System Administration
Comprehensive guide for system administrators managing MegaVault deployments, including configuration, monitoring, security, and maintenance procedures.
Table of Contents
Administration Overview
System administration for MegaVault involves managing the application infrastructure, configuring services, monitoring performance, and ensuring security and reliability.
Infrastructure Management
Core system operations
- ✅ Server provisioning
- ✅ Service configuration
- ✅ Database management
- ✅ Storage administration
Monitoring & Logging
System observability
- ✅ Performance monitoring
- ✅ Error tracking
- ✅ Resource utilization
- ✅ Security auditing
Maintenance & Support
Ongoing operations
- ✅ Regular backups
- ✅ Updates and patches
- ✅ Performance tuning
- ✅ Incident response
Administrator Responsibilities
Deployment Checklist
Essential checklist for deploying MegaVault to production environments.
Pre-Deployment
Infrastructure Preparation
- ☐ Server resources allocated
- ☐ Domain name configured
- ☐ SSL certificates obtained
- ☐ DNS records configured
- ☐ Firewall rules established
- ☐ Load balancer configured
Service Dependencies
- ☐ Redis database provisioned
- ☐ S3-compatible storage configured
- ☐ Email service setup
- ☐ CDN configuration
- ☐ Monitoring tools installed
- ☐ Backup systems configured
Deployment Steps
Application Deployment
- ☐ Environment variables configured
- ☐ Application built and deployed
- ☐ Health checks passing
- ☐ Database migrations completed
- ☐ Static assets uploaded to CDN
- ☐ Caching layers configured
Post-Deployment
- ☐ Smoke tests executed
- ☐ Performance benchmarks met
- ☐ Security scans completed
- ☐ Monitoring alerts configured
- ☐ Backup procedures tested
- ☐ Documentation updated
System Requirements
Hardware and software requirements for different deployment scenarios.
Minimum Requirements
| Component | Small (< 100 users) | Medium (100-1000 users) | Large (1000+ users) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 2 vCPUs | 4 vCPUs | 8+ vCPUs |
| RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB | 16+ GB |
| Storage | 20 GB SSD | 50 GB SSD | 100+ GB SSD |
| Network | 100 Mbps | 1 Gbps | 10+ Gbps |
Software Dependencies
- Node.js: Version 18.x or 20.x LTS
- Redis: Version 6.x or 7.x
- Operating System: Ubuntu 20.04+, CentOS 8+, or equivalent
- Docker: Version 20.10+ (for containerized deployments)
- Nginx: Version 1.18+ (as reverse proxy)
Configuration Management
Best practices for managing configuration across different environments.
Environment Variables
# Application Configuration
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3000
NEXTAUTH_URL=https://your-domain.com
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-super-secure-secret-key
# Database Configuration
REDIS_URL=rediss://username:password@host:port/0
REDIS_MAX_RETRIES=3
REDIS_RETRY_DELAY=1000
# Storage Configuration
R2_ACCOUNT_ID=your-cloudflare-account-id
R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-r2-access-key
R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-r2-secret-key
R2_BUCKET_NAME=megavault-production
R2_ENDPOINT=https://your-account.r2.cloudflarestorage.com
# Security Configuration
CORS_ORIGIN=https://your-domain.com
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW=900000
RATE_LIMIT_MAX=100
# Monitoring Configuration
SENTRY_DSN=https://your-sentry-dsn
LOG_LEVEL=info
METRICS_ENABLED=trueConfiguration Files
{
"app": {
"name": "MegaVault",
"version": "1.0.0",
"environment": "production"
},
"server": {
"port": 3000,
"host": "0.0.0.0",
"timeout": 30000
},
"storage": {
"provider": "r2",
"maxFileSize": 104857600,
"allowedTypes": ["image/*", "application/pdf", "text/*"],
"thumbnailSizes": [150, 300, 600]
},
"security": {
"helmet": {
"contentSecurityPolicy": {
"directives": {
"defaultSrc": ["'self'"],
"styleSrc": ["'self'", "'unsafe-inline'"],
"scriptSrc": ["'self'"],
"imgSrc": ["'self'", "data:", "https:"]
}
}
},
"cors": {
"origin": ["https://your-domain.com"],
"credentials": true
}
}
}Security Considerations
Critical security measures for production MegaVault deployments.
