.Reservations.Instances.Tags $InstanceName = $InstanceTags | Where-Object {$_.Key -eq "Name"} $InstanceName = $InstanceName.Value Write-Host "Checking if instance $($InstanceName) has receieved the system management agent" $ssmTest = aws ssm list-inventory-entries --instance-id $instanceDeployed --type-name "AWS:InstanceInformation" | ConvertFrom-Json while ($ssmTest.Entries.AgentType -ne "amazon-ssm-agent"){ $ssmTest = aws ssm list-inventory-entries --instance-id $instanceDeployed --type-name "AWS:InstanceInformation" | ConvertFrom-Json Write-Host "Instance $($InstanceName) has not yet received the SSM agent" start-sleep -Seconds 5 } Write-Host "Instance $($InstanceName) has received the SSM agent. Proceeding to next instance or step." elapsedTime } #Installs IIS and deploys website foreach ($instanceDeployed in $instancesDeployed){ Write-Host "Sending command to install IIS and deploy website on $($instanceDeployed)" aws ssm send-command ` --document-name "AWS-RunPowerShellScript" ` --parameters commands=['Add-WindowsFeature Web-Server; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://serverhobbyist.com/deployment/index.html" -OutFile "c:\inetpub\wwwroot\index.html"'] ` --targets "Key=instanceids,Values=$($instanceDeployed)" ` --comment "Installs IIS" Write-Host "Command sent to $($instanceDeployed)" elapsedTime } #adds VMs to load balancer foreach ($instanceDeployed in $instancesDeployed){ Write-Host "Registering instance $($instanceDeployed) with LB" aws elb register-instances-with-load-balancer --load-balancer-name $lbName --instances $instanceDeployed #registers instance with load balancer Write-Host "Registered instance $($instanceDeployed) with LB" elapsedTime } Write-Host "Checking if website is ready to be served from load balancer" $lbURL = aws elb describe-load-balancers --load-balancer-name $lbName | ConvertFrom-Json $lbURL = "http://" + $lbUrl.LoadBalancerDescriptions.CanonicalHostedZoneName $check = $false while ($check -eq $false){ try { $check = $true $result = invoke-webrequest -uri $lbURL -UseBasicParsing -TimeoutSec 20 } catch { $check = $false Write-Host "Website failed to load. Trying again" Start-Sleep -Seconds 5 }} Write-Host "Website is now loading at $lbURL" elapsedTime Write-Host "Script completed" -BackgroundColor Blue elapsedTime
Infrastructure as Code: Azure Edition
Since I’ve been using AWS as a hobbyist for about a decade it is the public cloud I am most comfortable with. Lately to expand my horizons I’ve been learning about Microsoft’s take on it with Azure. I hope I’m not too bias since its easier for me to favor AWS since I’ve been using it for so long however my initial take on Azure is not positive. It is slow. I’m working on a comparison in terms of speed between AWS and Azure with the goal of standing up a 2 node load balanced IIS cluster. While I continue to work on making a good comparison write-up here is the code that deploys out the Azure resources. It is written in PowerShell and includes a function that measures completion time.
