From one server to a scalable system
Learn how applications scale, one layer at a time.
Follow a request as the architecture evolves from one application server to reverse proxies, load balancers, API gateways, and edge caching.
7 sequential lessons
6 application services
1 evolving request path
The request path evolves
Client
CDN / Edge
Gateway / Load Balancer
Service 1
Service 2
Service 3
Your application services
The application is built. Now make it ready to scale.
Starting replicas and executing requests against them needs real containers, so the Service Lab lives in the Docker project rather than in this simulated build.
See the Service Lab on GitHub
User
Catalog
Inventory
Cart
Order
Payment
The request journey
Build the path. Then scale it.
Each lesson keeps what you learned and introduces one new infrastructure decision.
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01
Foundation
Hitting the service directly
Understand the simplest possible request path and its limitations.
Client → Catalog ServiceExplore lesson → -
02
Traffic control
Reverse Proxy and response caching
Hide the origin, move connection work, and serve repeated responses faster.
Client → Nginx cache → Catalog ServiceExplore lesson → -
03
Horizontal scaling
L7 Load Balancer
Distribute HTTP requests across multiple instances of the same service.
Client → L7 Load Balancer → 3 Catalog replicasExplore lesson → -
04
Service routing
API Gateway
Give clients one entry point and route each API to its owning service.
Client → API Gateway → User / Catalog / OrderExplore lesson → -
05
Hybrid architecture
Gateway + Load Balancer
Scale only the busy service while routing quieter services directly.
Gateway → L7 Load Balancer → Catalog replicasExplore lesson → -
06
High availability
Load-balanced API Gateways
Remove the gateway SPOF by distributing connections across gateway replicas.
Edge L4 LB → 2 API Gateways → ServicesExplore lesson → -
07
Content delivery
Local CDN
Serve cacheable product responses before traffic reaches the origin.
Client → CDN → Edge → Gateway → ServicesExplore lesson →
Beyond the seven-lesson path
Bonus · advanced reading
How did the request even find Silicon Lanes?
Lessons 1–7 all start once a request reaches one of our containers. This optional lesson backs up further, to the real internet: DNS, anycast, and BGP routing.