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The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

anthonynsimon.com

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Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#31

Post by e3bc54b2 »

wmichelin wrote: post #9

How do you start learning this breadth of software engineering? I consider myself good in the python / django space, but where do I start with learning these infrastructure technologies? I find that I use them once or twice periodically, and then don't touch them for so long, so I forget much of what I have learned.

I've wondered about this as well.

I don't have a complete answer, but so far documenting things as I go about doing them helps, especially if I write down what I tried, what went wrong, what worked and why. Its a lot while starting off, but over time as the concepts sink and become habits, my docs move to higher abstractions automatically and then it is mostly clear. The key words for me are 'train of thought'. The solution (the how) is important obviously, and always useful when quickly referring, but when making bigger changes it is more important to remember th why.

It is hella time consuming, needs dedication and practice and good tools (I couldn't start without org-mode myself)

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#32

Post by attilakun »

danjac wrote: post #17
chrisandchris wrote: post #4

> From a technical point of view, this SaaS processes a large amount of requests per second from anywhere in the world, and stores the data in an efficient format for real time querying. That is the closes thing to a number of requests I could find. So this architecture, no matter how solid, is somewhere between „way to large“ and „matches perfect“. It seems like a solid breakdown on how to deploy your services to k8…

> I use Kubernetes on AWS, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need this. I learned these tools over several years mentored by a very patient team. I'm productive because this is what I know best, and I can focus on shipping stuff instead. Your mileage may vary. This is a key point. I don't know Kubernetes, and for this kind of scale I'd probably use, say, Heroku. But if I did know Kubernetes, I'd probably u…

This is the kind of problem that is good to have. I think in the majority of cases, the real problem is getting customers in the door.

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#33

Post by amzans »

anonymouse008 wrote: post #30

Anthony - if you're reading this, thank you!! To arrive at this architecture takes 100s if not 100s of hours, and to share it with the community is dang inspiring. I was feeling a bit down on my projects, but this has me amped up seeing how the ultimate goal of working on features rather than deployment is possible, and very real! Best of luck with Panelbear!

Thank you! I appreciate it. Glad you found it helpful.

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#34

Post by smoe »

wmichelin wrote: post #9

How do you start learning this breadth of software engineering? I consider myself good in the python / django space, but where do I start with learning these infrastructure technologies? I find that I use them once or twice periodically, and then don't touch them for so long, so I forget much of what I have learned.

What has helped me most over the years is working in smaller companies, where you necessarily need to take on more responsabilities.

My first job ~2005 was at a small shop with like 4-5 people and around 20 physical servers under our control and the same amount on-premise with clients (mix of Windows Servers, Linux distros and BSDs). We did have a sys admin person, but he was only responsible for the servers themselves and the base configuration. Everything application related running on it was our responsilibity as developers.

And after that, in the following jobs and as a freelancer, there were I wide variety of things I had to ramp up on quickly. Different build processes, application monitoring, backups, different cloud providers, hidden costs, etc.

Also I have been keeping a "Today I Learned" journal, where I just put small comments and snippets. It is hardly ever any deep insight, but for the most part "to do x in framework y solution z worked". It is also mostly a write-only journal. Just writing things down helps a lot with memory.

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#35

Post by amzans »

wmichelin wrote: post #9

How do you start learning this breadth of software engineering? I consider myself good in the python / django space, but where do I start with learning these infrastructure technologies? I find that I use them once or twice periodically, and then don't touch them for so long, so I forget much of what I have learned.

Nothing like bringing down the entire production cluster and all services with it on a Friday afternoon due to a seemingly innocent "hotfix". Big learnings at the time, but now these make for good stories.

I learned most of these tools at my day job through some catastrophic failures. From my experience, failure has always been the best teacher.

Kubernetes just happens to be a great sandbox for failing hard :) Lots of stories here: https://k8s.af/

However, I wouldn't reach for tools that didn't solve a problem I truly have, be it cost-effective scaling (my day job), or reusing what I already know best even if unconventional (my SaaS).

I guess what I'm trying to say is: focus on solving your immediate problems first with the tools you already know. Your toolbelt will expand without you realizing it.

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#37

Post by mark_l_watson »

rory wrote: post #28

My one-man-SaaS setup: - Static frontend hosted on Netlify (free unlimited scale) - Backend server on Google App Engine (connecting to Gcloud storage and managed DB via magic) I realize I'm opening myself up to vendor lock-in and increased costs down the road (if I even get that far), but I've wrangled enough Docker/k8s/Ingress setups in the past to know it's just not worth the time and effort for a non-master.

Interesting, thanks. I used to use Google AppEngine a lot and very much liked it, but haven’t touched it for years. Now, I like the idea of using Heroku better, and just pay a little more.

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#38

Post by throwaway78123 »

This goes against the HN trope that "you don't need Kubernetes unless you are Google-size".

It turns out Kubernetes is actually perfect for small teams as it solves many hard operational issues, allowing you to focus on the important part of the stack: the application.

The key is to stick to a simple setup (try not to mess with networking config) and use a managed offering such as GKE. We may need a Kubernetes, The Good Parts guide.

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#39

Post by heipei »

throwaway78123 wrote: post #38

This goes against the HN trope that "you don't need Kubernetes unless you are Google-size". It turns out Kubernetes is actually perfect for small teams as it solves many hard operational issues, allowing you to focus on the important part of the stack: the application. The key is to stick to a simple setup (try not to mess with networking config) and use a managed offering such as GKE. We may need a Kubernetes, The G…

Kubernetes, The Good Parts: See Hashicorp Nomad ;)

Re: The architecture behind a one-person tech startup

#40

Post by atomicnumber3 »

throwaway78123 wrote: post #38

This goes against the HN trope that "you don't need Kubernetes unless you are Google-size". It turns out Kubernetes is actually perfect for small teams as it solves many hard operational issues, allowing you to focus on the important part of the stack: the application. The key is to stick to a simple setup (try not to mess with networking config) and use a managed offering such as GKE. We may need a Kubernetes, The G…

I use DigitalOcean's managed kubernetes for one of my side projects that I did with a friend. Really happy with it. And it's actually cost-neutral: all you do is pay for the $10 droplet it runs on and you get the managed k8s at no additional cost.
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