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ES - 2
Key characteristics Enterprise systems: Distributivity, Managed redundancy, Exception
processing, Collaboration, Data transformation. Enterprise System architectures: Batch
processing, Monolithic, client server, ecommerce, service oriented, microservice.

Distributivity

Enterprise systems are comprehensive software applications that integrate and automate core business
processes across various functional areas within an organization. Distributivity is one of the key
characteristics of enterprise systems, emphasizing the distributed nature of system architecture, data, and
functionalities. Here's a detailed exploration of this characteristic along with its implications:

1. Distributivity:

 Distributed Architecture: Enterprise systems are designed with a distributed architecture, where
components and services are deployed across multiple servers, networks, and locations. This
distributed architecture ensures scalability, fault tolerance, and performance optimization by
distributing workload and processing tasks across distributed nodes and resources.
 Decentralized Data Management: Enterprise systems manage data in a distributed manner, with
data repositories and databases distributed across different locations, data centers, or cloud
environments. Distributed data management enables data replication, synchronization, and
availability, ensuring redundancy, disaster recovery, and high availability of data assets.
 Geographically Dispersed Operations: Enterprise systems support geographically dispersed
operations, allowing organizations to operate across multiple locations, branches, or subsidiaries.
Distributed functionalities enable seamless collaboration, communication, and coordination among
distributed teams, enabling real-time access to data, applications, and resources from anywhere,
anytime.
 Integration of Distributed Components: Enterprise systems integrate distributed components,
modules, and subsystems to facilitate interoperability and communication between disparate
systems, applications, and technologies. Integration middleware, APIs, and service-oriented
architectures (SOA) enable seamless integration and interaction between distributed components,
ensuring data consistency and process synchronization.
 Distributed Processing and Workflows: Enterprise systems support distributed processing and
workflows, enabling parallel execution of tasks, transactions, and business processes across
distributed nodes and resources. Distributed workflows optimize resource utilization, minimize
latency, and improve throughput by distributing workload and processing tasks in a distributed
manner.
 Scalability and Elasticity: Distributivity enables scalability and elasticity in enterprise systems,
allowing organizations to scale resources up or down dynamically in response to changing demand,
workload, or business requirements. Distributed architectures support horizontal scaling by adding
or removing nodes, clusters, or instances to accommodate growing or fluctuating workloads.
 Resilience and Fault Tolerance: Distributivity enhances resilience and fault tolerance in enterprise
systems by distributing data, processing, and resources across multiple nodes and locations.
Distributed redundancy, failover mechanisms, and disaster recovery strategies ensure business
continuity and minimize downtime in case of system failures, outages, or disasters.

Implications of Distributivity:
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 Improved Performance: Distributivity enables parallel processing and distributed computing,

leading to improved performance, throughput, and response times in enterprise systems, even
under heavy loads or peak demand.
 Enhanced Availability: Distributed architectures and redundant data storage ensure high
availability and accessibility of enterprise systems, minimizing downtime and service interruptions
due to hardware failures, network issues, or maintenance activities.
 Scalability and Flexibility: Distributivity facilitates scalability and flexibility in enterprise systems,
allowing organizations to scale resources dynamically to meet growing or fluctuating demands,
without significant architectural changes or disruptions.
 Global Reach: Distributivity enables enterprise systems to support global operations and
distributed teams, providing seamless access to data, applications, and resources across geographic
boundaries, time zones, and organizational units.
 Resilience and Reliability: Distributed architectures enhance resilience and reliability in enterprise
systems, ensuring data integrity, system availability, and business continuity in the face of failures,
disruptions, or unforeseen events.

Managed Redundancy

Managed redundancy is a fundamental characteristic of enterprise systems that involves the intentional
duplication of critical components, processes, or data within the system architecture. This redundancy is
carefully managed and orchestrated to enhance reliability, fault tolerance, resilience, and performance
across the organization. Here's a detailed overview of the key characteristics of managed redundancy in
enterprise systems:

1. High Availability:

 Managed redundancy ensures high availability of essential services, applications, and resources
within the enterprise system. By deploying redundant components, such as servers, databases,
network links, and storage systems, organizations minimize the risk of downtime and service
disruptions, ensuring continuous availability and accessibility for users.

2. Fault Tolerance:

 Managed redundancy enhances fault tolerance by providing backup mechanisms and failover
capabilities to mitigate the impact of hardware failures, software errors, or environmental
disruptions. Redundant components are designed to automatically detect failures and switch to
backup systems or resources without interrupting business operations or causing data loss.

3. Data Integrity and Reliability:

 Managed redundancy safeguards data integrity and reliability by maintaining multiple copies of
critical data across redundant storage systems or data centers. Through techniques such as data
replication, mirroring, and backup, organizations ensure that data remains consistent, accurate, and
accessible even in the event of storage failures, corruption, or disasters.

4. Load Balancing and Scalability:

 Managed redundancy enables load balancing and scalability by distributing workloads across
redundant resources and scaling capacity dynamically based on demand. Load balancers, clustering
techniques, and distributed computing architectures ensure optimal resource utilization,
performance optimization, and scalability without overburdening individual components.

5. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity:

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 Managed redundancy supports disaster recovery and business continuity by providing redundant
infrastructure, data backups, and recovery procedures to restore operations quickly in the event of
disasters or disruptions. Redundant data centers, geographically dispersed facilities, and backup
power supplies ensure that critical systems and services remain operational and recoverable,
minimizing downtime and data loss.

6. Performance Optimization:

 Managed redundancy contributes to performance optimization by reducing single points of failure,

bottlenecks, and latency within the enterprise system. Redundant components, such as caching
servers, content delivery networks (CDNs), and redundant network paths, enhance system
responsiveness, throughput, and user experience, especially during peak demand periods.

7. Risk Mitigation and Compliance:

 Managed redundancy helps mitigate risks and achieve regulatory compliance by providing
safeguards against data loss, service outages, and security breaches. By implementing redundant
controls, encryption mechanisms, and access restrictions, organizations enhance data protection,
confidentiality, and integrity, ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulatory
requirements.

8. Cost-Effective Resource Utilization:

 Managed redundancy enables cost-effective resource utilization by optimizing the allocation and
utilization of redundant resources based on business priorities and performance requirements. By
dynamically adjusting resource allocation, organizations minimize over-provisioning,
underutilization, and wastage of resources, optimizing cost-efficiency and return on investment
(ROI).

Exception Processing

Exception processing is a crucial aspect of enterprise systems, enabling organizations to effectively manage
and resolve unexpected or abnormal situations that deviate from standard business processes. It involves
identifying, analyzing, and handling exceptions promptly and efficiently to minimize disruptions, mitigate
risks, and ensure business continuity. Here are the key characteristics of exception processing within
enterprise systems:

1. Automated Detection:

 Enterprise systems are equipped with automated detection mechanisms to identify exceptions in
real-time or near-real-time as they occur within business processes. These detection mechanisms
may include rule-based algorithms, anomaly detection techniques, and threshold-based triggers
that monitor data, transactions, and events for deviations from predefined norms or expectations.

2. Rule-Based Resolution:

 Once exceptions are detected, enterprise systems utilize rule-based resolution mechanisms to
determine appropriate actions or responses based on predefined business rules, policies, and
procedures. These rules govern how different types of exceptions should be handled, such as
routing tasks to specific individuals or roles, escalating issues for further review, or triggering
automated corrective actions.

3. Workflow Orchestration:

 Exception processing within enterprise systems often involves workflow orchestration capabilities
to manage the flow of tasks, approvals, and notifications required to resolve exceptions effectively.
Workflow engines automate the routing and assignment of tasks to designated users or groups,
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ensuring that exception handling processes are executed according to predefined workflows and
timelines.

4. Escalation and Notification:

 In cases where exceptions cannot be resolved within predefined timeframes or by designated

individuals, enterprise systems facilitate escalation procedures to notify higher-level authorities or
supervisors for intervention. Escalation rules define escalation paths, thresholds, and notification
mechanisms to ensure timely attention and resolution of critical exceptions to prevent bottlenecks
or delays in business operations.

5. Integration with Decision Support Systems:

 Exception processing is often integrated with decision support systems and analytical tools within
enterprise systems to provide insights and recommendations for resolving complex or ambiguous
exceptions. Decision support systems leverage data analytics, predictive modeling, and artificial
intelligence to analyze historical patterns, identify root causes, and propose optimal solutions for
addressing exceptions and preventing recurrence.

6. Audit Trail and Documentation:

 Enterprise systems maintain comprehensive audit trails and documentation of exception processing
activities, including details of exceptions detected, actions taken, responsible parties, timestamps,
and outcomes. This documentation serves as a historical record for compliance, audit, and analysis
purposes, enabling organizations to track the resolution of exceptions, assess performance, and
identify areas for improvement.

7. Continuous Monitoring and Improvement:

 Exception processing is an iterative process within enterprise systems, characterized by continuous

monitoring, analysis, and improvement to enhance efficiency and effectiveness over time.
Organizations regularly review exception handling procedures, performance metrics, and feedback
from stakeholders to identify opportunities for optimization, refinement, and automation of
exception processing workflows.

8. Flexibility and Adaptability:

 Enterprise systems offer flexibility and adaptability in exception processing to accommodate

evolving business requirements, regulatory changes, and operational dynamics. They allow
organizations to configure and customize exception handling rules, workflows, and thresholds
based on specific business needs, industry standards, and regulatory compliance requirements,
ensuring agility and responsiveness in addressing emerging exceptions.

In summary, exception processing is a critical component of enterprise systems, characterized by

automated detection, rule-based resolution, workflow orchestration, escalation and notification
mechanisms, integration with decision support systems, audit trail and documentation, continuous
monitoring and improvement, and flexibility and adaptability. By effectively managing exceptions,
organizations can mitigate risks, maintain operational resilience, and ensure the smooth and efficient
execution of business processes within today's complex and dynamic business environment.

Collaboration

Collaboration is a fundamental aspect of enterprise systems, fostering communication, teamwork,

knowledge sharing, and innovation among employees, departments, and external partners. Here are the
key characteristics of collaboration within enterprise systems:
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1. Interdepartmental Communication: Enterprise systems facilitate seamless communication and

information exchange across different departments, enabling employees to collaborate on projects,
share updates, and coordinate activities in real-time. Communication channels such as instant
messaging, email, video conferencing, and collaboration platforms promote cross-functional
collaboration and alignment of goals and objectives.

