What are the best strategies for developing resilience in Web Applications with a tight budget?

By using a microservices architecture, web applications can be made more resilient on limited resources. - Divide the program into modular services to enable scalability and autonomous development. - Give fault isolation top priority so that the system can continue to run even if some services stop working. - Use affordable cloud services to achieve dependability and scalability. - To effectively handle problems, put automatic monitoring and recovery procedures in place. >> In spite of financial limitations, this strategy guarantees a robust web application, improves scalability, and maximize resource utilization.

That’s totally an organizational issue to decide on what’s to be decoupled as a microservice or not. Even, today’s mediocracy in software engineering occurs because of accepting bulk pre-assumed architectural choices. There are teams with 3 people managing a modular monolith, which is totally fine, means you would not need a microservices architecture which comes with its own burden to maintain and keep the sustainability. So please decide on how your organizational needs look like, then provide a tech vision based on top of the decision. Nothing less, nothing more.

Microservices and most other things in the framing here are not necessary at all. They can be useful at different scales so it all depends by what you mean by a tight budget. In general I always think the best advice is build: - sympathetic to iteration, so that you can adapt over time - fast restart times The second is the most important: plan for sudden switch offs. That means caches that slowly warm or no caches at all - which means fast dependencies to things like databases. Also own the databases? then you better make sure you design the simplest/cheapest resilience. Too few characters to explain more about that. :-)

Possible pointers to keep in mind: - microservices, monorepo or micro frontend which helps achieve modularity - indepdent build, test cycle for individual component of an application and it should be part of CI/CD - error handling & monitoring of all component for better understanding the issues and overcome the same quickly - Taking things like caching, minification of assets, environment based deployment - Testing the app in terms of performance and security in timely manner - Take feedback from users, customers which helps in improvment Conclusion: All points are key aspects while creating skeleton of an application so it should be planned in the initial phase itself.

The benefit of microservices is their ability to be shared across business units, saving money by avoiding duplication of functionality. - Microservices improve scalability by allowing independent scaling of individual services. Microservices development is not limited to a single language or technology, making it easier to find the necessary skills. For example, one microservice can be written in a Java framework while another is written in a C# framework, and these two microservices can communicate seamlessly.

Fault tolerance and graceful degradation are not one-time efforts but ongoing processes. Continuously adapt and improve your resilience strategies based on experiences and the evolving landscape of threats and vulnerabilities.

Fault tolerance is a hardware requirement. Fault tolerant systems can continue to operate even if a hardware component, such as a disk drive, fails. This is typically accomplished through the use of redundant components, such as a mirror disk. Graceful degradation occurs when your software (most notably web pages) continues to function even when its host software (such as a web browser) lacks all of the features it requires. It will degrade gracefully and present a simplified version that is still functional.

Understanding the domain and aligning application/platform architecture with infrastructure is critical. Avoid overly complex designs. Prioritize resilience in the solution, selecting the most suitable approach. Divide the solution into independent units capable of scaling for future needs, often achieved through microservices. However, thorough assessment is crucial. Simultaneously, match this solution with infrastructure requirements to handle major or extreme scenarios from the outset. Forecast all possible scenarios accurately. Develop a comprehensive checklist and rigorously test the design against it. Once these foundational elements are secure, proceed with subsequent steps. Evaluate the content and revise as needed.

Resilience in Web Applications should be continuous activity. I would like to suggest few points to keep in mind for this: 1. Writing test cases around critical features. And if possible, add the requirement of running test cases in build process so that any failed cases may avoid the faulty code to be pushed to upcoming releases. 2. Handling unwanted errors and exceptions and logging them properly. 3. Avoid exposing data like internal keys stored/ used in DB and variables used in authentications across various requests in application. 4. Creating automated Alerts and notifications to technical team or key persons on some special events or failures.

Both fault tolerance and graceful degradation is not after thought items, you have to take those things in consideration up-front and in todays world fault tolerance without a cloud hosted solution is a difficult thing to find

Continuous integration (CI) validates all stages of the development process while optimizing code release cycles through automation capabilities. This, in turn, reduces the likelihood of lengthy feature development cycles and related issues like merge conflicts. Continuous deployment (CD) focuses on getting a bundled artifact into a production environment as quickly as possible. It automates the entire distribution process, including deployment.

Continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) is a set of practices that enable software development teams to deliver code changes more frequently and reliably. It involves automating the integration, testing, and deployment of code changes, which helps to identify and address issues early in the development process, leading to better collaboration and code quality. CI/CD offers several benefits, including faster and more reliable software delivery, improved collaboration and code quality, and reduced risk of errors and downtime.

CI/CD becomes complete when incorporating security into it. This reduces a lot of rework after discovering vulnerabilities. Adding static code analysis and software composition analysis are vital tasks when moving code. These two really helps to foresee vulnerabilities and halt deployment as needed

Adopting continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) is a critical strategy for enhancing the resilience of web application by increasing its adaptability. The automation of the CI/CD process can significantly enhance the quality and security of any application, leading to quicker and more frequent delivery of features and updates. This not only helps to address user needs promptly but also enables faster bug fixes. Additionally, the streamlined CI/CD process eliminates manual tasks and errors, which reduces costs and fosters faster feedback loops for continuous improvement.

CI/CD is great, but you need to have someone highly skilled build this depending on your operational needs. In your first 2 weeks of development, you need to deploy automatically into at least a dev environment. There are very complex scenarios you will read about online from people trying to advance their careers at the FAANGS. Pay them no mind. Steps to ruthless execution: - Deploy every 2 weeks - Developer runs the smoke test - Product Owner - Feature test Do this as long as you can until bugs creep in. Then, slow down and do a full regression test with the team. Remember, manual testing over automation when you have a lean budget. Automated test require code and code requires maintenance!

Web application monitoring solutions are rapidly becoming an important component of application security. For a wide range of business-critical tasks, organizations are increasingly relying on web and mobile applications. However, these apps are not typically designed for maximum security. Accelerated development cycles increase the likelihood of design and coding errors in web applications being overlooked, and many apps are built with hybrid code from multiple sources with little visibility into which components may be vulnerable. Web application monitoring tools can help improve security by detecting flaws before attackers do.

When implementing complex data integrations involving data transformation, it is important to break the process into more discreet, easily observed and easily tested steps. For file-based processes this can be achieved by having separate transform steps that each produce a new version of a file. This allows one to build & test each step with a simple file in/out workflow. Having smaller chunks of work can aid in optimization by observing step runtime patterns. For API-based interactions, visibility of the request and response bodies is critical. Additionally, it is important to have the ability to report on the response time of the API. This is a useful metric for ensuring the efficiency of the interface and transformation process.

In my experience in keeping WAF costs to a minimum and within budget: Keeping a close eye on your traffic and understand your vendor charges. Overages with unexpected traffic surges or unused features on your WAF can cause costs to spiral out of control. To manage this I would recommend: 1. Review your API architecture, and ensure your APIs follow the Private (not open to the public), Partner (open only to partners and vendors) and Public (open to the internet) tiering. The less traffic needed to go through the WAF saves on costs 2. Review your WAF traffic consistently. TA (threat actors) change their behaviour consistently and you need to match their activities. 3. Introduce managed friction to reduce BOT attacks

One of the key aspects of a web application is observability. 🚀 Monitoring and analyzing your web application is crucial for ensuring its performance, identifying issues, and improving the user experience. There are certain tools that I recommend for making your web application more observable: 🔍 New Relic: Application Performance Monitoring 📜 ELK Stack: Log Management 📊 Grafana: Diverse Data Sources 🐞 Sentry: Error Tracking

Yes, monitoring and analyzing a web application can be done on a tight budget by leveraging open-source tools and cloud-based services. Here are some effective strategies: Open-source Monitoring Tools: Many open-source monitoring tools, such as Nagios, Prometheus, and Grafana, provide comprehensive monitoring capabilities for web applications without incurring licensing costs. Cloud-based Monitoring Services: Cloud providers, such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, offer monitoring services with pay-as-you-go pricing models, enabling organizations to scale their monitoring capabilities as needed.

In today's digital world, web app testing is critical. As businesses rely more on their digital presence, providing a smooth, user-friendly experience on their web applications has become a critical business factor. This applies to all aspects of web testing and website testing. Web testing ensures that your applications work flawlessly regardless of the device or browser used by the user. It detects bugs and issues before users do, saving your company from potential customer dissatisfaction or loss. Website testing, on the other hand, examines your website's overall performance. Comprehensive web app testing has the added benefit of providing the opportunity to improve SEO rankings.

