System architecture overview showing component interactions
Purpose
- Component identification → Major system building blocks
- Data flow → How information moves between components
- Integration points → External systems and APIs
- Technology stack → Frameworks, databases, tools
Key Components
1. Presentation Layer
- Web UI: React, Angular, Vue.js
- Mobile Apps: iOS, Android
- API Gateway: Single entry point for all requests
2. Application Layer
- Load Balancer: Nginx, HAProxy, AWS ALB
- App Servers: Node.js, Java Spring, Python Django
- Microservices: Independent, loosely coupled services
3. Data Layer
- Databases: SQL (PostgreSQL) / NoSQL (MongoDB)
- Cache: Redis, Memcached
- Message Queues: Kafka, RabbitMQ
- File Storage: AWS S3, CDN
4. Infrastructure
- Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK
- Security: WAF, SSL/TLS, Authentication
- Deployment: Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD
Diagram Example
[Users] → [Load Balancer] → [API Gateway] → [Microservices]
↓
[CDN] ← [File Storage] ← [Cache] ← [Database]
Design Patterns
- Circuit Breaker: Prevent cascade failures
- Bulkhead: Isolate critical resources
- Saga: Distributed transaction management
- CQRS: Command Query Responsibility Segregation
Blueprint Analogy
Like a house blueprint showing:
- Room layout (components)
- Electrical wiring (data flow)
- Plumbing (connections)
- Foundation (infrastructure)