2. Team Collaboration Tools: Enterprise systems provide collaborative tools and platforms that
enable teams to collaborate effectively on projects, tasks, and initiatives. These tools may include
project management software, document sharing platforms, workflow automation tools, and
virtual workspaces that facilitate collaboration, task assignment, version control, and document
collaboration in a centralized and organized manner.

3. Knowledge Sharing: Enterprise systems support the sharing and dissemination of knowledge and
expertise across the organization, allowing employees to leverage each other's skills, experiences,
and insights. Knowledge sharing platforms, wikis, forums, and communities of practice encourage
employees to contribute ideas, share best practices, and solve problems collaboratively, fostering a
culture of continuous learning and improvement.

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Enterprise systems break down silos and barriers between
departments, enabling cross-functional collaboration and cooperation on shared goals and
initiatives. By providing visibility into processes, data, and workflows across the organization,
enterprise systems facilitate collaboration between different functional areas such as sales,
marketing, finance, operations, and customer service, promoting alignment and synergy towards
common objectives.

5. External Collaboration: Enterprise systems extend collaboration beyond organizational boundaries,

enabling collaboration with external partners, suppliers, vendors, and customers. Through partner
portals, supplier networks, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, organizations
can collaborate with external stakeholders on product development, supply chain management,
sales, and customer support, enhancing communication, coordination, and mutual value creation.

6. Virtual Collaboration: Enterprise systems support virtual collaboration among distributed teams
and remote workers, enabling employees to collaborate effectively regardless of their geographical
location. Virtual collaboration tools such as video conferencing, screen sharing, virtual whiteboards,
and collaborative document editing platforms facilitate real-time communication and interaction,
enabling teams to work together seamlessly and overcome the challenges of distance and time
zones.

7. Security and Compliance: Collaboration within enterprise systems is governed by security and
compliance measures to protect sensitive information, ensure data privacy, and maintain
regulatory compliance. Role-based access controls, encryption, data masking, and audit trails are
implemented to safeguard confidential information and mitigate the risk of data breaches,
unauthorized access, and compliance violations.

8. Metrics and Analytics: Enterprise systems provide metrics and analytics capabilities to measure
and evaluate collaboration effectiveness, performance, and outcomes. Key performance indicators
(KPIs) such as team productivity, response times, task completion rates, and customer satisfaction
scores enable organizations to assess the impact of collaboration initiatives, identify areas for
improvement, and optimize collaboration processes and practices.

In summary, collaboration is a key characteristic of enterprise systems, facilitating communication,

teamwork, knowledge sharing, and innovation across the organization and its ecosystem of partners. By
leveraging collaborative tools, platforms, and practices, organizations can enhance productivity, agility, and
competitiveness, driving business success in today's interconnected and dynamic business environment.
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1) Describe Data transformation in Enterprise Systems?

Data transformation is the process of converting, cleansing, and structuring data into a usable format that can be
analysed to support decision making processes, and to propel the growth of an organization.

Data transformation is used when data needs to be converted to match that of the destinationsystem. This can occur at
two places of the data pipeline.
Data transformation works on the simple objective of extracting data from a source, converting it into a usable format
and then delivering the converted data to the destination system. The extraction phase involves data being pulled into
a central repository from different sources or locations, therefore it is usually in its raw original form which is not
usable. To ensure the usability of the extracted data it must be transformed into the desired format by taking it through
a number of steps. In certain cases, the data also needs to be cleaned before the transformation takes place. This step
resolves the issues of missing valuesand inconsistencies that exist in the dataset. The data transformation process is
carried out in five stages.

Discovery:
The first step is to identify and understand data in its original source format with the helpof data profiling tools.
Finding all the sources and data types that need to be transformed. This step helps in understanding how the data needs
to be transformed to fit into the desiredformat.

Mapping:
The transformation is planned during the data mapping phase. This includes determining thecurrent structure, and the
consequent transformation that is required, then mapping the datato understand at a basic level, the way individual
fields would be modified, joined or aggregated.

Code Generation:
The code, which is required to run the transformation process, is created in this step using a data transformation
platform or tool.

Execution:
The data is finally converted into the selected format with the help of the code.

Batch Processing
Batch processing is a key architectural component of enterprise systems, enabling the efficient processing
of large volumes of data and transactions in scheduled batches. This approach to data processing involves
collecting, processing, and analyzing data in discrete groups or batches, typically on a scheduled basis,
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without the need for real-time interaction or immediate response. Here's an in-depth look at the role,
characteristics, benefits, and considerations of batch processing in enterprise system architectures:

Role of Batch Processing: Batch processing plays a crucial role in enterprise systems for handling
repetitive, high-volume data processing tasks, such as data integration, ETL (extract, transform, load), data
warehousing, report generation, and system backups. By organizing data processing tasks into batches,
organizations can optimize resource utilization, prioritize workloads, and streamline operations, ensuring
timely and reliable data processing without overwhelming system resources or causing performance
bottlenecks.

