About NovaBlog
A 2-tier PHP application · No database · AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Two-Tier Architecture
NovaBlog demonstrates two-tier application architecture — a clean separation between the presentation tier (your browser) and the application / data tier (PHP running on EC2 via Elastic Beanstalk).
All data lives in PHP arrays inside includes/data.php. No MySQL, no Redis, no external services — just PHP and a load balancer. It's lightweight, fast, and trivial to deploy.
This pattern is ideal for content-driven sites, internal tools, and MVPs where a relational database isn't needed yet. Swapping in a database later is straightforward because the data layer is already isolated.
Read the Architecture Article →
🏗 Deployment Architecture
Tier 1 — Client (Browser)
HTML · CSS · JavaScript
↕ HTTP / HTTPS
AWS Elastic Load Balancer
Distributes traffic across EC2 instances
↕
Tier 2 — PHP Application (EC2)
Apache · PHP 8.x · Flat-file data arrays
Tech Stack
PHP 8.x
Server-side rendering, session handling, and routing via query params.
AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Managed deployment with auto-scaling, load balancing & health monitoring.
Flat-file Data Layer
PHP arrays act as the data store — no database provisioning or migrations.
Apache HTTP Server
Pre-configured on the Elastic Beanstalk PHP platform AMI.
Meet the Authors
AR
Ayesha Raza
Cloud Engineer
Specialises in AWS architecture, serverless, and container orchestration. Writes about deploying PHP apps in the cloud.
BC
Bilal Chaudhry
PHP Developer
Full-stack PHP developer focused on secure, maintainable backend code and modern deployment pipelines.
SM
Sana Malik
Solutions Architect
Designs scalable application architectures and loves explaining complex systems in plain language.