Import-Module Az function elapsedTime { $CurrentTime = $(get-date) $elapsedTime = $CurrentTime - $StartTime $elapsedTime = [math]::Round($elapsedTime.TotalSeconds,2) Write-Host "Elapsed time in seconds: " $elapsedTime -BackgroundColor Green } #Run this to connect to Azure account if needed #Connect-AzAccount #Captures start time for script elapsed time measurement $StartTime = $(get-date) #Sets "Constants" to be used throughout script $resourceGroup = "DisposableLab" $location = Get-AzLocation | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "North Central US"} $vnet = "vnet1" $subnet = "default" $securityGroup = "DisposableLabSecurityGroup" $secpasswd = ConvertTo-SecureString "password" -AsPlainText -Force $credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ("username", $secpasswd) $lbname = "WebAppWinLB" $availSetName = "WinWebappAvailabilitySet" #Creates Availability Set to allow both servers to be load balanced New-AzAvailabilitySet ` -Location $location.Location ` -Name $availSetName ` -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ` -Sku aligned ` -PlatformFaultDomainCount 2 ` -PlatformUpdateDomainCount 2 $publicIp = New-AzPublicIpAddress -Name 'LB1PublicIP' -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -AllocationMethod Static -Location $location.Location #sets up the inbound IP pool for the load balancer $feip = New-AzLoadBalancerFrontendIpConfig -Name 'myFrontEndPool' -PublicIpAddress $publicIp $bepool = New-AzLoadBalancerBackendAddressPoolConfig -Name 'myBackEndPool' #creates health check for load balancer $probe = New-AzLoadBalancerProbeConfig ` -Name 'myHealthProbe' ` -Protocol Http -Port 80 ` -RequestPath / -IntervalInSeconds 360 -ProbeCount 5 #creates load balancing rule $rule = New-AzLoadBalancerRuleConfig ` -Name 'webInbound' -Protocol Tcp ` -Probe $probe -FrontendPort 80 -BackendPort 80 ` -FrontendIpConfiguration $feip ` -BackendAddressPool $bepool #creates new LB from settings gathered so far $lb = New-AzLoadBalancer ` -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroup ` -Name $lbname ` -Location $location.Location ` -FrontendIpConfiguration $feip ` -BackendAddressPool $bepool ` -Probe $probe ` -LoadBalancingRule $rule elapsedTime $serversCount = 2 for ($i=1; $i -le $serversCount; $i++) { elapsedTime $VMName = "WebappWin" + $i Write-Host "Creating VM " + $VMName #Generates new public IP for the new load balancer to be created $VM = Get-AzVM -Name $VMName $NIC = Get-AzNetworkInterface -Name $VMName #creates new VM New-AzVm ` -Credential $credential ` -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ` -Name $VMName ` -Location $location.Location ` -VirtualNetworkName $vnet ` -SubnetName $subnet ` -SecurityGroupName $securityGroup ` -PublicIpAddressName "$($VMName)PublicIP" ` -AvailabilitySetName $availSetName Write-Host "VM $($VMName) has been created" elapsedTime Write-Host "Installing IIS for " + $VMName $PublicSettings = '{"commandToExecute":"powershell Add-WindowsFeature Web-Server"}' #Waits a few seconds for the VM to become available to recieve Start-Sleep -Seconds 5 Set-AzVMExtension -ExtensionName "IIS" -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -VMName $vmName ` -Publisher "Microsoft.Compute" -ExtensionType "CustomScriptExtension" -TypeHandlerVersion 1.4 ` -SettingString $PublicSettings -Location $location.location Write-Host "IIS Installed for $($VMName)" elapsedTime Write-Host "Deploying website for " + $VMName Invoke-AzVMRunCommand -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -VMName $VMName -CommandId "RunPowerShellScript" -ScriptPath "C:\pathhere\WebsiteTest\deployWebsite.ps1" Write-Host "Website deployed on $($VMname)" elapsedTime #Gets load balancer object based on name $lb = Get-AzLoadBalancer -Name $lbname $backendConfig = Get-AzLoadBalancerBackendAddressPoolConfig -LoadBalancer $lb #Get's NIC from virtual machine $NIC = Get-AzNetworkInterface -Name $VMName #Removes VM from LB #$nic.Ipconfigurations[0].LoadBalancerBackendAddressPools=$null #Adds VM to LB Write-Host "Adding $($VMName) to Loadbalancer " + $lbname $nic.IpConfigurations[0].LoadBalancerBackendAddressPools=$lb.BackendAddressPools[0] Set-AzNetworkInterface -NetworkInterface $nic Write-Host "VM $($VMName) added to the load balancer" elapsedTime } Write-Host "Script completed" -BackgroundColor Blue elapsedTime