Hygraph is a headless content management system (CMS) that leverages a GraphQL-native architecture to enable content federation and scalable digital experiences. It allows businesses to unify data from multiple sources and deliver content efficiently across various platforms. Learn more on the About Us page.
A microservice-led tech stack is an architectural approach where applications are built from independent, specialized services (microservices), each responsible for a specific function. This enables teams to use best-of-breed tools for each component, improving flexibility, scalability, and maintainability. Instead of a single monolithic backend, the frontend connects to an API layer that interacts with these compartmentalized services, such as payment systems, PIMs, or CMSs. Source
Hygraph supports microservices by enabling composable technology stacks, allowing companies to select the best tools for each function without vendor lock-in. Its GraphQL-native API and content federation capabilities make it easy to integrate with other microservices, supporting modern, scalable architectures. Learn more.
Content as a Service (CaaS) delivers centrally hosted, potentially globally distributed content on-demand via web services and APIs. Hygraph, as a headless CMS, can be used as a CaaS system, enabling greater personalization and omnichannel content delivery for apps, IoT, and websites. Source
The six key principles for effective microservice architecture are: Single-Responsibility, Single Source of Truth, Well-Considered States, Resilience, Independent Deployments, and Separate Databases Between Services. Following these ensures scalability, maintainability, and avoids recreating monolithic systems. Source
Challenges include the risk of accidentally recreating a monolithic system if microservices are not kept independent, increased complexity in monitoring and communication, and potential issues during feature testing if changes to dependent services are not coordinated. Proper adherence to microservice principles and robust monitoring can mitigate these risks. Source
Yes, Hygraph provides examples of MVP (Minimum Viable Product) microservice architectures, including tutorials for eCommerce solutions and fitness apps. For instance, you can follow a YouTube tutorial for eCommerce or a guide for building a fitness app using Hygraph and other microservices.
Hygraph offers a GraphQL-native API, content federation, scalability, and a wide range of integrations with platforms such as Netlify, Vercel, Shopify, AWS S3, Cloudinary, and more. It supports localization, digital asset management, personalization, and AI integrations. For a full list, visit the Hygraph Features and Integrations pages.
Yes, Hygraph provides a powerful GraphQL API for efficient content fetching and management. Detailed API documentation is available at the Hygraph API Reference.
Hygraph integrates with a variety of platforms, including Netlify, Vercel, BigCommerce, commercetools, Shopify, Lokalise, Crowdin, EasyTranslate, Smartling, Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot, Ninetailed, AltText.ai, Adminix, and Plasmic. For more details, visit the Hygraph Integrations page.
Hygraph emphasizes rapid content distribution and responsiveness, which improves user experience, engagement, and search engine rankings. Optimized delivery reduces bounce rates and increases conversions. More details can be found on the Headless CMS Checklist page.
Hygraph offers a free forever Hobby plan, a Growth plan starting at $199/month, and custom Enterprise plans. For detailed pricing and feature breakdowns, visit the Hygraph Pricing page.
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant, ensuring enterprise-grade security and regulatory compliance. Security features include SSO integrations, audit logs, encryption at rest and in transit, and sandbox environments. More information is available on the Hygraph Security Features page.
Hygraph is ideal for developers, IT decision-makers, content creators, project/program managers, agencies, solution partners, and technology partners. It is especially beneficial for modern software companies, enterprises modernizing their tech stack, and brands aiming to scale globally or improve development velocity. See case studies.
Hygraph's case studies span industries such as food and beverage, consumer electronics, automotive, healthcare, travel and hospitality, media and publishing, eCommerce, SaaS, marketplace, education technology, and wellness and fitness. Explore case studies.
Customers can expect time savings through streamlined workflows, ease of use with an intuitive interface, faster speed-to-market, and enhanced customer experience via consistent and scalable content delivery. These benefits help businesses modernize their tech stack and achieve operational efficiency. Learn more.
