1. What is the difference between client-server architecture and peer-to-peer architecture?

Client-server architecture involves a central server that provides services to multiple clients, while peer-to-peer architecture allows all nodes to function as both clients and servers, sharing resources and data without a central server.

2. Define the layered architecture.

Layered architecture is an architectural pattern where components are organized in layers, with each layer performing a specific function and relying on the layer below it for support.

3. Explain the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture.

MVC is a software design pattern that separates an application into three main components: the Model (data and business logic), the View (user interface), and the Controller (mediates between the Model and View).

4. What is the difference between microservices and monolithic architecture?

Monolithic architecture is a traditional approach where a single application is built as a single unit, while microservices architecture divides an application into smaller, loosely coupled services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently.

5. How does the REST (Representational State Transfer) architecture work?

REST is an architectural style that utilizes HTTP protocols and standard CRUD operations for communication between client and server. It follows the principles of statelessness, scalability, and separation of concerns.

6. What is the purpose of the Singleton design pattern in architecture?

The Singleton design pattern ensures that only one instance of a class is created and provides a global point of access to it. It is useful when only one instance of a class should be available throughout the application.

7. Describe the concept of caching in architectural design.

Caching involves storing frequently accessed data in a temporary storage (cache) to improve system performance and reduce the load on the primary data source. It helps reduce network latency and improves response times.

8. What is the role of load balancing in architecture?

Load balancing is the process of distributing network traffic across multiple servers or resources to ensure efficient utilization and prevent overloading of a particular server. It improves reliability, scalability, and performance.

9. What is the purpose of an application server in architecture?

An application server is responsible for executing business logic and providing services to client applications. It manages the middle-tier components, such as security, transaction management, and connection pooling.

10. What is the difference between horizontal and vertical scaling?

Horizontal scaling refers to adding more machines or servers to distribute the load, while vertical scaling means increasing the resources (such as CPU or memory) on a single machine.

11. Explain the concept of fault tolerance in architecture.

Fault tolerance ensures that a system can continue to operate in the event of failures or faults. It involves redundancy, backup systems, and error handling mechanisms to minimize the impact of failures and maintain system availability.

12. What is the purpose of a message queue in architectural design?

A message queue is used to enable asynchronous communication between different components or services. It decouples components and allows them to communicate and process messages independently without blocking.

13. What is the difference between a web server and an application server?

A web server handles HTTP requests and serves static content, while an application server executes business logic, processes dynamic content, and supports additional protocols beyond HTTP.

14. Explain the concept of event-driven architecture.

Event-driven architecture focuses on the production, detection, consumption, and reaction to events. It involves loosely coupled components that communicate through events, allowing for flexibility and scalability.

15. What is the role of a database in architecture?

A database stores and manages structured data, providing data persistence and retrieval. It is essential for many applications to store and retrieve data efficiently.

16. Define the concept of scalability in architecture.

Scalability refers to the ability of a system or application to handle increasing workloads by adding resources or expanding capacity. It ensures that the system can maintain performance and reliability as the load grows.

17. Explain the concept of a stateless architecture.

In a stateless architecture, the server does not store any client-related data or session information. Each request is treated independently, and the server does not rely on any previous states or interactions.

18. What is the purpose of an API (Application Programming Interface) in architecture?

An API defines a set of rules and protocols to allow different software applications to communicate and interact with each other. It enables components or services to be integrated and accessed programmatically.

19. Describe the concept of a container in architectural design.

A container is a standardized unit of software that packages code and its dependencies for easy deployment and scalability. It provides isolation, portability, and consistent execution environments.

20. How does the event sourcing pattern work in architectural design?

Event sourcing is a pattern where system state changes are captured as a sequence of events. Instead of storing the current state, the system can be reconstructed at any point by replaying the events. It provides an audit trail and supports scalability.

1. What is the concept of microservices architecture?
Microservices architecture is an architectural style that structures an application as a collection of small, loosely coupled services. Each service is built around specific business capabilities and can be independently deployed and scaled.

