BG-LAB | Blog

Understanding VLANs - VLAN Theory

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 12:00:00 GMT

What is a VLAN?

When you hear the term “Network Segmentation,” you might first think of a physical separation of networks using hardware devices like routers and switches. While this can be a great way to segment your network, it can also be expensive and difficult to manage.

This is where a VLAN comes in. A VLAN, or Virtual Local Area Network, is a logical way to segment your network without the cost of new infrastructure. By creating VLANs, you can group devices together based on their function, location, or security requirements.

Review

WAN - Wide Area Network. A network that covers a broad area, such as a city, country, or even the entire world.
LAN - Local Area Network. A network that is confined to a small geographic area, such as a single building or campus.
VLAN - Virtual Local Area Network. A logical way to segment a network without the cost of new infrastructure.
Subnet - A range of IP addresses that are part of a larger network. Subnets can work with VLANs to segment a network.
Physical Network - A network that is physically separated from other networks, such as a separate building or campus.
Logical Network - A network that is logically separated from other networks, such as a VLAN.

VLANs work by assigning a unique VLAN ID (or Tag) to each group of devices. This ID is used to tag the traffic as it moves through the network, allowing the devices to communicate with each other as if they were on the same physical network. More on this later.

Why Use VLANs? (VLAN Use Cases)

There are several reasons why you might want to use VLANs in your network:

Security:

Guest networks - One of the most common uses of VLANs is to create a separate network for guest devices. This allows you to provide internet access to visitors without giving them access to your main network. There is a good chance that if you’ve ever used the default setup of a home router provided by your ISP, you’ve also had a guest network setup - even if you didn’t know it. These are often added with the simple click of a button in the router’s web interface and everything is taken care of behind the scenes. Even higher-end equipment like the Unifi Dream Machine Pro has a simple setup for this.

It may be worth noting the value of guest networks and logical separation from a business perspective. If you have a business that has a public-facing area, such as a coffee shop, you might want to provide internet access to your customers. By putting your guest network on a separate VLAN, you can keep your business network secure while still providing internet access to your customers.

IoT devices - Another common use case for VLANs is to create a separate network for IoT devices. This can help to keep your smart devices separate from your main network and provide an additional layer of security. If you have a smart home, you might have a separate network for your smart devices. This can help to keep your smart devices separate from your main network and provide an additional layer of security.
Security Cameras - If you have security cameras on your network, you might want to put them on a separate VLAN to keep them isolated from your main network. This can help to prevent unauthorized access to your cameras and protect your privacy.

Each of these areas, or any other area you might want to segment, can be isolated from the rest of the network and have firewall rules applied to control traffic between the VLANs. For example, if you have IoT devices, many of these helpful little buddies do what we call “phoning home” - put another way, they simply connect to an external cloud service to provide a specific function or to collect data.

This can be a security risk if not properly managed. Putting these devices on a separate VLAN we can set up firewall rules that say “ok, coffee maker, you need to listen to everything I tell you when I’m talking to you from XYX device on VLAN 10, but you can’t talk to anything else on the network.” This is a simple example, but you can see how this can be useful in a variety of situations.

Performance:
Scalability:
Flexibility:

How Do VLANs Work?

VLAN Tagging

There are two main methods of VLAN tagging:

Port-based VLANs:
802.1Q VLANs:

Conclusion

Working through the Cloud Resume Project - Azure Edition

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 12:00:00 GMT

What is the Cloud Resume Project?

If you’ve done any amount of research into methods of learning cloud technologies, or more specifically, if you’ve got some cloud knowlege and are looking to build a portfolio, you’ve likely come across the Cloud Resume Project. The Cloud Resume Project is a project that was created by Forrest Brazeal, a Senior Manager of Developer Relations at A Cloud Guru. The project is designed to help you build a portfolio of cloud projects that you can show to potential employers.

Before we get into the dirty details of what this post is about and what I’m doing, allow me to give credit where credit is due. The Cloud Resume Project was created by Forrest Brazeal, and you can find the original project in the link below. I am not affiliated with Forrest Brazeal or A Cloud Guru in any way. I am simply a fan of the project and am using it to build my own cloud resume.

Check out the Cloud Resume Project here

What to Do - Requirements

The Cloud Resume Project is structured in a way that participants walk through a number of key areas in a variety of technologies that will showcase thier technical abilities first hand, whilst also serving as an online resume … hence the include of “Resume” in the project title. Clever.

You’ll note that not every focus area is specifically focused on cloud technology (for example HTML, CSS, and JavaScript), but it can be easily argued that having these skills (or a rudimentary understanding of them) will help you immensely on your cloud journey.

Focus Areas of the Cloud Resume Project: Azure Edition

1. Certification - Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)

Considered an entry level certification, focusing on the core features of Azure and the services that are available, the AZ-900 is a great place to start. While the project indicates the importance of this certification, it is not a requirement and I myself am still debating whether or not I will take it, though I have studied up enough to pass it as I work towards the more advanced (and infamously grueling) AZ-104.

2. Static Website - HTML

HTML - the backbone of the internet. The Project empahsizes the importance of having your resume written up in HTML in favour of how you may be accustomed to doing it in Word or Google Docs, or even a PDF. Why? Because it’s a great way to showcase your skills in a simple and effective way.

