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7/7/2023 | 9 Minute Read
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As businesses grow and add more users and demands increase, scalability and performance become critical aspects to consider when designing software architecture. Several techniques are available to help you scale and maintain high performance as traffic increases. We will walk through seven popular scaling techniques to design applications.
Load balancing is a technique for distributing incoming traffic over numerous servers so that no one server becomes overburdened. They operate as intermediaries between the client and the server, distributing load using various methods such as round-robin, least connections, and IP hash.
Load balancers come in two flavors: hardware-based and software-based. Hardware-based load balancers are physical devices that can deploy into data centers as part of network infrastructure. Software load balancers, as the name suggests, are installed on commodity servers to perform the load balancing. Software load balancers are generally cheaper, easier to manage, and dynamic to configure compared to hardware load balancer.
Algorithms for load balancing dictate how traffic is distributed among several servers. Several load balancing algorithms exist, including:
Auto-scaling is a technology that allows the system to respond to variations in traffic by dynamically adding and deleting servers. It ensures that the system can manage sudden traffic increases without the need for user intervention.
For example, autoscaling may be accomplished in cloud-based systems through cloud-provider services auto scalers. These services automatically monitor system performance and alter the number of virtual machines (VMs) or containers allotted to the system.
There are two types of autoscaling: horizontal and vertical.
Asynchronous processing is a technique for effectively handling many requests by running them in the background without interrupting the main thread. Threading, callbacks, and promises are some ways to implement asynchronous processing. Asynchronous processing has the potential to cut reaction time dramatically while improving overall system performance. Asynchronous processing allows activities to complete as another sub-task without blocking the main task. This instructs the main task or job not to wait for a subtask and start moving to another task.
Asynchronous processing has various advantages when dealing with large traffic:
A distributed database is comprised of many databases that are geographically spread over multiple sites. These databases are linked by a network, so they function as a single logical database. Data is partitioned and copied among various databases to achieve high availability and fault tolerance. With a well-designed distributed database architecture, businesses can handle heavy traffic and deliver a dependable user experience.
Using a distributed database to handle heavy traffic has various advantages:
Caching is one of the most efficient ways to deal with excessive traffic on websites and applications. It's a strategy for reducing reaction time by keeping frequently requested data in memory. Caching may be accomplished through various methods, including in-memory, edge, and browser caching. This technique may dramatically increase overall system performance by reducing reaction time.
Caching temporarily stores frequently requested resources. The server may keep the response to a user's request for data when the user makes the request. The server may provide the same data from the cache storage rather than having to recalculate the answer when a user requests it again. Caching frequently requested data can considerably increase response time, reduce server load, and provide a cost-effective method for dealing with heavy traffic.
There are various advantages of employing caching to deal with excessive traffic:
How to include caching on your website
A CDN is a network of servers dispersed around the globe. The data requested is served from nearest server to requestor. This reduces network round trip time providing better performance and lower latencies.
Some benefits of using a CDN to handle significant traffic include the following:
Select a CDN provider based on your platform or application's requirements. Configure the CDN by setting up the caching rules, cybersecurity settings, and other settings based on your website or application's requirements.
Microservices architecture has become a well-liked method for managing heavy traffic brought on by the emergence of cloud computing and the rising demand for scalable and adaptable software systems. This software architectural style divides an application into several divides a large, monolithic program into many tiny, autonomous services.
Using a microservices architecture to manage heavy traffic has the following advantages:
ConnectWise Asio™ is a scalable and resilient platform designed to meet the evolving needs of its customers. The platform employs various techniques and architectural patterns described above to ensure its services are robust, scalable, and performant. Continuous observability and monitoring by employing the open, AI-powered APM platforms as part of the framework ensure the Asio platform can operate efficiently and securely by predicting and resolving problems before they impact users in a precise and proactive manner.
One key aspect of Asio is its microservices architecture, which allows for infinite scalability where required. Each service is deployed to container clusters behind load balancers, and auto-scaling parameters such as CPU, memory usage, and latency are fine-tuned for each service. The platform also leverages geo-distributed cloud databases to enhance performance, scalability, and availability.
To improve fault-tolerance and automation capabilities, Asio uses appropriate caching mechanisms and Apache Kafka, as well as various cloud services for asynchronous processing. Cyberecurity is also a top priority, and the platform operates in a zero trust environment. To ensure each request is authenticated, every service uses the SSO authentication mechanism.
Designed to be highly extensible and integrable, Asio makes it easy for tech vendors to build on top of the platform, providing a set of tools, SDKs, and documentation that make it easy for vendors to develop, test, and deploy their integrations. The scrum teams within Asio develop their solutions with the ability to be extended by third-party vendors in mind, creating communication interfaces and providing them to vendors. This results in a highly versatile and customizable solution that can meet the diverse needs of a wide range of partners. Overall, Asio provides a flexible and scalable solution that can adapt to the changing needs of partners and their customers.