2. Can you explain the difference between horizontal and vertical scaling?
Horizontal scaling involves adding more machines to distribute the load, while vertical scaling involves adding more resources (CPU, RAM) to an existing machine. Horizontal scaling is often considered more scalable and fault-tolerant.

3. What is the role of load balancing in a distributed architecture?
Load balancing is used to distribute incoming network traffic across multiple servers to achieve optimal resource utilization, increase reliability, and facilitate scalability.

4. What are the advantages of containerization in architecture design?
Containerization provides a lightweight, isolated environment for running applications. It enables faster deployment, scalability, portability, and consistency across different environments.

5. How does the event-driven architecture work?
Event-driven architecture is a design pattern where components communicate through events. This means that a component sends an event, and other components react to that event asynchronously. It allows for loose coupling and improved scalability.

6. What is the role of an API gateway in the architecture?
An API gateway acts as a single entry point for all client requests, providing a consolidated view of multiple microservices. It handles authentication, routing, rate limiting, and can perform additional tasks, such as request/response transformation.

7. What is a service mesh?
A service mesh is a dedicated infrastructure layer that handles service-to-service communication in a microservices architecture. It provides features like traffic management, security, observability, and service discovery.

8. How does the CAP theorem relate to distributed system architecture?
The CAP theorem states that it is impossible for a distributed system to simultaneously provide consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. In a distributed architecture, architects need to make trade-offs between these three properties.

9. Explain the concept of fault tolerance in distributed systems.
Fault tolerance refers to a system’s ability to continue operating despite the failure of one or multiple components. It involves redundancy, error detection, and recovery mechanisms to ensure system resilience.

10. What is the role of a message broker in an event-driven architecture?
A message broker acts as an intermediary between event producers and consumers, enabling asynchronous communication. It ensures reliable delivery, decouples components, and allows for scalability.

11. What is the difference between monolithic and microservices architecture?
Monolithic architecture consists of a single, tightly coupled application, while microservices architecture divides the application into small, independent services. Microservices allow for flexibility, scalability, and easier maintenance.

12. How does serverless architecture work?
Serverless architecture allows developers to build and run applications without the need to manage servers or infrastructure. Applications are composed of small, event-triggered functions that run in serverless compute platforms.

13. What is the role of caching in distributed systems?
Caching is used to store frequently accessed data in a fast, accessible location to reduce the load on the backend services. It improves performance, reduces latency, and enhances scalability.

14. What is a content delivery network (CDN)?
A content delivery network is a geographically distributed network of servers that caches and delivers static and dynamic content to users based on their geographic location. It improves performance by reducing latency and decreasing server load.

15. How does a distributed database differ from a traditional centralized database?
Distributed databases store data across multiple nodes, often geographically distributed, to improve availability, scalability, and fault tolerance. Centralized databases keep all data in a single location and may have limitations in terms of scalability and fault tolerance.

16. Explain the role of orchestration and choreography in an architecture.
Orchestration refers to a centralized control mechanism that coordinates the interactions between services. Choreography, on the other hand, relies on the services themselves to communicate and interact in a decentralized manner.

17. What are the key considerations for designing a highly available architecture?
Some key considerations for designing a highly available architecture include redundancy, fault tolerance, load balancing, efficient error handling, and automated failover mechanisms.

18. How does a service-oriented architecture (SOA) differ from microservices architecture?
SOA is a broader architectural style that focuses on defining services as reusable components that can be accessed over a network. Microservices architecture is a specific implementation of SOA that emphasizes small, independent services.

19. What are some common challenges in implementing a distributed architecture?
Common challenges in implementing a distributed architecture include data consistency, communication between services, inter-service dependencies, network latency, security, and monitoring.

20. How does event sourcing differ from traditional data storage?
Event sourcing stores the state of an application as a sequence of events, allowing for auditability, traceability, and easy recovery in case of failures. Traditional data storage typically stores the current state of an application.