Database Centric vs Domain Centric Architecture

September 30, 2025 · View on GitHub

:warning: Warning

The code samples contain multiple ways and patterns to do things and not always be considered best practices or recommended for all situations.

Database Centric vs Domain Centric Architecture

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Hexagonal Architecture

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Onion Architecture

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The Clean Architecture

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Classic Three-layer Architecture

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Modern Four-layer Architecture

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Layer Dependencies

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Layer Examples

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Testing Pyramid

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Vertical Slice Architecture (Modular Monolith)

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Solution Structure

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How to Run:

Update Configuration

Additional Configuration Sources

Open ClassifiedAds.WebMVC/appsettings.json and jump to ConfigurationSources section.

"ConfigurationSources": {
  "SqlServer": {
    "IsEnabled": false,
    "ConnectionString": "Server=127.0.0.1;Database=ClassifiedAds;User Id=sa;Password=sqladmin123!@#",
    "SqlQuery": "select [Key], [Value] from ConfigurationEntries"
  },
  "AzureKeyVault": {
    "IsEnabled": false,
    "VaultName": "https://xxx.vault.azure.net/"
  }
},

Get from Sql Server database:

"ConfigurationSources": {
  "SqlServer": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "ConnectionString": "Server=127.0.0.1;Database=ClassifiedAds;User Id=sa;Password=sqladmin123!@#",
    "SqlQuery": "select [Key], [Value] from ConfigurationEntries"
  },
},

Get from Azure Key Vault:

"ConfigurationSources": {
  "AzureKeyVault": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "VaultName": "https://xxx.vault.azure.net/"
  }
},

Use Both:

"ConfigurationSources": {
  "SqlServer": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "ConnectionString": "Server=127.0.0.1;Database=ClassifiedAds;User Id=sa;Password=sqladmin123!@#",
    "SqlQuery": "select [Key], [Value] from ConfigurationEntries"
  },
  "AzureKeyVault": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "VaultName": "https://xxx.vault.azure.net/"
  }
},

Storage

Open ClassifiedAds.WebMVC/appsettings.json, ClassifiedAds.WebAPI/appsettings.json and jump to Storage section.
```
"Storage": {
  "Provider": "Local",
},
```

Use Local Files:

"Storage": {
  "Provider": "Local",
  "Local": {
    "Path": "E:\\files"
  },
},

Use Azure Blob:

"Storage": {
  "Provider": "Azure",
  "Azure": {
    "ConnectionString": "xxx",
    "Container": "classifiedadds"
  },
},

Use Amazon S3:

"Storage": {
  "Provider": "Amazon",
  "Amazon": {
    "AccessKeyID": "xxx",
    "SecretAccessKey": "xxx",
    "BucketName": "classifiedadds",
    "RegionEndpoint": "ap-southeast-1"
  }
},

Message Broker

Open below files and jump to Messaging section:
- ClassifiedAds.Background/appsettings.json
```
"Messaging": {
  "Provider": "RabbitMQ",
}
```

Use RabbitMQ

"Messaging": {
  "Provider": "RabbitMQ",
  "RabbitMQ": {
    "HostName": "localhost",
    "UserName": "guest",
    "Password": "guest",
    "ExchangeName": "amq.direct",
    "RoutingKeys": {
      "FileUploadedEvent": "classifiedadds_fileuploaded",
      "FileDeletedEvent": "classifiedadds_filedeleted",
      "EmailMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_emailcreated",
      "SmsMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_smscreated"
    },
    "QueueNames": {
      "FileUploadedEvent": "classifiedadds_fileuploaded",
      "FileDeletedEvent": "classifiedadds_filedeleted",
      "EmailMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_emailcreated",
      "SmsMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_smscreated"
    }
  }
}

Use Kafka:

"Messaging": {
  "Provider": "Kafka",
  "Kafka": {
    "BootstrapServers": "localhost:9092",
    "Topics": {
      "FileUploadedEvent": "classifiedadds_fileuploaded",
      "FileDeletedEvent": "classifiedadds_filedeleted",
      "EmailMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_emailcreated",
      "SmsMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_smscreated"
    },
  }
}

Use Azure Queue Storage:

"Messaging": {
  "Provider": "AzureQueue",
  "AzureQueue": {
    "ConnectionString": "xxx",
    "QueueNames": {
      "FileUploadedEvent": "classifiedadds-fileuploaded",
      "FileDeletedEvent": "classifiedadds-filedeleted",
      "EmailMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds-emailcreated",
      "SmsMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds-smscreated"
    }
  }
}

Use Azure Service Bus:

"Messaging": {
  "Provider": "AzureServiceBus",
  "AzureServiceBus": {
    "ConnectionString": "xxx",
    "QueueNames": {
      "FileUploadedEvent": "classifiedadds_fileuploaded",
      "FileDeletedEvent": "classifiedadds_filedeleted",
      "EmailMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_emailcreated",
      "SmsMessageCreatedEvent": "classifiedadds_smscreated"
    }
  }
}

Logging

Open and jump to Logging section of below files:

"Logging": {
  "LogLevel": {
    "Default": "Warning"
  },
  "File": {
    "MinimumLogEventLevel": "Information"
  },
  "Elasticsearch": {
    "IsEnabled": false,
    "Host": "http://localhost:9200",
    "IndexFormat": "classifiedads",
    "MinimumLogEventLevel": "Information"
  },
  "EventLog": {
    "IsEnabled": false,
    "LogName": "Application",
    "SourceName": "ClassifiedAds.WebAPI"
  }
},

Write to Local file (./logs/log.txt). Always enabled.