Characteristics of Batch Processing:

 Scheduled Execution: Batch processing tasks are scheduled to run at specific intervals, such as
daily, nightly, or weekly, based on predefined schedules or triggers. This allows organizations to
plan and allocate resources efficiently, optimize system performance, and minimize disruptions to
business operations.

 Offline Processing: Batch processing tasks are typically performed offline, without real-time
interaction or user intervention. This reduces the need for manual oversight and enables
automated execution of repetitive data processing tasks, freeing up human resources for higher-
value activities.

 Data Aggregation: Batch processing involves aggregating and processing large volumes of data in
batches, often across multiple sources or systems. This allows organizations to consolidate and
analyze data from disparate sources, generate insights, and produce reports or outputs based on
aggregated data sets.

 Scalability: Batch processing architectures are designed to scale horizontally to accommodate

growing data volumes and processing demands. By parallelizing batch processing tasks and
distributing workloads across multiple nodes or processing units, organizations can achieve greater
throughput, performance, and scalability.

 Fault Tolerance: Batch processing systems are built with fault tolerance and error handling
capabilities to ensure resilience against system failures, errors, or interruptions. Redundancy, retry
mechanisms, and error logging are commonly used to detect and recover from failures, ensuring
data integrity and reliability throughout the batch processing cycle.

Benefits of Batch Processing:

 Efficiency: Batch processing optimizes resource utilization and reduces overhead by executing data
processing tasks in bulk, minimizing idle time and maximizing system throughput.

 Scalability: Batch processing architectures can scale horizontally to handle increasing data volumes
and processing demands, ensuring responsiveness and performance as business needs evolve.

 Automation: Batch processing enables automated execution of repetitive tasks, reducing manual
effort, human error, and operational costs associated with data processing activities.
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 Consistency: Batch processing ensures consistency and repeatability of data processing tasks by
executing predefined workflows and processing rules consistently across batches, minimizing
variability and ensuring data integrity.

 Cost-Effectiveness: Batch processing solutions are cost-effective compared to real-time processing

alternatives, as they leverage batch windows and off-peak hours to minimize resource usage and
infrastructure costs.

Considerations for Batch Processing:

 Latency: Batch processing introduces latency between data collection and processing, which may
not be suitable for real-time or time-sensitive applications requiring immediate responses or near
real-time analytics.

 Data Freshness: Batch processing may result in delays in data availability and analysis, impacting
the freshness and timeliness of insights generated from processed data.

 Complexity: Batch processing architectures can be complex to design, deploy, and manage,
requiring careful consideration of data dependencies, scheduling, error handling, and monitoring.

 Resource Requirements: Batch processing may require significant computing resources and
infrastructure to handle large data volumes and processing workloads efficiently, necessitating
investment in scalable, high-performance hardware and software solutions.

What is Monolithic Architecture?

Monolithic architecture is a software design approach where all components of an application are
integrated into a single, indivisible unit. In this architecture, the entire application, including the user
interface, business logic, and data access layers, is developed, deployed, and maintained as a single entity.

 This contrasts with other architectural styles, such as microservices, where the application is broken
down into smaller, independently deployable services.

 Monolithic architecture was once the dominant paradigm in software development, favored for its
simplicity and ease of initial setup.

Importance of Monolithic Systems

Monolithic systems, despite facing increasing competition from more modern architectural styles like
microservices, still hold significant importance in various contexts:
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 Simplicity: Monolithic architectures offer straightforward development and deployment processes.

With all components bundled together, it’s often easier for developers to understand the system as
a whole and make changes.

 Cost-Effectiveness: For small to medium-sized projects or startups, monolithic architectures can be

more cost-effective. They require less infrastructure overhead and simpler deployment setups
compared to distributed systems.

 Performance: In some cases, monolithic systems can provide better performance due to reduced
communication overhead between components, as everything is running within the same process.

 Security: With fewer inter-service communication points, monolithic systems may have a reduced
attack surface, making them potentially more secure, especially if proper security measures are
implemented.

 Legacy Support: Many existing systems still rely on monolithic architectures. Maintaining and
evolving these systems requires expertise, and understanding monolithic architectures is crucial for
their continued operation.

Characteristics of Monolithic Architecture

Monolithic architecture exhibits several defining characteristics:

 Single Codebase: All components of the application are developed and maintained within a single
codebase, making it easier to manage and deploy.

 Tight Coupling: Components within the architecture are tightly integrated and interdependent,
often sharing data and resources directly.

 Shared Memory: Monolithic applications typically share the same memory space, allowing
components to communicate efficiently without the need for network overhead.

 Centralized Database: Data storage is centralized within the application, typically using a single
database instance for all data storage needs.

 Layered Structure: Monolithic architectures often follow a layered structure, with distinct layers for
presentation, business logic, and data access. While providing separation of concerns, this can lead
to dependencies between layers.

 Limited Scalability: Scaling a monolithic application can be challenging, as the entire application
must be scaled together, often resulting in inefficiencies and increased resource consumption.

Key Components of Monolithic Architecture

The key components of a monolithic architecture include:

 User Interface (UI): This component is responsible for presenting information to users and
gathering input through forms, buttons, and other interactive elements.

 Application Logic: Also known as the business logic layer, this component contains the core
functionality of the application. It processes requests from the user interface, manipulates data,
and performs any necessary calculations or operations.

