GoodNotes Architect Journal
🏠 Index 1. Single Server 2. Selecting DB 3. Relational & SQL 4. ACID Integrity 5. NoSQL Types 6. Scaling Guide 7. Load Balancing 8. SPOF & HA 9. API Design 10. Comm Protocols 11. TCP & UDP 12. REST Design 13. GraphQL Architecture 14. Authentication Protocols 15. JWT & OAuth 2 16. Authorization Models
System Design Chapter 1

Single-Server Architecture Setup

Web Server, Database, & Cache on a Single Machine

★ Starting point of every system design journey!

In a standard early-stage or monolithic architecture, Web Server, Application Logic, Database, and Cache all reside together on a single physical or virtual machine instance.

✏️ Request / Response Execution Flow
🌐 Web Browser
User Interface
  1. Request IP ➔
    ← 2. Return IP
🏷️ DNS Server
app.demo.com
🌐 Web Browser
Client Connection

HTTP Request ➔
← JSON / HTML

🖥️ Single Server Instance
  • ⚡ Web App: Express / Django
  • 💾 Database: MySQL / Mongo
  • 🚀 Cache: Redis Store
📌 Step-by-Step Flow Breakdown:
  1. User opens browser and navigates to domain app.demo.com.
  2. Browser queries the DNS (Domain Name System) to resolve domain to Server IP Address.
  3. Browser establishes HTTP/HTTPS connection directly with the resolved IP.
  4. The single server processes application logic, fetches/saves data in DB or Cache, and returns JSON / HTML back to the browser.