"Logging": {
  "File": {
    "MinimumLogEventLevel": "Information"
  },
},

Write to Elasticsearch:

"Logging": {
  "Elasticsearch": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "Host": "http://localhost:9200",
    "IndexFormat": "classifiedads",
    "MinimumLogEventLevel": "Information"
  },
},

Write to Windows Event Log (Windows only):

"Logging": {
  "EventLog": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "LogName": "Application",
    "SourceName": "ClassifiedAds.WebAPI"
  }
},

Enable all options:

"Logging": {
  "LogLevel": {
    "Default": "Warning"
  },	
  "File": {
    "MinimumLogEventLevel": "Information"
  },
  "Elasticsearch": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "Host": "http://localhost:9200",
    "IndexFormat": "classifiedads",
    "MinimumLogEventLevel": "Information"
  },
  "EventLog": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "LogName": "Application",
    "SourceName": "ClassifiedAds.WebAPI"
  }
},

Caching

Open and jump to Caching section of below files:
- ClassifiedAds.WebAPI/appsettings.json
- ClassifiedAds.WebMVC/appsettings.json
```
"Caching": {
  "InMemory": {

  },
  "Distributed": {

  }
},
```

Configure options for In Memory Cache:

"Caching": {
  "InMemory": {
    "SizeLimit": null
  },
},

Use In Memory Distributed Cache (For Local Testing):

"Caching": {
  "Distributed": {
    "Provider": "InMemory",
    "InMemory": {
      "SizeLimit": null
    }
  }
},

Use Redis Distributed Cache:

"Caching": {
  "Distributed": {
    "Provider": "Redis",
    "Redis": {
      "Configuration": "xxx.redis.cache.windows.net:6380,password=xxx,ssl=True,abortConnect=False",
      "InstanceName": ""
    }
  }
},

Use Sql Server Distributed Cache:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-sql-cache --version="5.0"
dotnet sql-cache create "Server=127.0.0.1;Database=ClassifiedAds;User Id=sa;Password=sqladmin123!@#" dbo CacheEntries

"Caching": {
  "Distributed": {
    "Provider": "SqlServer",
    "SqlServer": {
      "ConnectionString": "Server=127.0.0.1;Database=ClassifiedAds;User Id=sa;Password=sqladmin123!@#",
      "SchemaName": "dbo",
      "TableName": "CacheEntries"
    }
  }
},

Monitoring

Open and jump to Monitoring section of below files:
- ClassifiedAds.WebAPI/appsettings.json
- ClassifiedAds.WebMVC/appsettings.json
```
"Monitoring": {

},
```

Use Azure Application Insights:

"Monitoring": {
  "AzureApplicationInsights": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "InstrumentationKey": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "EnableSqlCommandTextInstrumentation": true
  }
},

Use OpenTelemetry:

"Monitoring": {
  "OpenTelemetry": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "ServiceName": "ClassifiedAds.WebAPI",
    "TraceEnabled": true,
    "MetricEnabled": true,
    "Otlp": {
      "IsEnabled": false,
      "Endpoint": "http://localhost:4317"
    }
  }
},

Use Both:

"Monitoring": {
  "AzureApplicationInsights": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "InstrumentationKey": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "EnableSqlCommandTextInstrumentation": true
  },
  "OpenTelemetry": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "ServiceName": "ClassifiedAds.WebAPI",
    "TraceEnabled": true,
    "MetricEnabled": true,
    "Otlp": {
      "IsEnabled": false,
      "Endpoint": "http://localhost:4317"
    }
  }
},

Interceptors

Open and jump to Interceptors section of below files:
```
"Interceptors": {
  "LoggingInterceptor": true,
  "ErrorCatchingInterceptor": false
},
```

Security Headers

Open ClassifiedAds.WebAPI/appsettings.json and jump to SecurityHeaders section:

"SecurityHeaders": {
  "Cache-Control": "no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate",
  "Pragma": "no-cache",
  "Expires": "0"
},

Open ClassifiedAds.WebMVC/appsettings.json and jump to SecurityHeaders section:

