Solution Architecture Practice

Comprehensive guide to software architecture frameworks, patterns, and best practices

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Knowledge Base

Overview

The Architecture Knowledge Base is a comprehensive repository of patterns, best practices, reference architectures, and technical guidance. This living documentation helps architects and engineers make informed decisions and leverage proven solutions.

Contents

Patterns & Best Practices

Reference Architectures

Playbooks & Guides

Technology Guidance

Anti-Patterns

Case Studies

Decision Records

How to Use This Knowledge Base

Finding Information

By Category:

  • Browse sections above based on your need
  • Each section has its own index

By Search:

  • Use site search for keywords
  • Search ADRs for specific decisions
  • Search patterns for solutions to common problems

By Tag:

  • Content is tagged by domain, technology, pattern type
  • Filter by tags to find related content

Contributing

We encourage all architects to contribute:

  1. Add New Patterns
    • Document patterns you’ve successfully used
    • Use the pattern template
    • Submit via pull request
  2. Share Case Studies
    • Document interesting projects and solutions
    • Include lessons learned
    • Anonymize sensitive information
  3. Create Guides
    • Write guides for common scenarios
    • Share your expertise
    • Help others learn
  4. Update Existing Content
    • Improve clarity
    • Add examples
    • Correct outdated information

See Contributing Guidelines for details.

Pattern Categories

Microservices Patterns

  • API Gateway
  • Service Discovery
  • Circuit Breaker
  • Saga Pattern
  • Strangler Fig
  • Backends for Frontends (BFF)
  • Database per Service
  • Event Sourcing
  • CQRS

Integration Patterns

  • Request-Response
  • Publish-Subscribe
  • Message Queue
  • Event-Driven
  • Orchestration vs Choreography
  • API Composition
  • Aggregator
  • Chaining

Data Patterns

  • Database per Service
  • Shared Database
  • Event Sourcing
  • CQRS
  • Data Lake
  • Lambda Architecture
  • Kappa Architecture
  • Change Data Capture (CDC)

Cloud Patterns

  • Strangler Fig (Cloud Migration)
  • Bulkhead
  • Retry
  • Circuit Breaker
  • Throttling
  • Cache-Aside
  • Asynchronous Request-Reply
  • Auto-Scaling

Security Patterns

  • Zero Trust
  • Defense in Depth
  • Least Privilege
  • API Gateway Authentication
  • OAuth 2.0 / OIDC
  • Secret Management
  • Encryption at Rest and in Transit

See Patterns Library for complete catalog.

Reference Architecture Highlights

E-Commerce Platform

Modern, scalable e-commerce platform architecture

  • Microservices-based
  • Event-driven order processing
  • Real-time inventory
  • Personalization engine
  • Mobile-first frontend

View Full Architecture

Data Analytics Platform

Enterprise data platform for analytics and insights

  • Data lake architecture
  • Real-time and batch processing
  • Self-service analytics
  • Data governance
  • ML/AI capabilities

View Full Architecture

Microservices Platform

Internal platform for microservices development

  • Container orchestration (Kubernetes)
  • Service mesh
  • Observability stack
  • CI/CD pipelines
  • Developer portal

View Full Architecture

Technology Radar

Our technology radar tracks technologies across four quadrants:

Adopt

Technologies we recommend for broad use:

  • Languages: Python, Java, TypeScript, Go
  • Frameworks: Spring Boot, React, Node.js
  • Cloud: AWS, Azure
  • Containers: Docker, Kubernetes
  • Databases: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis
  • Messaging: Kafka, RabbitMQ

Trial

Technologies worth pursuing in projects that can handle the risk:

  • Frameworks: Quarkus, Deno
  • Databases: CockroachDB, YugabyteDB
  • Tools: Pulumi, Crossplane
  • Platforms: GCP (specific services)

Assess

Technologies to explore through POCs and research:

  • Frameworks: WebAssembly, Dapr
  • Databases: SurrealDB
  • AI/ML: Vector databases
  • Infrastructure: Serverless containers

Hold

Technologies to avoid for new projects:

  • Legacy monolithic frameworks
  • Unsupported versions
  • Technologies with no clear path forward

View Full Technology Radar

Best Practices

API Design

  • RESTful API best practices
  • GraphQL when appropriate
  • API versioning strategies
  • OpenAPI specifications
  • API security

Microservices

  • Service decomposition
  • Communication patterns
  • Data management
  • Testing strategies
  • Deployment approaches

Cloud Architecture

  • Well-Architected principles
  • Cost optimization
  • Security best practices
  • Disaster recovery
  • Multi-region strategies

Data Architecture

  • Data modeling
  • Schema design
  • Data governance
  • Data quality
  • Real-time vs batch

Security

  • Secure by design
  • Threat modeling
  • Authentication & authorization
  • Secrets management
  • Compliance

See individual guides for detailed best practices.

Learning Paths

We’ve created learning paths for common scenarios:

External Resources

Industry References

Communities

Books

  • Fundamentals of Software Architecture - Richards & Ford
  • Building Microservices - Sam Newman
  • Designing Data-Intensive Applications - Martin Kleppmann
  • Domain-Driven Design - Eric Evans
  • Cloud Native Patterns - Cornelia Davis

Conferences

  • QCon
  • O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference
  • AWS re:Invent
  • Microsoft Build
  • Google Cloud Next

Feedback & Suggestions

Help us improve the knowledge base:

  • Content Requests: What would you like to see documented?
  • Corrections: Found an error or outdated information?
  • Contributions: Have expertise to share?

Contact: solution-architecture@company.com or #architecture-kb on Slack

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