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Use a CloudBox

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After Alibaba Cloud delivers a CloudBox, you must accept it. After you accept the CloudBox, its billing cycle begins and you can start using it. This topic describes how to use a CloudBox, using Elastic Compute Service (ECS), ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL, and Security Center as examples.

Background information

CloudBox inherits the basic capabilities and rich application marketplace ecosystem of the Alibaba Cloud public cloud. You can use the resources in a CloudBox to create cloud product instances and manage them with public cloud services. For more information about the cloud services that CloudBox supports, see Supported cloud services.

This topic describes how to use a CloudBox in the following scenarios:

  1. Use the compute and block storage resources in a CloudBox to create an ECS instance for deploying business applications.

  2. Use the block storage resources in a CloudBox to create an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance for storing business data.

  3. Use Security Center to perform security operations and maintenance (O&M) on servers.

Preparations

Before you use a CloudBox, complete the following preparations.

  1. Accept the CloudBox.

    1. Log on to the ECS console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Instances & Images > CloudBox.

    3. In the top navigation bar, select a region.

    4. Click the Cloud Boxes tab.

    5. Find the target CloudBox and click its ID.

    6. Click the Resource Demand Order tab.

    7. Find the order that you want to accept and click Acceptance in the Actions column.

    8. Return to the CloudBox list page and confirm that the status of the target CloudBox has changed to Running.

  2. In the region where the CloudBox resides, create a VPC with an IPv4 CIDR block based on your network plan.

    Creating a VPC with an IPv4 CIDR block involves creating a VPC, a security group, and a subnet (vSwitch). A virtual private cloud (VPC) is a logically isolated private network on the cloud. You can create a security group in the VPC to control network access for cloud product instances. Creating a subnet in the CloudBox extends the cloud VPC to the CloudBox in your on-premises data center.

    1. Create a VPC. For more information, see Create and manage a VPC.

    2. Create a security group in the VPC. For more information, see Create a security group and Add a security group rule.

    3. Create a subnet in the CloudBox.

      1. Click the ID of the target CloudBox to go to the details page.

      2. In the upper-right corner of the page, click Create Subnet.

      3. On the Create vSwitch page, configure the VPC, Name, and IPv4 CIDR block, and then click OK.

        This vSwitch belongs to a CloudBox zone, which functions as the CloudBox network.

Create an ECS instance to deploy business applications

An ECS instance is a virtual compute server on the cloud that includes basic components such as vCPUs, memory, an operating system, a network, and disks. You can use the compute and block storage resources in a CloudBox to create ECS instances. You can manage the status of and applications on ECS instances in the same way that you manage local servers.

Note

When you create an ECS instance, you do not need to pay for the instance type (compute resource) or disks (storage resource). However, you are charged for other ECS-related services. For example, if you use a paid image, you must pay the image fee.

  1. On the CloudBox page of the ECS console, click the ID of the target CloudBox to go to the details page.

  2. In the upper-right corner of the page, click Create Instance.

  3. On the first four configuration pages, complete the configurations and then click Confirm Order.

    The following table describes the configurations. Keep the default options for parameters that are not mentioned. For more information, see Create an instance using the wizard.

    Configuration page

    Parameter

    Example

    Description

    Basic Configurations

    Region and Zone

    • Region: China (Heyuan)

    • Zone: cn-heyuan-huidu-cb

    Select the region and zone where the CloudBox resides. A CloudBox corresponds to a zone.

    Instance Type

    ecs.c6.large

    The available instance types depend on the computing SKUs and inventory that you purchased.

    Image

    • Type: Public Image

    • Image: Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.1903 LTS 64-bit

    • Select Security Hardening

    Select an image to build the instance environment.

    Storage

    System disk: PL0 ESSD, 40 GiB

    The available storage types and capacity depend on the block storage resources that you purchased.

    Network and Security Group

    Network

    • VPC: vpc-bp1opxu1zkhn00g****

    • vSwitch: vsw-f8zmjtrzo8n2z2cl7****

    Select the VPC and vSwitch that you created during the preparations.