Security Checklist
Network Security
- ☐ HTTPS enforced (SSL/TLS)
- ☐ Firewall configured
- ☐ VPN access for admin
- ☐ DDoS protection enabled
- ☐ Port access restricted
- ☐ IP whitelisting implemented
Application Security
- ☐ Environment variables secured
- ☐ Database credentials rotated
- ☐ API keys managed securely
- ☐ Rate limiting configured
- ☐ Input validation enabled
- ☐ Security headers configured
Security Headers
server {
listen 443 ssl http2;
server_name your-domain.com;
# SSL Configuration
ssl_certificate /path/to/certificate.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/private.key;
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512;
# Security Headers
add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload" always;
add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;
add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';" always;
# Rate Limiting
limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=api:10m rate=10r/s;
limit_req zone=api burst=20 nodelay;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
}
}Maintenance Tasks
Regular maintenance procedures to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
Daily Tasks
- Health Checks: Verify all services are running and responsive
- Log Review: Check error logs for issues or anomalies
- Resource Monitoring: Monitor CPU, memory, and disk usage
- Backup Verification: Ensure automated backups completed successfully
Weekly Tasks
- Performance Review: Analyze response times and error rates
- Security Scans: Run vulnerability scans and security audits
- Database Maintenance: Check database performance and optimization
- Log Rotation: Archive old logs and clean up disk space
Monthly Tasks
- Software Updates: Apply security patches and updates
- Capacity Planning: Review resource usage trends
- Disaster Recovery: Test backup and recovery procedures
- Performance Tuning: Optimize configurations based on usage patterns
Maintenance Scripts
#!/bin/bash
# daily-health-check.sh
LOG_FILE="/var/log/megavault/health-check.log"
DATE=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
echo "[$DATE] Starting daily health check" >> $LOG_FILE
# Check application status
if curl -f -s http://localhost:3000/api/health > /dev/null; then
echo "[$DATE] ✓ Application is healthy" >> $LOG_FILE
else
echo "[$DATE] ✗ Application health check failed" >> $LOG_FILE
# Send alert
curl -X POST https://hooks.slack.com/your-webhook -H 'Content-type: application/json' --data '{"text":"MegaVault health check failed"}'
fi
# Check Redis connectivity
if redis-cli ping | grep -q PONG; then
echo "[$DATE] ✓ Redis is responding" >> $LOG_FILE
else
echo "[$DATE] ✗ Redis connection failed" >> $LOG_FILE
fi
# Check disk usage
DISK_USAGE=$(df -h / | awk 'NR==2 {print $5}' | sed 's/%//')
if [ "$DISK_USAGE" -gt 80 ]; then
echo "[$DATE] ⚠ Disk usage high: $DISK_USAGE%" >> $LOG_FILE
else
echo "[$DATE] ✓ Disk usage normal: $DISK_USAGE%" >> $LOG_FILE
fi
echo "[$DATE] Health check completed" >> $LOG_FILECommon Issues
Solutions to frequently encountered problems in MegaVault deployments.
Performance Issues
Slow Response Times
Symptoms: API responses taking > 5 seconds
Solutions:
- Check database query performance
- Review Redis connection pooling
- Optimize file storage operations
- Enable response caching
High Memory Usage
Symptoms: Memory usage > 80%
Solutions:
- Check for memory leaks in logs
- Restart application services
- Increase server memory
- Optimize caching strategies
Service Failures
Redis Connection Issues
Error: Connection timeout or refused
Solutions:
- Verify Redis service is running
- Check network connectivity
- Validate connection string
- Review firewall rules
File Upload Failures
Error: Upload requests failing
Solutions:
- Check storage service credentials
- Verify bucket permissions
- Review CORS configuration
- Check file size limits