Behind the Scenes of Softimize Cloud Augmentation Platform (Part 2 of 2)
In part 1 I mainly discussed what Softimize CAP is all about. Here I'll share how Softimize CAP is built.
Deeper Dive
The CAP platform enables remote capabilities like reading the status of the remote distributed application, including its logical components and entities. It enables operating the application, automatic backup of distributed databases, exporting specific data and then analyzing it.
The CAP platform supports a customer base with different on-site versions of the ISV product. This support includes distributing software updates of the Cloud layer installed on the customer site, thus upgrading Cloud features even on older product versions. And all this, in one click of the ISV admin!
What about security? As a Cloud service, Softimize CAP is carefully designed to secure every layer (SW or HW) that is involved in transferring and storing data.
What about IT complications? As a part of the architecture, the platform uses a thin agent, inspired by Dropbox (see the diagram below), which is installed alongside the ISV application. The agent communicates with the Cloud via HTTPS, and can work on every machine that supports a browser. Thus, there's usually no need to bother the customer’s IT people in order to connect the organization to the Cloud
The diagram above shows an enterprise system where the agent is running.
The agent has a 3-phase launching mechanism (similar in principle to the build of a space rocket, come to think about it...), where phases 2 and 3 are loaded from the Cloud and thus dynamic and easily upgraded.
Phase 1, the most primitive phase, is the first to launch. The only thing it does is to find the version of the enterprise application where it's installed, and request the CAP Cloud service to get the matching phase 2.
Phase 2's function is software update. It requests the proper phase 3 agent, and is responsible for replacing it in case it was updated at the Cloud. Thus, the upgrade of the agent is done without downtime.
Phase 3 is the business logic itself. It serves as a bi-directional mediator of the enterprise system and the Cloud service. Therefore, any kind of information can move from side to side – with data stored at Amazon RDS, files directly at S3, where CloudFront is being used as an acceleration medium.
It is important to note that Softimize CAP is - as its name implies – a platform, on top of which the ISV-specific service is developed. In order for the service to be effectively useable, the main part that is developed for the ISV is its specific unique UI layer. The UI layer exposes the exact functionality of the product's augmented Cloud-service in the most intuitive and easiest way for the various end users.
About Guy: Guy Vinograd is a seasoned High-Tech executive and an expert software architect. Guy specializes in developing cloud-based SaaS products for web scale, millions of users, and soft real-time latencies. Guy is considered a leading expert of Amazon Web Services and a creator of best practices for efficient development using Java and .net in the cloud.
Guy has co-founded Softimize, the first and leading cloud software development body in Israel. At Softimize Guy is consulting and leading development of web and backend products for global tech companies.