IHC – Applied Cloud Computing Modular Assignment No.
3
Module: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Implementation
Duration: 4 hours
This assignment requires designing and implementing a complete Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
solution for a rapidly growing e-commerce company facing seasonal traffic spikes and global
expansion challenges. The objective is to demonstrate a scalable, resilient, and cost-efficient
infrastructure that leverages virtualization, automated scaling, and cloud-native best practices.
Problem Statement
Problem Statement: Implement a complete IaaS solution for a growing e-commerce company that
needs scalable infrastructure, resource virtualization, and automated provisioning to handle seasonal
traffic spikes and global expansion.
Dataset References
Dataset References:
• E-commerce traffic patterns: [Link]
• Server performance metrics: [Link]
• Virtualization benchmarks:
[Link]
Case Study Context
Case Study Context: ShopWorld Online is an e-commerce platform with over 500,000 registered
users. The company experiences a 1000% traffic surge during holiday seasons such as Black Friday
and Christmas. Their current setup relies on 10 physical servers, costing $100,000 annually, but
frequent downtime occurs during peak demand.
Future Requirements: • Expand globally to 5 countries with local data centers • Ensure 99.99%
uptime • Scale automatically from 50 to 500 servers based on demand
Rubrics
Criteria Points
Design IaaS infrastructure architecture with detailed specifications 25
Implement resource virtualization strategy (compute, storage, network) 25
Configure automated scaling and load balancing 20
Set up monitoring and performance optimization 15
Document cost optimization and resource management strategies 10
Create disaster recovery and backup procedures 5
Solution Guidelines
Solution Guidelines:
Students should:
• Use cloud provider IaaS services such as AWS EC2, Azure Virtual Machines, or Google Compute
Engine.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with tools like Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Set up load balancing and auto-scaling groups for elasticity.
• Incorporate monitoring tools (e.g., CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Stackdriver) for performance
tracking.
• Develop strategies for cost optimization and efficient resource management.
• Design disaster recovery and backup procedures to ensure business continuity.
Conclusion
Conclusion: This assignment challenges students to apply cloud-native principles for building resilient
and scalable IaaS infrastructure. The case study of ShopWorld Online reflects real-world e-commerce
demands, making it essential to balance scalability, cost, uptime, and global availability in the
proposed solution.