Multi-Container Web Application with Nginx Reverse Proxy and Docker Compose

#docker #nginx #microservices #compose

This project demonstrates a production-style multi-container architecture using Docker Compose, where a Node.js application is deployed behind an Nginx reverse proxy.

The goal of this project is to showcase real DevOps patterns, not single-container demos.

🚀 What This Project Demonstrates

Multi-container application design
Docker Compose for service orchestration
Nginx as a reverse proxy
Private application containers (not exposed to the internet)
Service-to-service communication via Docker networking
Clean separation between application and web server
Production-ready container structure

🧱 Architecture Overview

Client (Browser)
|
v
Nginx (public, port 8080)
|
v
Node.js App (private, port 5000)

Only Nginx is exposed to the host
The Node.js app is accessible only inside the Docker network
Containers communicate using service names, not IPs

📁 Project Structure

project-2-multicontainer/
├── app/
│ ├── Dockerfile
│ ├── index.js
│ ├── package.json
│ └── package-lock.json
├── nginx/
│ └── nginx.conf
├── docker-compose.yml
└── README.md

⚙️ Technologies Used

Docker
Docker Compose (v2)
Node.js (Express)
Nginx
Linux-based containers

🛠 How to Run the Project Locally

Prerequisites

Docker Desktop
Docker Compose v2

Steps

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/dr-musa-bala/project-2-multicontainer.git
cd project-2-multicontainer

2. **Build and start the containers**:

docker compose up --build


3. Open your browser:

Open your browser:

localhost:8080




![ ](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1i3isd39y65f8rc0ttbv.png)

🔒 **Security & Production Considerations**

The application container does not expose any ports to the host

All external traffic is handled by **Nginx**

This mirrors how applications are deployed in real production environments

💡 **Why This Matters (DevOps Perspective)**

This project reflects how modern DevOps teams:

- Isolate application services
- Control ingress traffic via reverse proxies
- Use declarative configuration for reproducibility
- Build systems that are easy to extend into CI/CD pipelines

🔜 **Next Improvements**

- Add CI/CD with GitHub Actions
- Push application images to Docker Hub
- Deploy the stack to AWS EC2
- Implement zero-downtime updates
- Add HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt