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Cloud Architecture

Find out what cloud architecture is, and what you should pay attention to, when
developing digital products intended to match the requirements of the modern market.
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CLOUD NATIVE & CLOUD ARCHITECTURE
MAIN PRINCIPLES
SOFTWARE IN CLOUD ARCHITECTURE
SOFTWARE PATTERNS
CLOUD NATIVE & CLOUD ARCHITECTURE MAIN PRINCIPLES SOFTWARE IN CLOUD ARCHITECTURE SOFTWARE PATTERNS
01
CLOUD NATIVE & CLOUD ARCHITECTURE

Cloud native and cloud architecture

Although cloud architecture development is nothing new, only a few companies can boast a comprehensive implementation.
Those businesses that have taken full advantage of the cloud native approach have achieved global success.

Although cloud architecture development is nothing new, only a few companies can boast a comprehensive implementation. Those businesses that have taken full advantage of the cloud native approach have achieved global success.

The concept of cloud architecture is based on, and is inextricably linked to, the cloud native approach. In order to understand cloud architecture, you should first get to know the principles of cloud native.
Cloud native is structuring teams, culture and technology to utilise automation and architectures to manage complexity and unlock velocity. All of this is supposed to increase the performance of both the people associated with IT projects and the technology itself.

The concept of cloud architecture is based on, and is inextricably linked to, the cloud native approach. In order to understand cloud architecture, you should first get to know the principles of cloud native. Cloud native is structuring teams, culture and technology to utilise automation and architectures to manage complexity and unlock velocity. All of this is supposed to increase the performance of both the people associated with IT projects and the technology itself.

Cloud native solutions encompass:

Containers
Microservices
Service mesh
Immutable
infrastructure
Declarative APIs

When using cloud solutions and developing architecture, you should take into account the perspective of the end user, the application owner, and the entire industry. Focusing on customer satisfaction is what connects all these points. Technology has ceased to be most important in IT projects. It is crucial to meet the needs of the target customers from whom we earn.

What is cloud architecture?

Cloud architecture is a method of integrating multiple technologies to create a coherent infrastructure and IT system in the cloud, which then provides an optimum platform for developing, managing, providing access and scaling applications.

Cloud architecture is a specific project and plan of the essential cloud resources (and the connections between them) aimed at obtaining innovative technological solutions. The cloud services each have their unique cloud architectures, just like various car models have their unique construction plans.

02
MAIN PRINCIPLES

The main cloud architecture principles

Cloud architecture and the cloud native approach used in software development are among the key success factors in the competitive digitalised market. In the current business environment, those companies that make it big are able to deliver to their recipients or customers positive experiences at all points of contact between the consumer and the brand. Planning, building, implementing and developing native applications should be based on solid foundations.

Cloud architecture and the cloud native approach used in software development are among the key success factors in the competitive digitalised market. In the current business environment, those companies that make it big are able to deliver to their recipients or customers positive experiences at all points of contact between the consumer and the brand. Planning, building, implementing and developing native applications should be based on solid foundations.

Responsiveness

Indicates how efficiently the system responds to customer expectations and market changes. Responsiveness can also be understood as the ability to quickly adapt software to changes, not only here and now, but also in the future. The cloud native approach enables creating future proof applications that are considerably easier to scale than in other traditional approaches.

Lack of disruption to operation

Disruptions have a negative influence on the application itself and the company reputation. Bad user experiences translate into bad marketing. PR connected with system reliability is significant for business, particularly when it comes to advanced systems associated for example with payments. Even for smaller companies, an appropriate cloud architecture is an insurance policy for the future and a guarantee of smooth scaling.

Building relationships through technology

Security, privacy and accessibility impact the maintenance of positive relationships with individual and business customers. Building relationships through technology is an exceptionally sensitive mechanism, requiring not only specialised IT knowledge, but also highly developed soft competences, even in technical team members. What is more, the responsibility for relationships can be shared between the various organisation departments, and also between totally different companies that apparently have nothing in common.

Cost control

The cloud native approach is not about spending more, but about spending in a more reasonable way. The cloud allows for precise control of expenses for services and systems. This is completely different than in the case of local infrastructure, where scaling requires buying new servers, licenses etc. With a properly configured cloud, a system can independently evaluate the current needs of particular components of the system, reserve the required number of instances, and appropriately distribute computing power to make this software work smoothly and efficiently. In this way, an owner of an application or database in the cloud pays for just the computing power actually used.