3. CSS - Styling Your Resume

Style it. Please, style it. HTML is cool, but if you forget to give it some finesse, I may as well travel back to my parents house and dig up that old Pentiun 3 and dial-up modem, and load up Netscape Navigator to view your resume. Also, CSS is fund and easy to get some basics down.

4. JavaScript - Interactivity

Ok, we are getting a bit more sophistaicated now. JavaScript is a great way to add some interactivity to your resume. The Project suggests adding a counter that shows how many people have visited your site. Not a bad lil’ project to get you started and I fully recommend it. I am coming from a background in JavaScript, and specifically React (Next.js) so I’ll be showcasing a bit more than just a counter.

5. Static Website - Deploying Your Resume

The deployment of your site should be done through Azure Storage Static Websites. This is a great way to showcase your ability to deploy a static website in Azure. It’s quite a bit easier, and ultimately cheaper, than deploying a full-fledged web app using Azure App Services which has a free tier, but I have found the uptime to be a bit spotty … no, actually it’s been terrible.

6. HTTPS

The Project highlights using the Azure CDN to add HTTPS to your site. This is a great way to showcase your ability to secure your site and provide a secure connection to your users. We will dive into how the CDN works to serve both content and secure your site.

Using Azure CDN for HTTPS - MS Learn

7. DNS

The Project suggests using Azure DNS to manage your domain. This is a great way to showcase your ability to manage DNS records and configure your domain to point to your site.

Use Azure DNS - MS Learn

8. Database - Azure Cosmos DB

In the JavsaScript section the suggestion is made to add a counter to your site. This counter will need to be stored somewhere, and the Project suggests using Azure Cosmos DB to store the counter. This is a great way to showcase your ability to work with databases in Azure. I’ll dive into storage in more depth a bit later as I will have another external CMS that I will be using to store data.

For the purpose of the project however, there will be some areas where I will be using Cosmos DB. Since I’m writing this as I build the project, I’m not entirely sure how I will be using it yet and I may just end up recreating my CV that already exists with NextJS and Sanity.io (CMS) for the sake of the project.

Resource Options:

Cosmos DB for Table - MS Learn

Cosmos DB with AI - MS Learn

Cosmos DB Serveless - MS Learn

9. API

For this project, our app will need to communicate with our Cosmos DB, specifically using Azure Functions. This is a great way to showcase your ability to work with APIs and serverless functions in Azure. The Projecte authors have provide the following link to help you get started with Azure Functions:

Azure Functions HTTP triggers & bindings - MS Learn

10. Python - Azure Functions

Why Python, you ask? The Project designers, rightly I believe, suggest that you go beyond writing all your code in JavaScript and showcase that you can also work with Python. Python is a greate language to show as a skill on your resume as it is highly versatile and frequently used for scripting and automation tasks.

Azure SDK for Python

Suggested Python Courses:

Python For Everybody - Dr. Chuck

This Udemy course covers a range of python topics

11. Tests

Nothing says “I know what I’m doing” like a good set of tests. Testing is a great way to showcase your ability to write clean, maintainable code. The Project authors offer the link to help familiarize yourself with testing Python code:

Getting Started With Testing in Python

12. Infrastructure as Code - ARM Templates

This one is a bit more advanced. I’ll quote the project author here:

You should not be configuring your API resources – the Azure Function, the CosmosDB – manually, by clicking around in the Azure console. Instead, define them in an Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template on a Consumption plan. This is called “infrastructure as code” or IaC. It saves you time in the long run.

Here are some things that you may want to reference:

Automate resource deployment for your function app in Azure Functions

Provision a function app on a Consumption plan

Blog from Hashicorp (of Terraform fame)

Source Control

This step is directly tied to the next step (CI/CD) - I’d recommend using GitHub for this, but if you are confident, you might use any other sources control system, so long as you can integrate it with your CI/CD pipeline.

CI/CD - Back End

CI/CD - Front End

What I Did - Deliverables

Deploying My Guides & Tutorials Site to Multiple Hosts

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 12:00:00 GMT

There is nothing to report. Not now, anyway. But I intend to do a whole lot of reporting here in the future. Right now, I’m just getting things set up to deploy this site in a variety of places. Read on to see what I’m up to.

Current Host - Hostinger

This will be the baseline – my docs page, created with Docusaurus, will be hosted on Hostinger along with my main website. I’m using Hostinger because it’s cheap and I can host multiple sites on the same account. I’m also using it because I’m familiar with it and I know how to set it up. I’m not sponsored by Hostinger, but I do have an affiliate link. If you’re interested in hosting with Hostinger, you can use my affiliate link to get 20% off here.

Cloud Hosting

Keeping with the theme of written guides and tutorials to learn and help others learn, I will be deploying this site to a variety of cloud hosting providers. I will be using the following providers:

AWS
Azure
Google Cloud
Digital Ocean

I’m unsure of whether or not I’ll keep these deployed sites running given the cost of running them. I may just deploy them, write about the process, and then take them down. We’ll see. I’m also considering deploying to a Kubernetes cluster, but I’m not sure yet.

GitHub Pages

Because I’m using GitHub to host my code, I will also be deploying this site to GitHub Pages to refresh my memory on how to do it. I’ve done it before, but it’s been a while.