Event-Driven Architecture with Publisher/Subscriber Model for a Photo Studio Application

AMJ Cloud Technologies implemented an event-driven architecture using the Publisher/Subscriber (Pub/Sub) pattern to enhance a modern photo studio application. This case study demonstrates how we built a scalable, modular, and responsive image processing workflow on AWS.

Situation

The photo studio application required an automated workflow to handle image uploads, apply transformations, and notify users in real time. The existing system struggled with scalability bottlenecks, lacked modularity, and couldn’t process tasks concurrently, leading to delays in user notifications and image previews. AMJ Cloud Technologies aimed to design a loosely coupled, event-driven architecture to support real-time processing and improve user experience.

Task

Our team was tasked with building a scalable and efficient Pub/Sub system to handle multiple actions from a single user event. The objectives were to:

• Enable real-time upload confirmation via email.
• Perform image enhancements using filters.
• Generate thumbnails for gallery previews.
• Ensure scalability and modularity through loose coupling.
• Maintain responsiveness and reliability during high demand.

The project was executed by a team of cloud architects and developers over a 2.5-month timeline.

Action

To achieve these objectives, we designed an event-driven architecture using the Pub/Sub pattern with AWS services, ensuring concurrent and independent task processing:

1. User Uploads Photo:

   • Configured the application front-end to upload photos to an Amazon S3 bucket.
   • Used S3 as the initial event source (publisher) to trigger the workflow.

2. S3 Triggers SNS Notification:

   • Set up S3 to send events to an Amazon SNS topic upon upload completion.
   • Configured the SNS topic as the central hub for event propagation.

3. Distribution to Multiple Subscribers:

   • Defined three independent subscribers for the SNS topic:
     • Email Notification: An email service subscribed to the SNS topic to send automated confirmation emails to users.
     • Image Enhancement: An Amazon SQS queue received events, with AWS Lambda functions pulling tasks to apply image filters.
     • Thumbnail Generation: A separate Lambda function, directly subscribed to the SNS topic, generated thumbnails for gallery previews.

4. Independent, Asynchronous Processing:

   • Ensured each subscriber operated independently, allowing concurrent task execution.
   • Designed fault isolation to prevent delays or failures in one service from affecting others.

The team conducted integration testing, simulated high-load scenarios, and optimized Lambda concurrency to ensure real-time responsiveness and reliability.

Result

The Pub/Sub architecture delivered significant outcomes:

• Reduced Processing Time: Streamlined image processing and notification workflows.
• Improved User Satisfaction: Provided instant notifications and gallery previews.
• Enhanced Reliability: Achieved fault isolation between components, minimizing downtime.
• Scalable and Modular Design: Supported horizontal scaling and simplified maintenance.
• Real-Time Responsiveness: Enabled seamless user experiences during high demand.

This event-driven architecture has become a model for AMJ Cloud Technologies’ real-time processing projects, showcasing our expertise in scalable cloud solutions.

Technologies Used

• Amazon S3: Stored uploaded photos and triggered events.
• Amazon SNS: Propagated events to subscribers.
• Amazon SQS: Queued tasks for image enhancement.
• AWS Lambda: Processed image filters and thumbnails.

Key Use Cases

This architecture is suitable for:

• Media and content processing platforms requiring real-time workflows.
• Event-driven microservices architectures.
• Real-time alerting and notification systems.

Ready to build a responsive event-driven system? Contact us to explore how we can help.

Key Takeaways

This case study highlights the power of the Pub/Sub pattern in creating scalable, modular, and responsive cloud architectures. By leveraging AWS services like S3, SNS, SQS, and Lambda, we delivered a resilient photo processing workflow that enhances user experience and system reliability. AMJ Cloud Technologies is dedicated to driving innovation through event-driven solutions.

Architectural Diagram