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Cloud-Native Architecture Quality Attribute Stack

Scaffold

This MicroSim has been scaffolded from its specification. The interactive implementation has not been built yet.

Learning Objective

Students will be able to identify at least three quality attribute contributions and one quality attribute risk at each layer of the cloud-native technology stack.

  • Bloom Level: Analyze (L4) — Examine how each layer of the cloud-native stack contributes to specific quality attributes and introduces specific risks.
  • Bloom Verb: Examine
  • Library: p5.js

Preview

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Specification

The full specification below is extracted from Chapter 13: Cloud-Native Architecture.

Type: diagram
**sim-id:** cloud-native-qa-explorer<br/>
**Library:** p5.js<br/>
**Status:** Specified

Purpose: Interactive layer diagram showing the cloud-native technology stack (hardware → IaaS → containers → Kubernetes → services → applications) with quality attribute contributions and tradeoffs visible at each layer — click any layer to see its quality attribute profile.

Bloom Level: Analyze (L4) — Examine how each layer of the cloud-native stack contributes to specific quality attributes and introduces specific risks.
Bloom Verb: Examine

Learning Objective: Students will be able to identify at least three quality attribute contributions and one quality attribute risk at each layer of the cloud-native technology stack.

Canvas layout:
- Vertical stack of five technology layers, each as a horizontal band
- Each layer labeled with: technology name, a brief role description, 2-3 "supports QA" badges (green), and 1-2 "threatens QA" badges (red)
- Clicking any layer expands a detail panel on the right showing full quality attribute analysis
- Arrow annotations on the right side showing which quality attributes are managed at which layer (e.g., "Scalability managed by Kubernetes HPA")

Layers (bottom to top):
1. IaaS / Managed Services: "Virtual compute, storage, networking provided by cloud provider"
   Supports: Availability (physical redundancy), Scalability (elastic provisioning)
   Threatens: Vendor lock-in (proprietary services), Cost predictability

2. Containers / Docker: "Packaging and isolation layer"
   Supports: Portability, Consistency, Deployability
   Threatens: Security (shared kernel), Complexity (image management)

3. Kubernetes Orchestration: "Auto-healing, scaling, and service discovery"
   Supports: Availability (auto-healing), Scalability (HPA), Deployability (rolling updates)
   Threatens: Complexity (steep learning curve), Performance (network overhead)

4. Infrastructure as Code / GitOps: "Declarative, version-controlled infrastructure"
   Supports: Deployability (reproducible), Reliability (no drift), Auditability
   Threatens: Learning curve, Change velocity (reviews required)

5. Application / Service Mesh: "Business logic and cross-cutting concerns"
   Supports: Modifiability, Security (mTLS via mesh), Observability
   Threatens: Performance (sidecar overhead), Operational complexity

Interactive elements:
- Click any layer to expand full quality attribute analysis in right panel
- "Show QA" button for each quality attribute highlights which layers contribute to it
- Hover "supports" badges to see the specific mechanism

Color scheme: Five distinct layer colors from bottom (gray) to top (gold). Green badges for supports, red for threatens.

Responsive: Stack compresses proportionally; detail panel moves below on narrow screens.