Load-Balanced-URL-Shortener

Project done as a part of the course Cloud Computing (UE22CS351B) at PES University

This project implements a URL shortener service designed with scalability, containerization, and cloud-native architecture in mind. It allows users to submit long URLs via an API and receive a shortened version, which can then be used to redirect to the original URL. The system is deployed using Docker and Kubernetes, with multiple instances running behind a load balancer with a benefit of supporting fault tolerance and horizontal scaling through Kubernetes features like replicas and autoscaling.

The system is composed of the following components:

1.URL Shortener API Service

A simple web API to:

Accept long URLs and return shortened ones (POST /shorten)

Redirect short URLs to the original address (GET /<short_code>)

2. In-Memory Store

Stores mappings between short codes and long URLs using a Redis instance running in a separate Kubernetes pod

3. Docker Containers

Both the API service and Redis are containerized using Docker and managed independently.

4. Kubernetes Deployment

Multiple replicas of the API service run as pods, connected via Kubernetes Services. Redis is deployed as a separate pod and accessed internally via ClusterIP.

5. Load Balancing and Autoscaling

Traffic is routed to different service instances through a Kubernetes LoadBalancer or Ingress. Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) scales instances based on CPU usage.