10 Things You Need to Know About Scalable Software Architecture • Slash

A scalable software architecture is necessary to grow a web application or any other digital product. It makes your solution available during high traffic and allows you to correct errors without shutting the entire system. So when it comes to scalability, software architecture has a significant role.
This article includes 10 techniques divided into three parts to clear up your confusion about scalability software. In this post, you will learn about what software scalability is. You will explore ways to make a scalable web or any other product with different methods.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Principles of Scalable Software Architecture

1. Loose Coupling

In software architecture, the loose coupling means the subsystems lack strong connections among themselves. You change the single components to fix them without excessively modifying their dependencies. The goal is to make each function independent while ensuring they won’t affect others.
So what does loose coupling has to do with scalability? This principle simplifies the cause to much extent. You can amend a big chunk of a software product by splitting the specific component among the teams. It makes it simple to scale the system by allowing teams to rework to add, remove, or change particular components.

2. Modularity

Modularity aids scalable architecture by dividing web applications or software solutions into smaller modules. It is a logical compartmentalization of the ‘software design, allowing you to manage complex products for easy implementation and maintenance. Modularity isolates different systems’ partitions, permitting you to scale them independently.

3. Stateless Architecture

A stateless architecture handles each client’s request independently rather than depending on any previous server state. This signifies that a stateless application is easier to scale since it is based on horizontal scalability. You can add more servers to accommodate more load without disrupting the overall system.

4. Caching

Caching makes a quick data storage layer to store data subsets. The information is stored in the memory, removing the burden from the servers. This technique allows high-speed data access without maximizing the number of requests to the database.
For example, the application may store your details in the memory rather than servers, giving you immediate access the next time. So, this principle enhances software performance and helps scale it.

Part 2: Common Patterns for Scalable Software Architecture

1. Microservices

The microservices architecture is a software development approach that allows the creation of large applications from small independent services. Each service supports a unique task and communicates through APIs with other modules.
Research reveals that 63% of big organizations adopt a microservices architecture. It gives a decentralized environment to development teams, allowing them to isolate, rebuild, reimplement, and manage services independently.
For instance, if the software isn’t generating reports, you can identify, test, and redeploy the problematic independent service. This can be performed without digging the entire service cluster to determine the main issue.
One of the prominent microservices benefits is making applications faster to scale. This enables you to focus on adding more value to your software to stay ahead of the competition.

2. Load Balancing

Load balancing is a networking solution that efficiently distributes incoming traffic over multiple services. The term is also referred to as server pool or server farm, saving one server to bear the entire traffic load.
Load balancing acts like a ‘traffic police’ standing before client requests and your servers. It fulfills all requests in a way that increases capacity utilization and speed while ensuring a single server isn’t overworked. Consequently, it improves application responsiveness, availability and scalability.

3. Vertical Scaling

Vertical scaling is another way to achieve a scalable software architecture. Unlike horizontal scaling, this pattern requires the utilization of stronger and more advanced hardware. You add additional computing power to the existing resources, such as storage capacity, memory, and more, to a single server.
Despite being an expensive solution, vertical scaling can boost the performance of your web application. As everything is in one place, the vertical approach scales up your software. However, it is best suited for digital products with limited requests or users.
Also Read: 6 Important Things to Follow in Your Digital Product Strategy

Part 3: Best Practices for Scalable Software Architecture

1. Use Cloud Computing

Cloud computing allows you to increase or decrease tech resources as required to meet contemporary demand. Cloud is a hallmark when it comes to scalability as it offers on-demand access to a wide range of tools and computing resources. You can enjoy networking, processing power, and storage flexibly without investing in hardware.
Also Read: Serverless Architecture on AWS + Cloud Development Models

2. Monitor System Performance

Keeping an eye on the system’s performance is a great way to determine issues hindering scalability. Analyze metrics such as network and memory usage, response time, and task execution speed to figure out potential problems. Also, it is vital to act immediately to overcome encountered troubles before they disrupt performance.

3. Carry Out Automated Testing

Testing a scalable software architecture is necessary to confirm the changes in the system are not troubling. However, testing each software component manually becomes quite time-consuming when infrastructure grows. And this is where automated testing becomes of high importance.
Automated testing is a process that ensures your software is functioning correctly and meeting goals before it is released. This testing method is comprised of scripted sequences executed through different types of testing tools.

Conclusion

A scalable software architecture doesn’t require changes to upkeep effective performance when there is an increase in the workload. To attain scaling software, you must understand and deploy principles. At the same time, it is essential to work through common patterns like microservices and vertical scalability. Moreover, you must apply best practices to improve system software to achieve scalability.
At Slash, we use top-notch software scaling models with agile approaches that ensure the growth of your digital product. We have vast experience working with startups to scale up their software solutions. Our product development squad includes professional scale software architects for designing and implementing strategies to develop and migrate products to the cloud. Contact us for secure and affordable services.