    Security Group

    sg-f8zc2pg0iiiz4fpue****

    Select the security group that you created during the preparations.

    System Configurations

    Logon Credentials

    • Logon Credentials: Custom Password

    • Logon Name: root

    • Logon Password, Confirm Password: Ecs123***

    Set the credentials to remotely connect to the ECS instance.

    Instance Name

    CloudBoxEcs

    Custom input

    Grouping Settings

    Tag

    test:cloudbox

    Set tags to mark resources for categorization and group management. This helps with subsequent searches and batch operations.

  4. On the Confirm Order page, confirm the configurations, read and select the Terms of Service, and then click Create Instance.

  5. In the dialog box that appears, click Console to go to the instance list page and view the creation progress.

    ECS instances created using CloudBox resources are marked with the CloudBox icon icon. When the instance status changes to Running, the ECS instance is successfully created and running in the CloudBox.

  6. Connect to the ECS instance and deploy your business applications as needed.

    For more information about how to connect to an ECS instance, see Connect to an ECS instance.

Create an RDS MySQL instance to store business data

An RDS instance is a virtual database server on the cloud. You can use the block storage resources in a CloudBox to create an RDS instance. ECS instances in the CloudBox can act as application servers that connect to the RDS instance to store data.

  1. Go to the RDS instance creation page.

  2. On the first two configuration pages, complete the configurations and then click Next: Confirm Order.

    The following table describes the configurations. Keep the default options for parameters that are not mentioned.

    Configuration page

    Parameter

    Example

    Description

    Basic Resources

    Billing Method

    CloudBox (Pay-As-You-Go)

    RDS instances on CloudBox support only the pay-as-you-go billing method.

    Region

    China (Heyuan)

    Select the region where the CloudBox resides.

    Type

    MySQL 8.0

    Select the database type.

    Primary Node Zone

    Heyuan Zone huidu

    Select the CloudBox zone.

    Instance Type

    mysql.n4.medium.2c

    Select the RDS instance type.

    Instance Configuration

    VPC

    vpc-bp1opxu1zkhn00g****

    Select the VPC that you created during the preparations. This is the VPC to which the CloudBox subnet belongs.

    vSwitch

    vsw-f8zmjtrzo8n2z2cl7****

    Select the vSwitch that you created in the Preparations section, named CloudBox Network.

  3. On the Confirm Order page, confirm the configurations, read and select the Terms of Service, and then click Pay Order.

  4. On the page that appears, click Console to go to the instance list page and view the creation progress.

    When the instance status changes to Running, the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance is successfully created in the CloudBox.

  5. Create a database and an account.

    You can create multiple MySQL databases in one ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. For more information, see Create a database and an account.

  6. Connect to and use the RDS instance based on your business needs.

    For more information, see the following topics:

Use Security Center for security O&M

Security Center provides security capabilities such as security overview, anti-ransomware, anti-virus, tamper-proofing, and compliance checks. You can use Security Center to protect ECS instances in a CloudBox. This section uses fixing server vulnerabilities as an example. For more information, see Quick Start for Security Center.

  1. Optional: Go to the Security Center buy page to purchase Security Center.

    By default, Security Center automatically enables the Free Edition for your ECS instances. This edition includes features such as host anomaly logon detection and vulnerability detection (excluding application vulnerability detection). If you have more security requirements, you can purchase a different edition.

  2. Log on to the Security Center console to view and handle security risks for your ECS instance.

    Note

    • If you select Security Hardening when you create an ECS instance, the Security Center Free Edition is automatically enabled. This means the Security Center agent is automatically installed on the instance. You can then directly use the services provided by Security Center.

    • If you do not select Security Hardening when you create an ECS instance, you must install the Security Center agent after the instance is created to enable security protection for the instance. For more information, see Install the agent.

    1. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Asset Center > Host Assets.

    2. On the Servers tab, find the target ECS instance and view its security risk status.

    3. Click the instance ID to go to the details page and handle security risks based on their status.

      For example, if the ECS instance has vulnerabilities, you can click the Vulnerabilities tab to view the list of vulnerabilities and then repair them.

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