 Data Access Layer: This component handles interactions with the database or other data storage
mechanisms. It includes functions for querying, inserting, updating, and deleting data, ensuring that
the application can retrieve and modify information as needed.
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 Database: The database stores the application’s data in a structured format. It can be relational,
NoSQL, or another type of database, depending on the requirements of the application.

 External Dependencies: Monolithic applications may also interact with external systems or
services, such as third-party APIs, authentication providers, or messaging queues. These
dependencies enable additional functionality or integration with other systems.

 Middleware: In some cases, monolithic architectures may include middleware components that
facilitate communication between different parts of the application or handle cross-cutting
concerns such as logging, security, or performance monitoring.

Challenges in deploying Monolithic Architecture

Deploying monolithic architecture poses several challenges, including:

 Long Deployment Cycles: Deploying a monolithic application typically involves deploying the entire
codebase as a single unit. This can result in longer deployment times, as all components of the
application need to be packaged, tested, and deployed together.

 Risk of Downtime: Deploying a monolithic application may require taking the entire system offline
temporarily, especially if the deployment involves making significant changes or updates. This
downtime can impact user experience and business operations.

 Limited Scalability: Scaling a monolithic application can be challenging, as scaling typically involves
replicating the entire application stack. This can lead to inefficiencies and increased infrastructure
costs, particularly during periods of high demand.

 Resource Consumption: Monolithic applications may consume more resources, such as memory
and CPU, compared to more lightweight architectures like microservices. This can lead to higher
infrastructure costs and reduced overall efficiency.

 Limited Flexibility: Making changes to a monolithic application can be more challenging than in
architectures where components are decoupled. Changes may require modifying multiple parts of
the codebase, increasing the risk of introducing bugs or inconsistencies.

Scaling Monolithic Systems

Scaling monolithic systems can be challenging due to their inherent architecture, but several strategies can
help mitigate these challenges:

1. Vertical Scaling

Also known as scaling up, this involves increasing the resources (such as CPU, memory, or storage) of the
existing server or virtual machine running the monolithic application. While this approach can provide
immediate relief, it has limits and can become prohibitively expensive or impractical beyond a certain
point.

2. Optimizing Performance

Identify and optimize performance bottlenecks within the monolithic application. This might involve
profiling the application to find areas of inefficiency, optimizing database queries, improving algorithmic
complexity, or reducing unnecessary resource usage.

3. Caching
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Introduce caching mechanisms to reduce the load on backend services. By caching frequently accessed
data or computation results, you can alleviate pressure on the application and improve response times.
However, caching strategies must be carefully designed to ensure data consistency and freshness.

4. Load Balancing

Implement load balancing to distribute incoming traffic across multiple instances of the monolithic
application. This can help evenly distribute the workload and improve scalability. Load balancers can be
configured to use various algorithms to distribute traffic, such as round-robin or least connections.

5. Database Sharding

If the database is a bottleneck, consider sharding the database to distribute data across multiple database
instances. Each shard stores a subset of the data, allowing for horizontal scaling of the database. However,
database sharding adds complexity to the application and requires careful planning and management.

6. Asynchronous Processing

Offload time-consuming or non-critical tasks to background processes or worker queues. By decoupling

these tasks from the main application flow and processing them asynchronously, you can improve
responsiveness and scalability.

Best Practices for Monolithic System Design

Best practices for designing monolithic systems include:

 Modularization: Structure the codebase into modular components, each responsible for a specific
functionality or feature. This promotes code reusability, maintainability, and easier testing.

 Separation of Concerns: Clearly separate different layers of the application, such as presentation,
business logic, and data access, to ensure that each layer has a distinct responsibility. This improves
code organization and makes it easier to understand and maintain.

 Scalability Considerations: Design the system with scalability in mind, even if immediate scalability
requirements are modest. This includes avoiding performance bottlenecks, designing for horizontal
scaling where possible, and implementing caching mechanisms to improve performance.

 Consistent Coding Standards: Enforce consistent coding standards and practices across the
development team to ensure readability, maintainability, and easier collaboration. This includes
naming conventions, code formatting, and documentation standards.

 Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD): Adopt CI/CD practices to automate the build,
test, and deployment processes. This streamlines development workflows, reduces manual errors,
and enables faster delivery of features and updates to production.

What is client server architecture?

Before we explain client server architecture and you start reading words such as servers, service,
network, data, and files, and start feeling overwhelmed with jargon, let us first understand about this
architecture in layperson’s terms.

The notion of client-server architecture can be understood by the analogy of ordering a pizza for delivery.
You call the store to order a pizza and someone picks up the call, takes your order, and then delivers it.
Simple, right? Yes, this analogy pretty much answers the fundamental principle of client server
architecture.
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Simply put, two factors are involved :

 A server is the one who provides requested services.

 Clients are the ones who request services.

Client-server architecture is a computing model in which the server hosts, delivers, and manages most of
the resources and services requested by the client. It is also known as the networking computing model or
client-server network as all requests and services are delivered over a network. The client-server
architecture or model has other systems connected over a network where resources are shared among the
different computers.

Client-Server architecture example

Here are some of the client-server model architecture examples from our daily life. Hope it helps you to
understand the concept better.

