🏗️ System Architecture (Cloud Project)

🌐 Project Overview

Strong Ape Apparel is a Singapore-based retail brand expanding into e-commerce.
This project was developed as part of our Cloud Computing module at Generations Singapore,
with the goal of creating a scalable, secure, and user-friendly online store.

The e-commerce platform is built on Microsoft Azure, integrating cloud-native services for
scalability, inventory management, and seamless payment processing.

🔗 Demo Mockup Site: strongape.pythonanywhere.com
🔗 Presentation Slides: View PDF
🔗 Proposal Report: View PDF

✨ Features

• User registration & login (via Microsoft Entra ID)
• Product browsing with categories & search
• Shopping cart with Redis caching for performance
• Secure checkout & payment integration
• Inventory management linked to Azure SQL Database
• Order confirmation and status tracking
• Scalable cloud deployment with Azure DevOps CI/CD

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🏗️ System Architecture

The solution follows a cloud-native architecture on Azure:

1. Users access via browser or mobile app.
2. Product catalog retrieved from Azure SQL & Blob Storage.
3. Redis used for caching product queries.
4. Shopping cart data queued in Azure Queue Storage.
5. Azure Functions handle order processing & payments.
6. Orders stored in Azure SQL Database.
7. Confirmation displayed to the user after successful payment.

📌 See full architecture diagram in docs/architecture.png.

Note: Architecture is designed and documented; full Azure implementation is planned for future development. (Refer to future roadmap)

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⚙️ Tech Stack

• Frontend: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap/Tailwind
• Backend: Flask (Python), SQLAlchemy ORM
• Database: Azure SQL Database, Redis Cache
• Cloud Services: Azure App Service, Blob Storage, Queue Storage, Azure Functions
• Security: Microsoft Entra ID (Authentication), Azure Key Vault
• DevOps: Azure DevOps (Pipelines, Artifacts), Application Insights, Azure Policy

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🚀 Deployment

• CI/CD via Azure DevOps pipelines
• Hosted on Azure App Service with Blob Storage for static assets
• Monitoring via Azure Application Insights
• Secure credential management with Azure Key Vault

🛣️ Future Roadmap

• Current: Prototype deployed on PythonAnywhere for demonstration
• Architecture: Comprehensive Azure cloud design documented
• Future: Ready for full Azure implementation using the proposed architecture

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📅 Project Timeline

• Phase 1 (Weeks 1–3): Scoping & Design
• Phase 2 (Weeks 4–10): Frontend & Backend Development
• Phase 3 (Weeks 9–12): Testing & Optimization
• Phase 4 (Weeks 11–13): Deployment & Training
• Phase 5 (Weeks 13–14): Post-deployment Support

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👥 Team Contributors

• Abel
• Abedline
• Sopfian (CyberZal)
• Wee Chuan

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🔮 Future Improvements

• Mobile app integration
• AI-driven product recommendations
• Multi-language & multi-currency support
• Enhanced analytics dashboard for sales insights

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