#12 Lab Adventure: Streamlining Web Traffic | Building Application Gateways for Efficient Routing and Testing

Introduction:

In the dynamic landscape of web applications, managing and directing traffic efficiently is crucial for optimal user experience. In this lab project, we delve into the creation of an Application Gateway and its significance in routing traffic across multiple Virtual Machines (VMs). The aim is to showcase the strategic steps involved in setting up an Application Gateway and testing its functionality by directing traffic to specific webpages hosted on distinct VMs.

Importance of the Lab:

The Application Gateway serves as a vital component in modern networking architectures. It enables efficient distribution of incoming traffic, ensuring scalability, security, and high availability of web applications. This lab project emphasizes the importance of understanding and implementing such gateways to streamline traffic flow and enhance overall application performance.

Steps:

1. Provisioning VMs and IIS Installation:Creation of three VMs to host web content.

Installation of the Internet Information Services (IIS) feature on all VMs.

2. Webpage Configuration on VMs:

Creation of distinct webpages for each VM:

VM1: welcome.html

VM2: "/Videos/videos.html"

VM3: "/Images/images.html"

3. Traffic Direction Setup:

Directing traffic based on the subpage to the respective VM.

4. Application Gateway Configuration:

Creation of a separate subnet for the Application Gateway.

Addition of a frontend public IP to the Application Gateway.

Configuration of backend pools, assigning a separate pool for each VM.

Implementation of routing rules and listener details.

Creation of backend settings and path directing paths to specific backend pools.

5. Finally testing the working of Application Gateway

As we can see the public IP of the application gateway. We will test subdomain address on this IP.

Testing welcome.html

Testing VM2

Testing VM3

As we can see all of the VM are working as we planned.

Conclusion:

The successful deployment of the Application Gateway demonstrates its pivotal role in routing web traffic effectively. By strategically configuring backend pools and routing rules, we ensure that incoming requests are directed to the appropriate VM hosting specific webpages. This lab project not only showcases the technical steps involved but also highlights the importance of Application Gateways in optimizing web traffic flow, enhancing user experience, and maintaining the scalability and security of web applications.