Mail servers

Email servers are used for sending and receiving emails. There are different software that allows email
handling.

How does client-server architecture work?

We have understood that client-server architecture is made up of two elements, one that provides services
and the other that consumes those services.

To get a clearer picture of the process, let us learn how the browser interacts with the server.

 The user enters the uniform resource locator (URL) of the website or file and the browser sends a
request to the domain name system (DNS) server.

 DNS server is responsible for searching and retrieving the IP address associated with a web server
and then initiating actions using that IP address.

 After the DNS server responds, the browser sends over an HTTP or HTTPS request to the web
server’s IP, which was provided by the DNS server.

 Following the request, the server proceeds to transmit the essential website files required.
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 Ultimately, the files are processed by the browser and the website is subsequently presented for
viewing.

Types of Client-Server Architecture

The functionality of Client-Server architecture is in various tiers.

1-tier architecture

The architecture in this specific client-server category incorporates various settings, including configuration
settings and marketing logic, within a single device. Although the wide range of services provided by the 1-
tier architecture establishes it as a dependable resource, managing such an architecture proves
challenging. This difficulty primarily arises from the variability of data, often leading to duplicated efforts.
The 1-tier architecture comprises multiple layers, such as the presentation layer, business layer, and data
layer, which are unified through a specialized software package. The data residing within this layer is
typically stored either in local systems or on a shared drive.

Unleash the potential of Network Topology. Explore the advantages of hierarchical, ring, and hybrid
topologies, and design a network that meets your specific requirements.

2-tier architecture

The best environment is possessed by this architecture, where the client’s side stores the user interface
and the server houses the database, while either the client’s side or the server’s side manages the
database logic and business logic.

The 2-tier architecture outpaces the 1-tier architecture due to its absence of intermediaries between the
client and server. Its primary application is to eliminate client confusion, and an instance of its popularity
lies in the online ticket reservation system.

3-tier architecture
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Unlike 2-tier architecture that has no intermediary, in 3-tier client-server architecture, middleware lies
between the client and the server. If the client places a request to fetch specific information from the
server, the request will first be received by the middleware. It will then be dispatched to the server for
further action. The same pattern will be followed when the server sends a response to the client. The
framework of 3-tier architecture is categorized into three main layers, presentation layer, application layer,
and database tier.

All three layers are controlled at different ends. While the presentation layer is controlled at the client’s
device, the middleware and the server handle the application layer and the database tier respectively. Due
to the presence of a third layer that provides data control, 3-tier architecture is more secure, has invisible
database structure, and provides data integrity.

N-tier architecture

N-tier architecture is also called multi-tier architecture. It is the scaled form of the other three types of
architecture. This architecture has a provision for locating each function as an isolated layer that includes
presentation, application processing, and management of data functionalities.

Advantages and disadvantages of client-server architecture

The advantages and disadvantages of client-server architecture are mentioned below:

Advantages Disadvantages

The centralized network has complete leverage to If the primary server goes down, the entire
control the processes and activities. architecture is disrupted.

All devices in the network can be controlled centrally. It is expensive to operate because of the cost of
heavy hardware and software tools.

Users have the authority to access any file, residing in This architecture requires particular OSs related
the central storage, at any time. to networking.
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It provides a good user interface, easy file finding Too many users at once can cause the problem of
procedure, and management system for organizing files. traffic congestion.

Easy sharing of resources across various platforms is It requires highly technical stuff, such as server
possible. machines, for maintenance of the network.

ecommerce architecture

Planning ecommerce architecture is as important as planning a building block. Fail to draw up a detailed
blueprint for your house, and you’ll see it collapse in a couple of years.

The same happens with your ecommerce website. In the 13+ years that Elogic has been in the market,
we’ve seen clients come to us for mere performance optimization and leave with the whole ecommerce
website revamp because their legacy architecture was the #1 reason for poor business growth.

Your online shop architecture should concern both back-end and front-end that secure scalability and
flexibility of your website. But it also relates to the system of search and information you organize for
better consumer experiences. And oftentimes, retailers struggle balancing these two aspects.

In this article, you’ll learn why the technical architecture of an ecommerce website should be well-thought-
out before your website is built, which architecture might be the best fit for your business, and who can
get it done for you.

We’ll also share a few architecture diagrams for ecommerce we

What Is Ecommerce Architecture and Why Do You Need a Good One?

Ecommerce website architecture has two definitions:

1. It relates to the technical structure behind your ecommerce store and the way in which your
website presentation, business, and data layers interact with one another.

2. It is a form of arrangement of the information that’s presented on the website that defines a
hierarchy of how the data blocks relate to each other.

In layman’s terms, ecommerce site architecture is its underlying structure or a framework that allows your
business to grow, stay visible online, and provide the outstanding user experience (UX) all retailers strive
for.

Why is having a smoothly working ecommerce architecture design a must?

 It helps search engines (SE) to index the website and rank it higher. SE operating logic depends
immensely on structures and their connectivity. So to allow easy crawling and indexing, the target
website should be organized in a scannable way.