Responsiveness

Indicates how efficiently the system responds to customer expectations and market changes. Responsiveness can also be understood as the ability to quickly adapt software to changes, not only here and now, but also in the future. The cloud native approach enables creating future proof applications that are considerably easier to scale than in other traditional approaches.

Lack of disruption to operation

Disruptions have a negative influence on the application itself and the company reputation. Bad user experiences translate into bad marketing. PR connected with system reliability is significant for business, particularly when it comes to advanced systems associated for example with payments. Even for smaller companies, an appropriate cloud architecture is an insurance policy for the future and a guarantee of smooth scaling.

Building relationships through technology

Security, privacy and accessibility impact the maintenance of positive relationships with individual and business customers. Building relationships through technology is an exceptionally sensitive mechanism, requiring not only specialised IT knowledge, but also highly developed soft competences, even in technical team members. What is more, the responsibility for relationships can be shared between the various organisation departments, and also between totally different companies that apparently have nothing in common.

Cost control

The cloud native approach is not about spending more, but about spending in a more reasonable way. The cloud allows for precise control of expenses for services and systems. This is completely different than in the case of local infrastructure, where scaling requires buying new servers, licenses etc. With a properly configured cloud, a system can independently evaluate the current needs of particular components of the system, reserve the required number of instances, and appropriately distribute computing power to make this software work smoothly and efficiently. In this way, an owner of an application or database in the cloud pays for just the computing power actually used.

03
SOFTWARE IN CLOUD ARCHITECTURE

Software in cloud architecture

Modern software in cloud architecture needs to have certain added value for a customer. Appropriate code syntax is not sufficient since a digital product compliant with the cloud native approach has to respond to the business requirements of the owners and to the needs of end users. Software needs to be flexible in terms of its abilities to implement future changes.

Nowadays developers should not be afraid of changes. This is the only way to create easily editable software that your business needs (and will need). In order to achieve this, the following issues are essential at all levels of software development:

The best
framework
Precisely planned
cloud architecture
Implementation and
development of the
cloud native approach
The best framework
Precisely planned cloud
architecture
Implementation and development
of the cloud native approach
04
SOFTWARE PATTERNS

The software development patterns in cloud architecture

Cloud native occurs when every pillar of architecture uses the maximum potential of cloud services and is beneficial for business.

Cloud native occurs when every pillar of architecture uses the maximum potential of cloud services and is beneficial for business.

Microservices instead
of one monolith

Software consists of multiple smaller applications that are brought together in a relevant cloud infrastructure and operate as a whole. Monoliths are still being created, but they are old-fashioned and used for smaller applications, while flexible and easy-to-edit and scale microservices are more common in the case of larger applications.

Easy and safe
management

With the development of cloud services and architecture, service discovery has gained in importance. This concept encompasses connections and dependencies between applications and microservices, showing how customers of servers and microservices locate each other online. No application operates by itself, and needs other applications and technological solutions to work properly. The more developed or complex a digital product is, the more essential automated service discovery becomes.

Automated
operations

Process automation is of key importance for cloud native. The human factor will always be indispensable in designing and executing cloud native architecture. Automation in the cloud is aimed at preparing the system so that in the event of a critical error in the middle of the night, it will be able to perform relevant remedial actions by itself and ensure the software works without any disturbances.

Code and
application delivery

Our product is ready for cloud native architecture, thanks to software delivery and application containerisation. They provide us with a precisely planned and detailed process (pipeline), from code building and application containerisation, to transferring the code to the repository and production deployment. This can be done with just one click of the mouse. One of the most common technologies used to implement these patterns is Kubernetes.

Cloud architecture allows
for frequent changes

Tests play an extremely important function in cloud architecture. In the case of small and frequent changes, it is necessary to efficiently identify any errors and make necessary corrections. In the cloud native approach, software will not be produced until the system registers an issue. A lack of testing can result in a serious technological and image crisis for a company when crude software launches onto the market.

Infrastructure
should be fixed

Containers in software are created mainly to avoid configuration of an entire application when just a small part of the functionalities require intervention. It is sufficient to deal with a specific part and enhance its operation, or replace one container with another corrected one. In this way, the entire system works without any interruptions. To achieve this, fixed infrastructure is required. There is no space for errors here. If a virtual machine does not work or does not work properly, cloud system will automatically replace it with a running instance. Fixed infrastructure guarantees that a locally tested functionality will work in the same way after it has been implemented into all servers.

