Distributed Architecture

Distributed architectures consist of multiple deployment units that work together to perform some sort of cohe sive business function.

Pros:

• Scalability
• Elasticity
• Fault Tolerance
• Agility
• In some cases, Performance

Cons:

• Fallacies of Distributed Computing
• Much more complex than monolithic deployments:
  • Distributed transactions
  • Eventual consistency
  • Workflow management
  • Error handling
  • Data synchronization
  • Contract management
• Higher Cost

Scalability at Service-level. Mean time to recovery and Mean time to start measured in seconds or milliseconds.

High Fault Tolerance. Even if a fatal service error occurs on one service, the rest of the services continue to work as normal.

Highly agile, because application functionality is divided into separately deployed units of software:

• It is easier to locate and apply a change
• The testing scope is reduced to only the service that is impacted
• Deployment risk is significantly reduced because only the service impacted is typically deployed

Examples of Distributed Architecture:

• Event-driven Architecture
• Microservices Architecture
• Service-based Architecture
• Service-oriented Architecture
• Space-based Architecture