02Nov 2018

The Architecture of Web Application

Components, models and everything that constitutes the architecture of web applications. Unlike the traditional days, there are a number of changes taking place within the vast and wide network of the web. There had been days when you were forced to keep staring at your screen without providing any inputs that would produce some kind of an output within the web. And now, as we can see changes are happening – with the internet finding direct ways to engage with the users actively 24/7*365 – all through the awesome web apps.

Slowly, looks like the traditional websites are being replaced by apps – which has led to generate an interest in developers to improvise their skills with designing apps – as it is one of the best promotional tactics marketing side has found for their businesses to sell. It would help in attracting and engaging more number of users – sometimes, more than websites can.

So in this article, we will take you across some of those critical components and models of web application architecture that you need to keep an eye out for.

Let us First Take a Look at the Components

Firstly, it is important that you have a clear idea of what the architecture of web application is. To speak of a definition, vaguely, we would define web application architecture as a configuration that handles the interface or collaboration among the various web application entities. When we say interface, there are a lot of aspects that would come into the bigger picture, including notifications, statistics, activity logs, settings, dashboards, which comprise the UI or UX components of any web application.

This merely focuses on the layout plan of your interface, rather than the web application’s architecture. So the only true main components that we should bother about right now are the client side and server side of any web applications. As you might be well aware, a client-side component represents that functionality of a web app, which directly interacts with the users and takes care of all the interactions between the app and the user. It resides within the web browser of the user – and can be deal without the need of any interferences from the device or operating systems – this is usually HTML, CSS, and JavaScript controlling what the user sees and interacts with.

Now, let us take a look at the server side – it might comprise of a lot of components – through the database, main control center, and app logic are what matter the most. It usually needs an enhanced experience in .NET, Ruby on Rails, PHP, Python or Node.js.

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Let us take a Look at the Various Models of these Web App Components

When you design the components of a web app – it is essential that you make sure that the collaboration of these components would fuel the engine such that the web application would operate perfectly while incorporating each requirement of your business with no hassles interfering with the process.

Here we Bring you the Different Models that Serve Different Business Purposes:

1. Single Web Server

architecture of webapllication

This comes with a database – in fact, this model is considered to be simple as well as challenging. We say that it is challenging because it comes with a single database, which is part of the app’s single server.

So in any case, if the server loses it, your web app also fails. This could not be an ideal choice for big projects – except when you are using it for a test purpose. It would be great if you could choose some other model if you are planning to release your project is to go live.

2. Multiple Web Servers – Stateless Architecture

So here, as the name suggests, you have more than one web server – but when it comes to the database, there is only one. The main point is the web servers are being scaled horizontally – so for this to process or execute, you need to ensure that your database is running from a separate computer. It is best to avoid using web servers for this purpose. Here the web server is not responsible for storing any data, including the data the client-side sends.

The process is simple – rather than storing any data, the web server would process it and write the data to the database and then erase it from its memory. This is why it is often referred to as stateless architecture.

So when you have multiple web servers, you are getting rid of any failures that might happen. The idea is to serve without failure – when there are more than one servers, even though one will go down, another will fill up space instantly. Here you will find a way to keep the web app alive and running – because in case if one server fails, the request will be instantly and automatically redirected to the next available server. This is also a secure way to run a database, which happens to be well protected when executed from a separate server.

But remember in case your database happens to crash, it will take the system with it, sadly.

Multiple web servers – accompanied by multiple databases

Now, that sounds interesting and better. Ain’t it?

More than two web servers and more than two databases – what do you think?

As we discussed, if you choose this model – you have plenty of options – more than two web servers and multiple databases. What more do you need?

So here with the two databases, both of them are storing similar or the same data and all this data is consistently distributed between these. So when you want to store data – two databases will suffice the requirement – because in case, one of the databases happens to crash – you can use the other as a substitute. So now, this is the best way you can stop from unwanted things from happening on both server and database sides. In the second one, you have data replication or duplication not happening, which means if it crashes – some of the data would become unavailable for a while (temporarily).

This is the best model to date though it might have a few drawbacks. But when compared with the other two models, this should be a better choice. When the number of web servers and databases happen to increase (if it exceeds more than five), you can install load balancers to help maintain a balance. With these load balancers, all incoming requests would be accurately monitored and managed, and directed to the appropriate database to ensure that there is no overload happening.

Now, let us take a look at the various types of web application architecture

The best web app emerges when all the various components of web applications come together and do what the end user expects. On the basis of how this app logic is dispersed between the server and client sides, we will take you through some of the interesting types of architecture for web applications:

1- Web App Architecture that is One Page
architecture of webapllication

One of the most sophisticated types of web application architecture is this – one-page web app architecture – it allows you to download one page just once.

When it comes to the client side, the page contains a JavaScript layer, which allows you to interact freely and easily with web services on the server end, utilizing data from web servers, while allowing updates to happen in real time. Now, that is something really interesting and impressive.

2- Web App Architecture – Widget

Here, ‘web services’ is used as a replacement for the web page architecture’s logic. You will find that each page on the client side has been categorized into different entities, referred to as widgets. Whenever queries in AJAX are send to web services, these blocks of information are received by widgets in the form of HTML or JSON. This can be displayed without the need to reload the page all over again.

So when it comes to widget updates in real time, you will find that these are mobile friendly, dynamic and most preferred. Since the app logic is moderately moved to the visible side (i.e.., the client side), the web app architecture takes too long for the development process to materialize.

3- Web App Architecture – legacy HTML

When we discuss this architecture, it is important to mention that it is the first of its kind to be introduced ever – it comprises a server, which comes with a logic for web page architecture and business interaction (the interactions that happen with a client – wherein we are sending a complete HTML page). To check whether the update is happening, it is necessary that the user refresh the page entirely or get the client to raise a request for the HTML page to the server. Again, here, the entire code would be reloaded.

Now, you need not worry about the safety of the architecture as it is safe because all the related information and logic are stored on the server. It is out of the user’s reach. This is how all the different models, components and others comprise an app’s web architecture. Web apps are more common these days as websites are taking a back seat because people prefer it the more easy way than taking the difficult roads. Make sure you keep your business intact and compliant with the ever-changing consumer needs by incorporating technology that counts.

At Acodez, our team makes sure that all this is taken into account when we work to create apps for our clients’ businesses.

Acodez IT Solutions is a web design company in India, offering all kinds of related web services. We are also an SEO agency offering inbound marketing solutions at affordable prices. For more information, please contact us today.

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Jamsheer K

Jamsheer K

Jamsheer K, is the Tech Lead at Acodez. With his rich and hands-on experience in various technologies, his writing normally comes from his research and experience in mobile & web application development niche.

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