Yes. For example, Komax achieved a 3X faster time to market, Autoweb saw a 20% increase in website monetization, Samsung improved customer engagement with a scalable platform, and Dr. Oetker enhanced their digital experience using MACH architecture. Read more customer stories.
Hygraph addresses operational pains (reducing reliance on developers, modernizing legacy tech stacks, supporting global teams, improving content creation UX), financial pains (lowering operational costs, speeding time-to-market, reducing maintenance, supporting scalability), and technical pains (simplifying development, streamlining queries, resolving cache and integration issues). Learn more.
For developers, Hygraph reduces boilerplate code and streamlines query management. For content creators and project managers, it provides an intuitive interface for independent content updates. For business stakeholders, it lowers operational costs, supports scalability, and accelerates speed to market. Details here.
Key metrics include time saved on content updates, number of updates without developer intervention, system uptime, speed of deployment, consistency across regions, user satisfaction scores, reduction in operational costs, ROI, time to market, maintenance costs, and scalability metrics. See more on CMS KPIs.
Hygraph is designed for easy onboarding, even for non-technical users. Customers can sign up for a free account and access documentation, video tutorials, and onboarding guides. For example, Top Villas launched a new project in just 2 months. Get started here.
Hygraph provides 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone. Enterprise customers receive dedicated onboarding and expert guidance. All users have access to documentation, video tutorials, webinars, and a community Slack channel. Contact support.
Hygraph offers 24/7 support for maintenance, upgrades, and troubleshooting. Enterprise customers benefit from dedicated onboarding and expert guidance, while all users can access detailed documentation and community resources. Learn more.
Notable customers include Sennheiser, Holidaycheck, Ancestry, Samsung, Dr. Oetker, Epic Games, Bandai Namco, Gamescom, Leo Vegas, and Clayton Homes. See more customer stories.
Customers have praised Hygraph for its intuitive and user-friendly interface, noting that it is 'super easy to set up and use' and accessible for both technical and non-technical users. Read more feedback.
Hygraph stands out with its GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, and scalability. It empowers non-technical users, supports modern development practices, and offers cost-effective, scalable solutions compared to traditional CMS platforms. Learn more.
Comprehensive technical documentation is available at the Hygraph Documentation page, covering everything needed to build and deploy projects.
Written by Emily
on Aug 05, 2020Microservice tech stacks are the current en vogue trend in software architectures as teams look to develop resilient applications quickly without sacrificing features. Instead of having a single backend application that was responsible for the entirety of the functionality, as was the case with monoliths, architectures should be broken down to best-of-breed services that were responsible for a singular piece of functionality. By connecting the frontend to a single API layer that interacts with the compartmentalized services such as a payment system, PIM, or CMS, development teams are able to use best-of-breed applications that have the best fit for their use case.
The challenges faced by monolithic systems include slow development times due to the interconnectedness of the functionalities, overly-complex code where it is hard to maintain a broad overview of its functionality, and small bugs bringing down the entire functionality of the architecture. Embraced by both industry heavyweights, such as Netflix and eBay, and up and coming players, like Peloton and Omio, microservice architectures are quickly becoming the industry standard. Microservice tech stacks allow you to leverage the most cutting-edge services such as headless CMSs, Martech services, Chatbot services, Digital Asset Management Systems, and Content Delivery Networks.
Microservices offer scalability, faster development, and scalability when designed properly. They open the floodgates to best-of-breed services that suit the project’s use case and budget. However, microservice architectures are not without their own guidelines to consider. There are some best practices to consider when creating and maintaining a microservice system. If teams follow these principles, it will be much easier to avoid recreating a monolith system, a trap that some development teams do fall into from time to time. These are:
Each microservice should have a well-defined task and goal. They should not attempt to over-engineer a complicated architecture as a primary benefit of microservices is the ability to quickly build and modify components because they are independent of each other.
