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1_testing-tools
1_testing-tools
 
 
2_simple-http
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3_socket-http
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4_nginx
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assets
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README.md
README.md
 
 

README.md

S08 — HTTP Server Implementation and Nginx Reverse Proxy

Week 8 marks the transition to application-layer services and containerised deployments. Students progress through four stages: testing HTTP with command-line tools, running Python's built-in HTTP server, implementing a minimal HTTP server from raw sockets and configuring Nginx as a reverse proxy inside Docker Compose. This seminar is the first to require Docker.

File/Folder Index

Name Type Description
1_testing-tools/ Subdir HTTP introduction: explanation and tasks (2 files)
2_simple-http/ Subdir Python built-in HTTP server: explanation, example script, tasks (3 files)
3_socket-http/ Subdir Raw socket HTTP server: explanation, example script, tasks, plus static/ with HTML pages (5 files)
4_nginx/ Subdir Nginx reverse proxy: explanation, tasks, Docker Compose config, Nginx config (4 files)
assets/puml/ Diagrams 5 PlantUML sources: HTTP request-response, built-in server, socket HTTP server flow, Nginx reverse proxy, Docker Compose topology
assets/render.sh Script PlantUML batch renderer

Visual Overview

flowchart LR
    A["1_testing-tools<br/>curl, wget,<br/>browser DevTools"] --> B["2_simple-http<br/>Python built-in<br/>http.server"]
    B --> C["3_socket-http<br/>HTTP from<br/>raw sockets"]
    C --> D["4_nginx<br/>Nginx reverse proxy<br/>via Docker Compose"]

    style A fill:#e1f5fe,stroke:#0288d1
    style B fill:#e1f5fe,stroke:#0288d1
    style C fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#f57c00
    style D fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#388e3c
Loading

Usage

Run the built-in HTTP server:

cd 2_simple-http
python3 S08_Part02B_Example_Simple_HTTP_Builtin.py

Launch the Nginx reverse proxy stack:

cd 4_nginx
docker compose -f S08_Part04_Config_Docker_Compose.yml up -d

Pedagogical Context

The four-stage progression ensures students understand HTTP at every abstraction level: as a user (curl), as a library consumer (http.server), as a protocol implementer (raw sockets) and as an operator (Nginx in Docker). The raw socket implementation makes header parsing, content-length handling and connection management explicit — knowledge that remains invisible when using frameworks.

Cross-References

Related resource Path Relationship
Lecture C08 — Transport layer (TCP, UDP, TLS) ../../03_LECTURES/C08/ TCP reliability underpinning HTTP
Lecture C10 — HTTP and application layer ../../03_LECTURES/C10/ HTTP protocol theory
Quiz Week 08 ../../00_APPENDIX/c)studentsQUIZes(multichoice_only)/COMPnet_W08_Questions.md Tests HTTP and transport concepts
Instructor notes (Romanian) ../../00_APPENDIX/d)instructor_NOTES4sem/roCOMPNETclass_S08-instructor-outline-v2.md Romanian delivery guide for S08
HTML support pages ../_HTMLsupport/S08/ 5 browser-viewable HTML renderings
Portainer guide ../../00_TOOLS/Portainer/SEMINAR08/ Docker management via Portainer for S08
Project S03 — HTTP/1.1 socket server ../../02_PROJECTS/01_network_applications/S03_http11_socket_server_no_framework_static_files.md Extends the raw socket HTTP server to full HTTP/1.1
Project S04 — Forward HTTP proxy ../../02_PROJECTS/01_network_applications/S04_forward_http_proxy_with_filtering_and_traffic_logging.md Builds a forward proxy with filtering
Project S05 — HTTP load balancer ../../02_PROJECTS/01_network_applications/S05_application_level_http_load_balancer_health_checks_and_two_algorithms.md Extends the reverse proxy concept
Seminar S11 — Load balancing ../S11/ Builds on the Nginx skills introduced here
Previous: S07 (sniffing, scanning) ../S07/ Packet analysis skills applied to HTTP traffic
Next: S09 (FTP, file transfer) ../S09/ Another application-layer service in Docker
Prerequisite Path Reason
Docker and WSL2 setup ../../00_TOOLS/Prerequisites/ Required for Part 4 (Nginx in Docker)

Suggested sequence: ../S07/ → this folder → ../S09/

Selective Clone

Method A — Git sparse-checkout (requires Git 2.25+)

git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/antonioclim/COMPNET-EN.git
cd COMPNET-EN
git sparse-checkout set 04_SEMINARS/S08

Method B — Direct download

https://github.com/antonioclim/COMPNET-EN/tree/main/04_SEMINARS/S08

Course: COMPNET-EN — ASE Bucharest, CSIE