The Twelve Factor App Methodology for SaaS: 2024 Update

To build a perfect AWS architecture for your Laravel application, you must incorporate the best practices. Like the Twelve Factor app methodology, which helps design applications with a stateless approach and decoupling service components.

I’m sure you are already adopting many of these principles. However, in this blog, I will cover only the relevance to the AWS Laravel architecture and AWS Auto Scaling to maximize infrastructure robustness with the 12-factor app.

If you are a developer building, deploying, or managing a SaaS application, then this blog post is for you.

Table of contents

• Twelve Factor App Use Cases for SaaS
• Twelve Factor App Principles
• Twelve Factor App Conclusion
• Twelve Factor App FAQs

You might also be interested in Multitenant Architecture SaaS Application on AWS and Single Tenant vs Multi Tenant SaaS Architecture.

Twelve Factor App Use Cases for SaaS

First of all, the 12 Factor App is a methodology for building Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps that:

• Use declarative formats for setup automation.
• Have a clean contract.
• Are suitable for deployment on Cloud Platforms.
• Enable continuous deployment for maximum agility.
• Can scale up without significant changes

Twelve Factor App Principles

Here are some key principles of the Twelve Factor App Methodology that can help you to implement it better.

1. Application Configuration Files

It should be outside of the codebase, and these configuration files are replaced with environment variables. i.e., Db connections, secrets, environment, hosts, IP, etc.

2. Application Dependencies

Shouldn’t be in your codebase. Instead, you should use a dependency management tool to declare your large dependencies and libraries required from the server. i.e., Gemfile, site-packages, pom.xml, manifests, etc.

3. Use a Control Versioning System

It is essential to use a Version Control System to manage and track changes in your app’s source code. This benefits the integrity and scalability of your software, so it is an important principle to follow. For example, by integrating Git or AWS CodeCommit.

4. Stateless Applications and Processes

According to the 12 Factor app methodology, it’s crucial that your application doesn’t store any data in the local file system or is dependable from a persistent state in the application or server. In other words, the application/server can be turned off and recreated without losing any data. Only persistent data is stored in databases or backend services.

“In case of application failure, splitting components as much as possible and making them undependable to others will result in an easy analysis and isolated issue.”

5. Immutable Infrastructure

Instances shouldn’t be modified after provisioning, and there should be a standard base image (AWS AMI), which is regularly updated and patched. As a result, you’ll get an AWS auto-scaling working smoothly, with fewer deployment failures and consistent infrastructure.

6. Dev, Test, and Production Parity

It’s crucial that these environments should be as similar as possible regarding software, libraries, database, data, and code. Furthermore, it’s possible to close the gap across all environments with the hand of a CVS, repeatable infrastructure, and continuous integration/delivery (CI/CD).

7. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

As the app grows, you must implement a mechanism to release code to your different instances and enterprise environments. It is essential to design a continuous delivery workflow to improve development productivity when having scalability, multiple environments, and a distributed architecture. This process gets easier thanks to modern technologies and CI/CD tools.

Take a look at our slideshow for an overview of what you need to know about the twelve-factor app.

Twelve Factor App Conclusion

The implementation of the Twelve Factor App methodology is the right option to solve systemic problems in apps. Plus, it provides a shared vocabulary and a set of broad conceptual solutions for them. These architectural principles are part of the DevOps strategy, which is a set of practices that organizations are incorporating to increase their success.

At ClickIT, our DevOps and Software Development team is ready to build and improve cloud applications. We incorporate modern technologies and follow the best practices like the Twelve Factor App Methodology. So don’t hesitate to contact us to be part of this digital transformation.

Twelve Factor App FAQs