Software is monitored
and controlled

In compliance with the observation pattern, software metrics should be collected and fixed on an ongoing basis. The level of infrastructure server as well as CPU or RAM usage can be analysed. In the event of an overloaded server, such tools as Kubernetes can transfer processes to a new location. This process can be fully automated in the cloud. All these services work thanks to connections with the API. Microservices, services and applications in the cloud use specific effective methods of communication to ensure efficient operation.

Building an application
at the team level

Since cloud native applications by assumption should be customer oriented, team members are not delegated to individual tasks. As part of the cloud architecture, IT teams need to be interdisciplinary. For example, specialists at Stepwise combine multiple hard and soft competences as they are aware how their work influences activities of others, their partner’s success, the final product, and end the user’s impressions. For this reason, such methodologies as SRE and DevOps are indispensable components of a brand DNA.

Microservices instead of one monolith

Software consists of multiple smaller applications that are brought together in a relevant cloud infrastructure and operate as a whole. Monoliths are still being created, but they are old-fashioned and used for smaller applications, while flexible and easy-to-edit and scale microservices are more common in the case of larger applications.

Easy and safe management

With the development of cloud services and architecture, service discovery has gained in importance. This concept encompasses connections and dependencies between applications and microservices, showing how customers of servers and microservices locate each other online. No application operates by itself, and needs other applications and technological solutions to work properly. The more developed or complex a digital product is, the more essential automated service discovery becomes.

Automated operations

Process automation is of key importance for cloud native. The human factor will always be indispensable in designing and executing cloud native architecture. Automation in the cloud is aimed at preparing the system so that in the event of a critical error in the middle of the night, it will be able to perform relevant remedial actions by itself and ensure the software works without any disturbances.

Code and application delivery

Our product is ready for cloud native architecture, thanks to software delivery and application containerisation. They provide us with a precisely planned and detailed process (pipeline), from code building and application containerisation, to transferring the code to the repository and production deployment. This can be done with just one click of the mouse. One of the most common technologies used to implement these patterns is Kubernetes.

Cloud architecture allows for frequent changes

Tests play an extremely important function in cloud architecture. In the case of small and frequent changes, it is necessary to efficiently identify any errors and make necessary corrections. In the cloud native approach, software will not be produced until the system registers an issue. A lack of testing can result in a serious technological and image crisis for a company when crude software launches onto the market.

Infrastructure should be fixed

Containers in software are created mainly to avoid configuration of an entire application when just a small part of the functionalities require intervention. It is sufficient to deal with a specific part and enhance its operation, or replace one container with another corrected one. In this way, the entire system works without any interruptions. To achieve this, fixed infrastructure is required. There is no space for errors here. If a virtual machine does not work or does not work properly, cloud system will automatically replace it with a running instance. Fixed infrastructure guarantees that a locally tested functionality will work in the same way after it has been implemented into all servers.

Software is monitored and controlled

In compliance with the observation pattern, software metrics should be collected and fixed on an ongoing basis. The level of infrastructure server as well as CPU or RAM usage can be analysed. In the event of an overloaded server, such tools as Kubernetes can transfer processes to a new location. This process can be fully automated in the cloud. All these services work thanks to connections with the API. Microservices, services and applications in the cloud use specific effective methods of communication to ensure efficient operation.

Building an application at the team level

Since cloud native applications by assumption should be customer oriented, team members are not delegated to individual tasks. As part of the cloud architecture, IT teams need to be interdisciplinary. For example, specialists at Stepwise combine multiple hard and soft competences as they are aware how their work influences activities of others, their partner’s success, the final product, and end the user’s impressions. For this reason, such methodologies as SRE and DevOps are indispensable components of a brand DNA.

How do we treat cloud architecture at Stepwise?

We carefully track the development of cloud services worldwide and create IT projects in compliance with the best practices in the market. We derive knowledge and inspirations from the most reliable and proven sources, e.g. the CNFC Foundation – the largest medium associated with cloud native technologies. We are not afraid of using MVP methodologies in designing, PoC and conducting tests. Contact us we are always easy to talk to!