 It allows for scalability. Depending on the language and tools used, you may not need to create the
website from the ground up — you can upgrade and add functions to the existing one. But it is only
possible if you know which parts and structures of the websites will be affected by the change.
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 It enables easy third-party integrations. Just like with the example above, knowing the links and
connections in your ecommerce software architecture will help you with powering your software
with the solutions offered by many vendors, so you can deliver a better user experience.

 It enhances the user experience. Apart from adding new useful features, a detailed ecommerce
project architecture simplifies the use of the website. Navigation menu, breadcrumbs, sitemap,
internal linking — all that should encourage the customer to stay on your website and surf through
it without the feeling of getting lost.

The person who plans the ecommerce technical architecture is called a solution architect and has to be
involved in the website planning process from day one. Discussing the website architecture prior to
developing the site will prevent you from extra-budget expenses, unforeseen code conflicts, and a waste of
money for what could’ve been adjusted or improved without deleting it.

Can’t find a solution architect to enhance your team?

Find one in a large pool of talented engineers at Elogic and plan your site architecture to a tee

HIRE A SOLUTION ARCHITECT

Current practices feature three types of architecture for ecommerce website. Below we explain their
peculiarities, provide ecommerce architecture diagram for each type, and outline their pros and cons.

Ecommerce Architecture: Two-Tier Architecture

Two-tier website architecture implies that there are two sides of the architecture for the client domain
and the business database domain. They exist in constant interaction.

For example, the user retrieves the information stored in the database or sends their data to be stored
there (i.e., account or billing details), thus making the database respond to the request to provide or
process the data. And it’s because of the well-planned ecommerce website architecture design that such
real-time communication is possible.

Your two-tier ecommerce website architecture diagram will look like this:

The two-tier architecture is commonly used for homogeneous environments as it contains static business
rules. It’s also the most preferred option for startups that want to validate the hypothesis prior to spending
lots of money on a full-scale platform. However, it also has certain limitations.

Pros of two-tier architecture Cons of two-tier architecture

— Not suitable for heterogeneous environments, as changing the

— Simple, fast, and cheap to develop and deploy
often will bring down the performance
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— Allows for accurate and fast prototyping — Allows for a limited number of users and isn’t scalable

— Database server and business logic are close, — It has low control and re-distribution level since usually the clie
which enhances performance most of the application logic

— It’s complicated to change the database structure if needed du

dependent components and monolithic code

Ecommerce Architecture: Three-Tier Architecture

In three-tier eCommerce architecture, in addition to client and database, there is an extra middle layer, a
server-side. This forms three layers of the architecture:

1. Presentation layer (client)

2. Application layer (business logic)

3. Database layer (database)

One of the biggest distinctions in this type of architecture is that each layer functions independently, runs
on different servers, and is treated as a separate module when it comes to its development, modification,
or maintenance.

Here’s what a three-tier online shopping architecture diagram looks like.

This is a must-have architecture type for large-scale enterprises that target multiple users, but it also has
its disadvantages you need to consider.

Pros of three-tier architecture Cons of three-tier architecture

— Improved scalability due to better synchronization — Complex communication between layers, which
between the modules implementation difficult
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— Enhanced security level as there’s no direct — It requires more manual management since ther
interaction with data from the database automated tools to process the content

— Possible partial updates without affecting the whole

ecommerce system architecture

What are Microservices?

Microservices are small, independent, and loosely coupled services that work together to fulfill the
functionality of an application. Each microservice is a separate codebase, managed by a small development
team, and can be deployed independently and autonomously. They communicate with each other over
network protocols, using well-defined APIs.

Key Characteristics of Microservices

Small and Independent: Microservices are designed to be small in scope, focusing on a specific business
capability or domain. Each service is developed, deployed, and maintained independently, allowing for
agility and scalability.

Loosely Coupled: Microservices are loosely coupled, meaning that they can operate independently of each
other. Changes to one service do not affect others, enabling teams to make updates and improvements
without disrupting the entire application.

Decentralized Data Management: Each microservice has its own database or persistence layer, which is
not shared with other services. This allows for flexibility in choosing technology stacks and reduces
dependencies between services.

Technology Agnostic: Microservices can work with different technology stacks, libraries, and frameworks.
They are not bound to a single technology, allowing teams to choose the most suitable tools for their
specific requirements.

Benefits of Microservices Architecture

Scalability: Microservices architecture enables horizontal scalability, allowing applications to handle

increased workload by adding more instances of individual services. This scalability is essential for handling
fluctuating traffic and growing user bases.

Rapid Development and Deployment: With microservices, teams can develop, test, and deploy services
independently, speeding up the development process. Updates and improvements can be rolled out to
production quickly, reducing time-to-market for new features.

Flexibility and Agility: Microservices promote flexibility and agility in software development. Teams can
iterate on services separately, adapting to changing requirements and market conditions without
impacting other parts of the application.

Resilience and Fault Isolation: By isolating services, microservices architecture improves resilience and
fault tolerance. If one service fails, it does not bring down the entire application, minimizing the impact on
users.

Microservices Architecture
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Microservices architecture structures an application as a collection of small, independent services that

communicate with each other through APIs. Each service is responsible for a specific business capability or
domain, and can be developed and deployed independently from other services.

Challenges of Microservices Architecture

Complexity: Managing a large number of microservices can introduce complexity in development,

deployment, and operations. Teams must invest in tooling and automation to manage this complexity
effectively.

