Are you tired of creating different application code sources for each customer or tenant, wasting money, or creating multiple environments across different customers? This Enterprise SaaS Architecture in AWS is for you.
The next architecture will help unify all your customers’ environments into one unique environment and source code, which is called multi-tenant architecture.
You’ll be guided through the whole technical approach with a diagram and samples and a vital Enterprise SaaS architecture using Kubernetes, Amazon EKS, microservices, and a multi-tenancy technique, which is essential to jumpstart into the Enterprise SaaS architecture diagram world on AWS. Let’s get into it!
- What is Enterprise SaaS Architecture?
- Key Components of Enterprise SaaS Architecture on AWS
- Implementing Multi-Tenancy in Enterprise SaaS
- Tenant Management
- Best Practices for Enterprise SaaS Architecture on AWS
- Enterprise SaaS Architecture FAQs
What is Enterprise SaaS Architecture?
You will have two tenants that will be the pro for today’s architecture, and those tenants hit obviously to Route 53, which is the one to roll the domain or the subdomain in this case. Then it will hit the CloudFront CDN service, which you know it holds or clears all the static content from videos in the CSS or even a front-end application.
Going more deeply into the stream, you will hit the application load balancer, which is the latest application LB from Amazon Web Services, and this can help you to upload any HTTP requests and utilize the AWS shared services like Certificate Manager, which is the Amazon certificate manager.
Then, they’ll be routed between the two Ingress or namespaces, which will be detailed later inside the EKS cluster. This EKS cluster is a multi-tenant architecture. But, going deeply into the database, the database layer will be a single-tenant database approach.
Key Components of Enterprise SaaS Architecture on AWS
The Enterprise SaaS Architecture Network on AWS
Now, let’s talk about the SaaS Network on AWS. As you know, as a best practice, Amazon requests you to have a public subnet and a private network.
In the public subnet, you will hold the ALB, and in the private network, you will have the AKS cluster, the namespaces, and microservices, and also you will have another private Network that will call the databases.
That’s the best for creating an Enterprise SaaS architecture diagram. On the left side, you will have all the AWS shared services outside of the public and private network in the AWS cloud.
Microservices, Containers, and Docker
In this part, we will talk about the microservice architecture, which covers containers, Docker, and Amazon EKS.
You will have three microservices. In this particular case, you will have three applications in one microservice: the front-end web application, the signup, and the login. Then you will have the second microservice, which is the SaaS application per se, the whole ecosystem, and the admin dashboard, which is very common in SaaS architectures. This namespace will be mimicked to namespace two or tenant two, namespace three, four, etc.
Something very important to mention is that microservices bring many benefits, from flexibility, portability, and speed to developing software. So it’s imperative that besides adding an EKS cluster or using Amazon ECS, Fargate, or another cloud provider, you must use microservices for your development testing production and, if you are really growing use a content management system like an EKS cluster.
The web stack that we will be using for this SaaS architecture diagram will be Vue.js, and all the back-end development will be Node.js with the Express framework. Also, all the microservices will be updated from the ECR, the container repository system from Amazon.
Lastly, the login will interact with Cognito. When you log in, instead of creating your own login, you can integrate. You need a small application and integrate it with Amazon Cognito, and this will bring some benefits when you are developing software. So that’s a good practice as well.
Amazon ECS vs EKS: Read the full comparison to choose the best container service.
Implementing Multi-Tenancy in Enterprise SaaS
Application Layer Multi-Tenancy
You have tenants one and two in this enterprise SaaS architecture; every tenant will go to the Nginx ingress controller and the ingress controller two. Remember that every Namespace should have its own Nginx controller.
Now, how is this environment isolated?
Well, that’s why you have to configure the namespaces one, two, and three in Kubernetes, which are the ecosystems to isolate different tenants. These, with a hand of the IAM roles, the port security, and some other security roles, will help you have a silo model, which that’s the common label from Amazon Web Services, having an isolated environment per each tenant or namespace.
Amazon Web Service has released an LB controller service, which will replace the Nginx controller. But there is an LB controller, which will be under replacement from the Nginx ingress controller.
But this is a little complex. If you require DevOps assistance, you can reach out to us, and we will help you with a dedicated DevOps Engineer in this particular case or with all your SaaS architecture diagram and DevOps practices.
Database Layer Multi-Tenancy
There won’t be a multi-tenancy. In this case, we use a single tenancy for PostgreSQL tenant one and PostgreSQL tenant two. These Postgres are inside an Amazon RDS, and every database is an isolated database called Amazon RDS, which has the Postgres SQL engine. This is important to mention because sensitive data can be left inside or in a single database.