I've been in a similar situation before, and I found that using machine learning during the testing phase can make web applications more robust, especially when working with a limited budget. For example, using machine learning algorithms for automated testing can help detect errors more efficiently by recognizing patterns and anomalies.

In addition to testing and learning, employing 'Feature Flagging' is a valuable strategy. In my current role as a Product Manager, I am leading a product initiative that involves experimenting with enhancements to user messages during Digital Onboarding. Utilizing 'Feature Flagging' approach allows for dynamic alterations to user message text directly from the payload using the 'Control' variant. The significant advantage is the ability to make changes on the fly WITHOUT the need for a new build for the 'Test' variant.

Testing and learning from a web application involves embracing change, uncertainty, and stress in web development. By mastering the fundamentals, seeking feedback, and embracing lifelong learning, developers can build resilience in their web application careers. Strategies such as building scalable and resilient web applications, using microservices architecture, and adopting continuous integration and delivery can enhance the resilience and scalability of web applications. Continuous integration and delivery enable faster and more reliable software delivery, allowing for continuous improvement and learning from hands-on experience.

Testing is a crucial and necessary aspect of any development process, each contributing to the overall success and quality of the final product. There can be a number of steps that you can take to insure that your product is bug free. 1. Create small module that can be tested saperately. 2. Do a unit testing of each component before you deploy. 3. Create automation testing so that you can check the old component performance when you deploy the next module In summary, testing is an integral part of a development lifecycle, contributing to the creation of high-quality, reliable, and secure applications that meet user expectations and industry standards.

The latest trend in resilience involves developing a positive and proactive mindset. Embrace failure, get feedback, be adaptable, be curious, and foster collaboration. It not only builds skills but also boosts motivation and confidence, setting the tone for a resilient culture in teams and organizations.

Currently, I'm working in the Product Manager role, and from the product management point of view resilience is about adapting to change, staying user-centric by embracing feedback, effectively managing risks, fostering continuous improvement, and maintaining a long-term vision. A resilient product manager turns challenges into opportunities, ensuring the product not only survives but thrives in the ever-evolving market. Google Analytics is one of the freely available tools that provides valuable insights into how users interact with your product, helping you make data-driven decisions for improvements, if you are working on a project with insufficient budget.

It's very easy to lose track of resiliency when you're working in a fast-paced environment. But building a Fault resilience WebApp should be the mindset of your Dev team, When you're building a new App, keep this mindset from the very first line that you write.

By incorporating a few strategies into your professional life, you'll be better equipped to handle the challenges of developing web applications with resource constraints. 1) Set Realistic Goals 2) Focus on What You Can Control 3) Build a Support Network 4) Adaptability and Flexibility 5) Maintain a Long-Term Perspective 6) Seek Learning Opportunities 7) Delegate and Collaborate 8) Stay Customer-Centric

You are always capable of more, test yourself, challenge yourself and take cold showers. Build resilience in all aspects of life and life will reward you for it.

Cloud services and platforms, such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, offer various features and tools that can help you build and run resilient web applications. For example, one can use cloud services to scale their application automatically, balance the load across multiple servers, backup your data, monitor your performance, and recover from disasters. Cloud services and platforms can also reduce the operational costs and complexity, as you only pay for what you use and do not need to manage your own infrastructure.

Employ efficient coding practices, leverage open-source tools, implement proper error handling, and consider serverless architecture to optimize costs. Utilize cloud services with pay-as-you-go models to manage costs effectively based on actual usage. Regularly review and optimize your application's dependencies to ensure you're using efficient and cost-effective solutions.

Understand the factors that contribute to your cost. If my traffic doubles, what happens to my cost? If my data doubles, how does that impact my cost? I’ve seen it over and over again, people building systems and within a few months it’s not sustainable due to the high cost.

If you are on a tight budget and want to get things done well, and affordably, I would advocate for no/low code solutions in tandem with leveraging Talent (with a capital T) from lower cost development markets. I prefer LATAM due to skills, efficiency, quality and pride. Put those two together and you can really get a lot done affordably whatever the tech you’re choosing is.

Embrace the web development ecosystem by using battle-proven web development tools and frameworks. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and starting from scratch. Do pick your toolset thoughtfully though. Choose the right tool for the right job. Luckily OpenAI can give you a push into the right direction of you are in need of some advise (aside from googling). Keep things clean and simple and pay attention to separation of concerns between the components of your web application. That also counts for your backend API.