Distributed Systems Challenges: Microservices architecture introduces challenges associated with

distributed systems, such as network latency, service discovery, and data consistency. Teams need to
design solutions to address these challenges.

Benefits of Microservices Architecture

The main benefits of microservices architecture include:

 Scalability: With microservices, each service can be scaled independently, allowing the application
to handle increased traffic and load more easily.

 Agility: Microservices architecture enables faster development cycles, as each service can be
developed, tested, and deployed independently.

 Resilience: Because each service is independent, failures in one service do not necessarily affect the
rest of the application.

 Flexibility: Microservices allow for more flexibility in technology choices, as each service can be
developed using the most appropriate technology for its specific requirements.

 Easy integration with third-party services: Microservices can be easily integrated with third-party
services, as each service can be developed with its own API.

Drawbacks of Microservices Architecture

While microservices architecture offers several benefits, it also has some drawbacks that should be
considered before implementing it:

 Increased complexity: Microservices architecture is more complex than traditional monolithic

architecture, as it involves multiple services that communicate with each other. This can make
development and maintenance more complex and require additional resources and expertise.

 Distributed system challenges: With microservices architecture, the services are distributed across
multiple servers, which can create challenges related to data consistency, network latency, and
service discovery.
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 Testing and debugging challenges: Testing and debugging can be more complex in a microservices
architecture, as there are multiple services that need to be tested and debugged independently, as
well as integration testing across services.

 Management overhead: With microservices architecture, there is additional overhead associated

with managing multiple services, including deployment, scaling, and monitoring.

When to use Microservices ?

Microservices architecture is a good choice for complex, large-scale applications that require a high
level of scalability, availability, and agility. It can also be a good fit for organizations that need to integrate
with multiple third-party services or systems.

However, microservices architecture is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and it may not be the best choice
for all applications. It requires additional effort in terms of designing, implementing, and maintaining the
services, as well as managing the communication between them. Additionally, the overhead of
coordinating between services can result in increased latency and decreased performance, so it may not
be the best choice for applications that require high performance or low latency.

Service-Oriented Architecture
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a stage in the evolution of application development and/or
integration. It defines a way to make software components reusable using the interfaces.

Formally, SOA is an architectural approach in which applications make use of services available in the
network. In this architecture, services are provided to form applications, through a network call over the
internet. It uses common communication standards to speed up and streamline the service integrations in
applications. Each service in SOA is a complete business function in itself. The services are published in
such a way that it makes it easy for the developers to assemble their apps using those services. Note that
SOA is different from microservice architecture.

 SOA allows users to combine a large number of facilities from existing services to form applications.

 SOA encompasses a set of design principles that structure system development and provide means
for integrating components into a coherent and decentralized system.

 SOA-based computing packages functionalities into a set of interoperable services, which can be
integrated into different software systems belonging to separate business domains.

The different characteristics of SOA are as follows :

o Provides interoperability between the services.
o Provides methods for service encapsulation, service discovery, service composition,
service reusability and service integration.
o Facilitates QoS (Quality of Services) through service contract based on Service Level
Agreement (SLA).
o Provides loosely couples services.
o Provides location transparency with better scalability and availability.
o Ease of maintenance with reduced cost of application development and
deployment.
There are two major roles within Service-oriented Architecture:

1. Service provider: The service provider is the maintainer of the service and the organization that
makes available one or more services for others to use. To advertise services, the provider can
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publish them in a registry, together with a service contract that specifies the nature of the service,
how to use it, the requirements for the service, and the fees charged.

2. Service consumer: The service consumer can locate the service metadata in the registry and
develop the required client components to bind and use the service.

Services might aggregate information and data retrieved from other services or create workflows of
services to satisfy the request of a given service consumer. This practice is known as service orchestration
Another important interaction pattern is service choreography, which is the coordinated interaction of
services without a single point of control.

Components of SOA:

Advantages of SOA:

 Service reusability: In SOA, applications are made from existing services. Thus, services can be
reused to make many applications.

 Easy maintenance: As services are independent of each other they can be updated and modified
easily without affecting other services.

 Platform independent: SOA allows making a complex application by combining services picked
from different sources, independent of the platform.

 Availability: SOA facilities are easily available to anyone on request.

 Reliability: SOA applications are more reliable because it is easy to debug small services rather than
huge codes

 Scalability: Services can run on different servers within an environment, this increases scalability

Disadvantages of SOA:

 High overhead: A validation of input parameters of services is done whenever services interact this
decreases performance as it increases load and response time.
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 High investment: A huge initial investment is required for SOA.

 Complex service management: When services interact they exchange messages to tasks. the
number of messages may go in millions. It becomes a cumbersome task to handle a large number
of messages.

Practical applications of SOA: SOA is used in many ways around us whether it is mentioned or not.

1. SOA infrastructure is used by many armies and air forces to deploy situational awareness systems.

2. SOA is used to improve healthcare delivery.

3. Nowadays many apps are games and they use inbuilt functions to run. For example, an app might
need GPS so it uses the inbuilt GPS functions of the device. This is SOA in mobile solutions.

4. SOA helps maintain museums a virtualized storage pool for their information and content.