Hands-on Azure Learning: Two-Tier Application Deployment
 
As a part of DMI COHORT2, this week Assignment was building a Two-Tier Application and Deploying on Azure

Project overview

As part of my ongoing DevOps and cloud learning path, I recently deployed a simple two-tier application on Microsoft Azure: a web frontend running on a virtual machine, connected to a managed MySQL database in the backend. The objective was to practice designing a basic yet realistic architecture where the application and database are separated into different tiers for better security and scalability.

​Architecture and components

The solution followed a classic two-tier pattern: an application server in the presentation tier and a database server in the data tier. The web tier was hosted on an Azure Virtual Machine with a Linux distribution, web server (Apache/Nginx), PHP runtime, and application files, while the database tier used Azure’s managed MySQL service to offload patching and maintenance.

​Network security was a key focus. I allowed HTTP traffic only to the web server and locked down the database so that it accepts connections only from the application VM’s private network, following recommended patterns for multi-tier applications on Azure.

​Implementation steps

To complete the deployment, I:

• Provisioned and configured the web VM, installed the web server, PHP stack, and uploaded the application code.
• ​Created the Azure Database for MySQL instance, set up database credentials, and configured the connection string on the application side.
• ​Tuned NSG/security rules to control inbound HTTP traffic and restrict database access to the application tier only.
• ​Performed end-to-end testing by accessing the app via the VM’s public endpoint and validating successful reads/writes to the database.

​Key learnings

This project helped me deepen my understanding of how real-world two-tier applications run on Azure Virtual Machines and managed databases. I gained confidence in configuring infrastructure, securing communication between tiers, and validating deployments from both the OS and application perspectives.

​About DevOps Micro Internship (DMI) & CloudAdvisory

DevOps Micro Internship (DMI) is a free, project-based DevOps learning program by Pravin Mishra (CloudAdvisory). It helps students, job-seekers, and working professionals gain real-world DevOps skills through weekly assignments, projects, and community support.

🌐 DMI Official Website: https://pravinmishra.com/dmi

🎓 DevOps for Beginners: Docker, K8s, Cloud, CI/CD & 4 Projects (Udemy): https://www.udemy.com/course/devops-for-beginners-docker-k8s-cloud-cicd-4-projects/?referralCode=C5BA8236CCE9FE004F98

▶️ DevOps for Beginners – YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVOdqXbCs7bX88JeUZmK4fKTq2hJ5VS89

🔗 Follow Pravin Mishra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pravin-mishra-aws-trainer/

About Shunmugam

 

Shunmugam has always strived to remain true to himself and to the society in which he lives. From an early age, he faced many challenges and hardships that most children do not experience. These experiences shaped him into a quiet and introverted person rather than an outspoken one.

From childhood, he developed a strong habit of reading extensively and writing stories. He always dreamed of becoming successful in the software industry and aspired to be an entrepreneur.

Although he encountered many failures in both his professional and personal life—often due to people he once considered friends—the journey taught him valuable lessons. At the same time, the universe blessed him with genuine friends who supported and stood by him during critical moments in life. These true friends have played a significant role in his success.

“This is part of DevOps Micro-Internship (DMI) by Pravin Mishra.”