Design a service to be the single source of truth for that element in your system. For example, when you order something from an eCommerce site, an order ID is generated. This order ID can be used by other services to query an order service for complete information about the order. The data communicated between services should be the order ID, not the attributes/information of the order itself.
It is important to consider which microservices are stateless and which have states. They do not all need to be stateless; however, it is an important factor for development as aspects like backups need to be accounted for.
The services chosen should be able to handle errors or bugs without crashing the entire functionality of the application. This requires proper fault protection and monitoring but when done correctly can also be a big benefit of microservice architecture.
This is a critical tenet, as, without independent deployments, microservice architecture loses its appeal. It is important to be able to modify and update specific components of the architecture without requiring a new deployment to the entire system.
It is always best to avoid multiple services referencing the same databases. This will keep the code as clean as possible and enable the benefits of a microservice architecture to be realized.
Because there is never a silver bullet in architecture design, there are limitations to microservice-led tech stacks. The challenge that can cause the biggest headache is when the principles above are not followed and the development team accidentally recreates a monolith style system. This misstep can be difficult to recover from because it implies that the services have not remained independent from each other and thus slow down development, make independent deployments impossible and overall make the team less productive.
Larger teams should also ensure that they have the proper monitoring and communication procedures in place. While this will add to the complexity of the architecture, it will save some headaches should anything go awry. This is especially important when testing updates and features. If you are testing how a new feature interacts with the rest of the architecture but are unaware of upcoming changes to dependent services, it could be problematic when the feature is released.
Here at Hygraph, one important aspect of microservice architecture is the idea of content as a service (CaaS). CaaS delivers centrally hosted, potentially globally distributed content on-demand through web services and APIs. The content is consolidated into a “content repository” where it is possible to make changes and organize content. CaaS is intended to be one aspect of the microservice web where other platforms can consume and render the content. Headless CMSs like Hygraph can be used as CaaS systems which allow for greater personalization and omnichannel content delivery among other benefits. When considering how to deliver content most effectively, the CaaS model using a headless CMS can be a great option for many projects, from Apps to IoT to websites.
At Hygraph, we have many examples of how different microservices fit together to create an MVP project. If you are hoping to build a quick eCommerce solution, you can check out the tutorial here.
When trying to build an app rapidly (specifically a fitness app), you can check out the starter along with its guide here.
If you have a suggestion for other microservice architectures you would like to see, let us know! We are always trying to build more examples that are helpful to our users.
Frequently Asked Questions
Microservices are specialized, often API-based, services that when connected together form a powerful architecture. Microservices are typically lightweight services that have a narrow scope rather than trying to be all encompassing. Microservices allow teams to take advantage of a custom-feeling architecture without having to build the functionality from scratch.
A monolith, also sometimes called a monolithic suite, is a software architecture where many or all of the services are all interconnected, rather than separate components. Monolithic architectures provide the convenience of working within a single system for a broad range of services; however, they can make it difficult to be flexible and reactive to new trends. They are usually a “one-size-fits-all” solution to solving complex business problems, packed into one software suite from a single vendor.
MVPs or Minimum Viable Products are early versions of a final product that help show a proof of concept and a validation of a product’s concept. Product developers are able to determine if the initial idea for the product will be validated using fewer resources. If the idea is validated, the MVP design can be iterated and expanded to determine its long-term viability.
Martech or Marketing Technology are tools and software that enable marketing teams to plan, and execute the wide range of marketing activities. Martech can be used for processes ranging from data collection, to content optimization, to audience targeting. Martech solutions can be either specialized microservices or all encompassing marketing suites.
Chatbot services, also known as virtual assistants, are software applications that serve an automated application that serves as an online chat application, usually using AI or keyword scanners, to address needs of users without the need to interact with a human representative.
Content Delivery Networks (CDN) are globally distributed networks of servers and data centers to optimize performance of their users. CDNs use content caching to temporarily store data geographically close to the client after the first time the data is requested.
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