Product Design

Top Things to Know About Scalable Software Architecture

Scalable Software Architecture: A Blueprint for Growth

Share this post

 
Helius Work | Top Things to Know About Scalable Software Architecture - Top Things to Know About Scalable Software Architecture

Every business needs a cutting-edge app or software to run its operations smoothly. Be it sales, marketing, lead generation, etc., business software plays an indispensable role in handling them all. However, as the business grows, it can sometimes be challenging to use the same software. Why?

As the number of business customers increases, the need for additional resources also rises. But, the old software might not have the required processing power. While re-development is the way to counteract the issue, it can lead to software downtime. This can greatly affect business revenue and customer experience.

Enters the concept of scalable software. Scalable software is a paradigm-shifting concept that can easily solve the issue of decreasing performance and speed with an increasing user base. Now, what is scalable software, and what crucial things do you need to know about it? Let’s read ahead and learn!

What is Scalable Software?

A scalable software is a solution that can be easily scaled to adjust to the rising needs of a business. For example, when the business demands increase, such as the number of users, data volume, number of transactions, orders, etc., the processing power or storage capacity of its software needs to be boosted. This comes under scalable software development.

There are several benefits to scalable software, such as

  • Reduced downtime
  • Faster speed
  • Seamless functionality
  • Extended software lifetime
  • Better user experience and availability

Do you know!

The lack of scalable software can lead to a revenue loss of 8-28%. Moreover, employee productivity can drop by 20% when switching software.

Top Things to Know About Scalable Software

Helius Work | Top Things to Know About Scalable Software Architecture - Image Name

Now you know what scalable software is. Let’s read ahead and find out some more interesting things about it. Let’s start with the principles of scalable software architecture!

Modularity

One of the primary principles of scalable software is modularity. It is a technique that involves breaking down the software into various components. This compartmentalization of the software is super useful in horizontal scaling. Each part of the software is self-contained and has its own functionality and interface.

These parts can be developed and deployed independently. Hence, in scaling, the new module can be added to handle increased workloads easily.

Caching

Many of us have heard of cache memory. Well, guess what? It is one of the principles of scalable software. Usually, there is some data that we use on a daily basis, such as our login information. Such information is stored in the cache memory, which is the fast memory that reduces the time required to access it.

Caching is the process where all of this happens. The frequently accessed data is stored in the cache memory near the application layer. This reduces the number of access requests to the servers or backend systems. The implementation of caching mechanisms, such as Content Delivery Network, helps with scaling and performance optimization.

Loose Coupling

Loose coupling is an excellent concept that is somewhat similar to modularity. It aims to decouple a system so that making changes to one of the subsystems does not affect others. Along with the goal of eliminating dependencies among different subsystems, loose coupling also promotes independent deployment and development.

In short, it makes the system fit for scaling, resilient, and more adaptable.

Stateless Architecture

Unlike stateful architecture, requests in stateless architecture have all the information required to process them. There is no need for a previously stored server state. Therefore, it is easier to scale the system, which makes it more resilient.

In the case of multiple requests, the load can be distributed across multiple servers as they are easy to add due to horizontal scalability.

Besides these principles, there are some common patterns that are found in scalable software architecture! Here are some of them!

Microservices

Microservices are a pretty common pattern in scalable and custom solutions. The Microservices architecture defines the principles of modularity and loose coupling. In this, a large monolithic application is broken down into smaller, loosely coupled subsystems that have their dedicated functionality in the overall systems.

There are several benefits of microservices architecture, such as

  • Faster deployment and development
  • Greater agility
  • Seamless scalability
  • Fault isolation and correction

Do you know!

According to Gartner, around 74% of organizations use microservices.

Load Balancing

Load balancing is also a common pattern in scalable software. It involves distributing incoming traffic across multiple servers to prevent server overloads and ensure smooth system operations. The best thing about load balancing is that software with load balancing is easy to scale.

With horizontal scaling, new server elements can be added parallelly to balance the increasing loads. Furthermore, load balancing also ensures capacity utilization, speed, responsiveness, and availability.

Vertical Scaling

Vertical scaling is another common pattern, but it is only suitable for systems or applications that have limited requests and users. In vertical scaling, the power or capacity of the current system is enhanced by adding more storage capacity, CPU power, etc. Unlike horizontal scaling, vertical scaling has one powerful system capable of handling multiple user requests.

Hence, the concept of load balancing is not applicable here.

Helius Work | Top Things to Know About Scalable Software Architecture - Image Name

After all, the need for better practices is important for scalable software. So, here are some of the best practices for Scalable Software Architecture.

Make use of cloud computing.

One of the primary practices that must be followed is using cloud computing. When we talk about software scalability and security, cloud computing is the face of it. With cloud computing, you can get rid of all the physical infrastructure and switch to all digital space.

It enables you to purchase processing power, storage space, networking resources, etc., as required. Thereby enabling faster scalability without investing in hardware. Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure are some of the primary examples of cloud computing resources.

As per stats, around 94% of the companies use public cloud, and 86% use private cloud.

Use automated testing

When the software size and resources increase, manual testing can be time-consuming. Moreover, as multiple tests are required to ensure the intended functionality of the software, it can become more challenging.

In such a scenario, automated testing is necessary. The automated testing procedure includes scripted sequences that can be used to check for regressions or performance issues in the updated software.

Performance monitoring

In software engineering, performance monitoring is a crucial step before and after taking scalability actions. No matter if you scale software or not, performance monitoring, including network usage, memory usage, delayed responses, execution speed, etc., needs to be done on priority. It will help in comprehending the issues and how much scalability is required.

Bonus Scalable Software Architecture Practices

Besides the ones mentioned above, here are some more helpful Scalable Software Architecture Practices!

  • Focus on continuous testing and improvement.
  • Ensure optimum security of scalable software
  • Maintain proper documentation of software architecture
  • Hire a developer excelling in software development
  • Include containers and Kubernetes

Conclusion

Scalable software is a basic need for every business. No matter if you are a big brand like Swiggy, Google, or Apple or startups like Boat, Groww, etc., if you want to provide unmatched user experience to your audience, the need for software scalability is of paramount necessity. However, the catch lies in the fact that how quickly you identify the need and take action.

To handle every step seamlessly, make sure you keep the best practices, patterns, and basic principles of the scalable software in check.

Helius Work | Top Things to Know About Scalable Software Architecture - Image Name
Author:

Kavya Dave

Kavya Dave, a fresh Computer Science graduate and AI enthusiast, loves building products that solve real-life problems. With a knack for product strategy, implementation, and data analysis, she excels in creating impactful solutions. A true people person, Kavya is dedicated to making technology accessible and effective.

Need to upgrade your product but don’t have the expertise?

Connect with our experienced developers to upgrade your product experience and latest version without stretching your budget and time

Explore categories

Stay up to date​​

We’re happy to answer any questions you may have and help you determine which of our services best fit your needs.

Related articles

android-vs-ios
dynamo-vs-mongo
Attribute-dynamoDb

You're on the path to guaranteed success!

We assure you that your investment in healthcare IT solutions will lead to tangible success, whether in improving patient care, streamlining operations, or advancing technological innovation within the industry.

You're on the path to guaranteed success

We assure you that your investment in healthcare IT solutions will lead to tangible success, whether in improving patient care, streamlining operations, or advancing technological innovation within the industry