So, imagine that again, tenant one accesses important data from tenant two, and that can compromise security regulations. That’s why the database or the data is very important, and we have to divide it per each database. There are some cons, obviously, more costs and more database management, but it’s really required on this setup, and more so if you’re a Fintech, banking, or security system, you probably need to use a single multi-sensory approach in the database layer.
As an alternative, you could use it for every tenant or, let’s say, a tenant ID. You could use the same database per schema, per table, or even if you want to create a single user table and identify with a tenant ID, that’s very common.
I see a lot of MVPs, startups, or big SaaS that need to modernize their tenancy. They usually use the same table to find a tenant ID, which probably isn’t a problem if it’s a normal small or medium SaaS. But once you move your enterprise, you really need to take care of your data.
Tenant Management
Creating New Tenants
This requires a lot of DevOps expertise to orchestrate new tenants in your enterprise saas architecture. For the next steps, you will need CodePipeline, Amazon Code Build, and Amazon CloudFormation to create new tenants, and usually, it starts with some scripting using those DevOps tools or tenant deployment tools.
- Create the new subdomain for tenant two from tenant three using Route 53.
- Create some entries in the LB because there will be a new tenant.
- Get a new namespace, namespace three, with the pertinent routes to the microservices. The microservices need to be updated from the ECR. There will be a new tenant and new microservices, and you’ll also need to update the EKS cluster.
Tenant Isolation and Resource Allocation
After setting up the application layer, you will need to provision an RDS environment for tenant-specific namespaces. For instance, in the case of tenant three, you can deploy Amazon RDS with either MySQL or Postgres, ensuring that each tenant has its own isolated database.
Additionally, don’t forget to configure the appropriate domain for the new tenant. This might involve adding a new SSL certificate, and for streamlining this process, you can leverage Python scripting.
Alternatively, you could automate these tasks by using a RESTful API. Tools like Amazon API Gateway, Lambda, and languages such as Python or Node.js can help manage tenant-specific resources efficiently.
Best Practices for Enterprise SaaS Architecture on AWS
When implementing an Enterprise SaaS architecture, it’s crucial to follow a set of best practices to ensure scalability, security, and efficiency:
- Data Isolation: Always ensure data isolation between tenants by using separate databases or schemas for each tenant. This minimizes the risk of data leakage and improves security, especially for industries with strict compliance requirements like finance and healthcare.
- Automate Tenant Provisioning: Use automation tools like AWS CloudFormation, CodePipeline, and Lambda to streamline the provisioning of new tenants. This reduces manual effort, speeds up the process, and minimizes errors.
- Monitor and Scale: Leverage AWS tools like CloudWatch for real-time monitoring and Auto Scaling for dynamically adjusting resources based on tenant usage patterns. This ensures optimal performance without overprovisioning
- Optimize Costs: Use AWS cost management tools to keep track of resource utilization and optimize your infrastructure to avoid unnecessary costs. Implement a tagging strategy to track expenses per tenant.
- Security Best Practices: Ensure proper IAM role segregation, encryption, and use of AWS security services like Cognito, GuardDuty, and WAF to safeguard your SaaS environment from threats.
By following these best practices, you’ll be able to build a robust, secure, and cost-effective multi-tenant SaaS architecture on AWS.
Final Thoughts
We have concluded this guide. What do you think? Have you learned how to create an Enterprise SaaS architecture on AWS?
I’m hoping that you understand now the pieces required to create a multi-tenant architecture from the application layer and there is a layer along with how to create a new tenant, which if you look in the network or in Google, it’s complex to find what are the missing pieces, which are just a few of them.
Lastly, contact us to find out more about how ClickIT helps SaaS Enterprises run and develop DevOps practices in the cloud or if you’re just curious about hiring a nearshore Software Developer in your same timezone.
Enterprise SaaS Architecture FAQs
An enterprise SaaS architecture offers a range of benefits, including scalability, cost efficiency, accessibility, security, and flexibility, making it a compelling choice for businesses looking to leverage modern, efficient software solutions.
To build an enterprise SaaS architecture, start by defining clear requirements and selecting an appropriate technology stack. Design a scalable and secure architecture with a focus on multi-tenancy, integration capabilities, and a user-friendly experience. Prioritize security measures, data management strategies, and compliance with regulations.
AWS provides a robust and flexible foundation for building and scaling SaaS applications, offering a combination of global reach, security, cost efficiency, and a rich set of services that cater to diverse business needs.