Capstone Project: Architecting a Cloud-Native Platform
Project Overview
In this capstone, you will act as a Lead Cloud Architect for a rapidly growing startup. The startup’s current monolithic application is failing under load, and you must design a new, cloud-native architecture.
Requirements
Business Requirements
- High Availability: The application must have an uptime of 99.99%.
- Disaster Recovery: RPO of 1 hour, RTO of 4 hours.
- Global Reach: The application serves users globally, with low latency required for media assets.
Technical Requirements
- Utilize microservices where appropriate.
- Use managed services (PaaS/SaaS) to reduce operational overhead.
- Design for stateless application tiers to enable horizontal auto-scaling.
Deliverables
- Architecture Diagram: A visual representation of your proposed solution (using Draw.io, Lucidchart, or Mermaid).
- Design Document: A detailed explanation of your choices, including compute, networking, storage, and database selections.
- DR Strategy: A breakdown of how you will meet the RTO and RPO requirements.
Evaluation Criteria
- Scalability: Can the architecture handle a 10x traffic spike?
- Resiliency: Are there any single points of failure?
- Cost-Effectiveness: Are you using the right pricing models and instance types?