Architecture Overview
Welcome to the architecture overview of our platform. This document provides a high-level understanding of the key components, their interactions, and the design principles that guide our system.
System Components
Our system is designed with a modular and scalable architecture, composed of several interconnected services:
1. User Interface (UI) Layer
The UI layer is responsible for presenting information to the user and handling user input. It is typically built using modern front-end frameworks to ensure a responsive and intuitive user experience across various devices.
2. API Gateway
The API Gateway acts as a single entry point for all client requests. It handles request routing, authentication, rate limiting, and request/response transformation, decoupling clients from the underlying microservices.
3. Microservices
The core business logic is distributed across a set of independent microservices. Each microservice is responsible for a specific business capability and communicates with other services via lightweight protocols, often REST or gRPC. Key microservices include:
- Authentication Service: Manages user identity and access control.
- Data Management Service: Handles the storage, retrieval, and manipulation of persistent data.
- Business Logic Service: Implements the primary business rules and workflows.
- Notification Service: Manages sending notifications to users (email, SMS, etc.).
4. Data Storage
We utilize a polyglot persistence approach, selecting the most appropriate database technology for each service's needs. This can include relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL), NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra), and caching solutions (e.g., Redis).
5. Message Broker
An asynchronous communication layer is facilitated by a message broker (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ). This enables services to communicate event-driven, improving resilience and scalability by decoupling senders from receivers.
Key Design Principles
- Scalability: The architecture is designed to handle increasing loads through horizontal scaling of services.
- Resilience: Fault tolerance is achieved through mechanisms like circuit breakers, retries, and graceful degradation.
- Maintainability: Modularity and clear separation of concerns make the system easier to understand, update, and debug.
- Security: Security is a top priority, with robust authentication, authorization, and data protection measures in place.
- Observability: Comprehensive logging, monitoring, and tracing are integrated to provide insights into system behavior and performance.
Technology Stack
Our platform leverages a variety of proven technologies:
- Backend: Node.js, Python (with frameworks like Flask/Django), Java (with Spring Boot)
- Frontend: React, Vue.js, Angular
- Databases: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis
- Messaging: Kafka, RabbitMQ
- Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes
- Cloud Provider: AWS / Azure / GCP (specific services vary)
For more detailed information on specific components or technologies, please refer to the Core Concepts or API Reference sections.