Architecture
Cloud strategy, enterprise architecture, hands-on migrations and the practical reality of running production systems at scale. Lessons from banking, shipping, utilities, and the Romanian public sector.
Cloud Strategy, podcast with Gregor Hohpe
Gregor Hohpe on Software Engineering Radio: a decision-driven approach to successful cloud migration, framing cloud strategy as a series of well-scoped architectural choices rather than a single big project.
Read more →Digital transformation with Gregor Hohpe
Gregor Hohpe on digital transformation: what the term actually means, why most transformations stall, and how architects can push beyond IT modernization into genuine business change.
Read more →Securing Azure Web Apps - Part III VNET Integration
In previous articles I described how an Azure web application can be secured and isolated from Internet traffic using Private Endpoints. If the security requirements are not draconian, a simpler solution can provide the same results: public internet access is forbidden and traffic between web apps is routed only in the VNET.
Read more →ADR - Architecture Decision Record
In an Agile work environment, architecture decisions are made incrementally rather than all upfront. Architecture Decision Records are a lightweight way to capture the reasoning behind each significant choice.
Read more →Using OAuth 2.0 to protect APIs published on Azure APIM (API Management Gateway)
How to protect APIs published on Azure APIM with OAuth 2.0 authorization tokens: configuration walkthrough and policy example.
Read more →Securing Azure Web Apps - Private Endpoint Part II
Azure Web Apps private endpoints behave differently when the VNET uses custom DNS servers. What breaks in the default setup and how to configure DNS forwarding to make it work.
Read more →IT architecture: Cutting costs and complexity
Reducing IT infrastructure and application costs through architectural choices: consolidation, retirement, and moving commodity components to managed services.
Read more →Why Do Computers Stop and What Can Be Done About It?
A pointer to Jim Gray's 1985 Tandem paper on why computers stop, the failure taxonomy behind fault-tolerant systems, and what modern architects still borrow from it.
Read more →Securing Azure Web Apps - Private Endpoint
All Azure Web Apps are directly available over the public Internet. To isolate them, Private Endpoints combined with a Web Application Firewall provide access control at the network layer. Setup walkthrough with WAF and VNET integration.
Read more →Run Less
Running less software (through SaaS or PaaS) sometimes buys you more than building or hosting it yourself. Notes on the tradeoffs.
Read more →How to modernise Microsoft .NET applications - part II
Part II of the .NET modernization series: selecting a modernization approach (lift-and-shift, replatform, rearchitect, rebuild) and choosing an architectural pattern based on MASA, with lessons from breaking a monolith into macroservices.
Read more →How to modernise Microsoft .NET applications - part I
Part I of the .NET modernization series: in a Microsoft-shop landscape running .NET Framework 2.0 through 4.5 alongside SharePoint, Dynamics, and Office 365, this is how I inventoried the applications and set the criteria for prioritizing what to modernize first.
Read more →Integrating Azure API Gateway (Azure APIM) with Application Gateway and multiple custom domains
Exposing Azure APIM over the Internet in a controlled way by placing an Application Gateway in front and mapping multiple custom domains to different API sets.
Read more →Web developer roadmap 2019
A visual roadmap of the technologies web developers should know in 2019, covering frontend, backend, and DevOps learning paths.
Read more →Amazon AWS Solution Architect - Associate Exam Resources
A curated list of resources (whitepapers, FAQs, practice tests, video courses) that helped me pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate exam.
Read more →An IT architect perspective on GDPR - part II
Part II of the GDPR series: mapping specific GDPR requirements (right to be forgotten, right of access, data portability, consent management) to concrete IT architecture implications.
Read more →An IT architect perspective on GDPR - part I
An IT architect's practical view on GDPR, from large enterprise experience: sanctions, compliance, consent, security by design, DPIAs, and what actually changes in IT systems.
Read more →Beyond TOGAF certification
Achieving the TOGAF certification is a milestone, but it's only the start. Notes on what enterprise architects actually need beyond the framework itself.
Read more →Can Apple read your iMessages?
A look at iMessage encryption after Matthew Green's public request for Apple to publish the technical details. What is known about the protocol, and what Apple still keeps closed.
Read more →The Kubernetes Book
A short review and recommendation of Nigel Poulton's The Kubernetes Book: a practical, hands-on introduction to Kubernetes concepts and cluster operations.
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