"SecurityHeaders": {
  "Content-Security-Policy": "form-action 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none'",
  "Feature-Policy": "camera 'none'",
  "Referrer-Policy": "strict-origin-when-cross-origin",
  "X-Content-Type-Options": "nosniff",
  "X-Frame-Options": "DENY",
  "X-XSS-Protection": "1; mode=block",
  "Cache-Control": "no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate",
  "Pragma": "no-cache",
  "Expires": "0"
},

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

Open ClassifiedAds.WebAPI/appsettings.json and jump to CORS section:

"CORS": {
  "AllowAnyOrigin": false,
  "AllowedOrigins": [ "http://localhost:4200", "http://localhost:3000", "http://localhost:8080" ]
},

External Login

Open ClassifiedAds.IdentityServer/appsettings.json and jump to ExternalLogin section:

"ExternalLogin": {
  "AzureActiveDirectory": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "Authority": "https://login.microsoftonline.com/<Directory (tenant) ID>",
    "ClientId": "<Application (client) ID",
    "ClientSecret": "xxx"
  },
  "Microsoft": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "ClientId": "<Application (client) ID",
    "ClientSecret": "xxx"
  },
  "Google": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "ClientId": "xxx",
    "ClientSecret": "xxx"
  },
  "Facebook": {
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "AppId": "xxx",
    "AppSecret": "xxx"
  }
},

Sending Email

Open ClassifiedAds.Background/appsettings.json and jump to Notification -> Email section:
```
"Notification": {
  "Email": {
    "Provider": "Fake",
  }
}
```

Use SmtpClient:

"Notification": {
  "Email": {
    "Provider": "SmtpClient",
    "SmtpClient": {
      "Host": "localhost",
      "Port": "",
      "UserName": "",
      "Password": "",
      "EnableSsl": ""
    }
  }
}

Sending SMS

Open ClassifiedAds.Background/appsettings.json and jump to Notification -> Sms section:
```
"Notification": {
  "Sms": {
    "Provider": "Fake",
  }
}
```

Use Twilio

"Notification": {
  "Sms": {
    "Provider": "Twilio",
    "Twilio": {
      "AccountSId": "",
      "AuthToken": "",
      "FromNumber": ""
    }
  }
}

Run or Debug the Solution

Web MVC Home Page: https://localhost:44364/
Navigate to Health Checks UI https://localhost:44364/healthchecks-ui#/healthchecks and make sure everything is green.
Login on Identity Server:
- Option 1: Use default created account:
  - User Name: phong@gmail.com
  - Password: v*7Un8b4rcN@<-RN
- Option 2: Register new account at https://localhost:44367/Account/Register
Open Blazor Home Page at: https://localhost:44331

How to Build and Run Single Page Applications:

Angular:

Navigate to folder: UIs/angular/
```
npm install
ng serve
```

Update environment.ts & environment.prod.ts

export const environment = {
  OpenIdConnect: {
    Authority: "https://localhost:44367",
    ClientId: "ClassifiedAds.Angular"
  },
  ResourceServer: {
    Endpoint: "https://localhost:44312/api/"
  },
  CurrentUrl: "http://localhost:4200/"
};

Go to http://localhost:4200/

React:

Navigate to folder: UIs/reactjs/
```
npm install
npm run dev
```

Update environment.dev.tsx & environment.tsx

const environment = {
    OpenIdConnect: {
        Authority: "https://localhost:44367",
        ClientId: "ClassifiedAds.React"
    },
    ResourceServer: {
        Endpoint: "https://localhost:44312/api/"
    },
    CurrentUrl: "http://localhost:3000/"
};
export default environment;

Go to http://localhost:3000/

Vue:

Navigate to folder: UIs/vuejs/
```
npm install
npm run dev
```

Update environment.dev.ts & environment.dev.ts

const environment = {
    OpenIdConnect: {
        Authority: "https://localhost:44367",
        ClientId: "ClassifiedAds.Vue"
    },
    ResourceServer: {
        Endpoint: "https://localhost:44312/api/"
    },
    CurrentUrl: "http://localhost:8080/"
};
export default environment;

Go to http://localhost:8080/

Before Login, go to Identity Server https://localhost:44367/Client to make sure application clients have been registered:

How to Run on Docker Containers:

Add Migrations if you haven't done on previous steps:

Install dotnet-ef cli:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef --version="8.0"

Navigate to ClassifiedAds.Migrator and run these commands:

dotnet ef migrations add Init --context AdsDbContext -o Migrations/AdsDb

Navigate to Monolith and run:
```
docker compose build
docker compose up
```
Open Web MVC Home Page at: http://host.docker.internal:9003
Navigate to Health Checks UI http://host.docker.internal:9003/healthchecks-ui#/healthchecks and make sure everything is green.
Login on Identity Server:
- Use default created account: phong@gmail.com / v*7Un8b4rcN@<-RN
- Register new account at http://host.docker.internal:9000/Account/Register
Open Blazor Home Page at: http://host.docker.internal:9008

How to Run Integration & End to End Tests:

Update ClassifiedAds.IntegrationTests/appsettings.json

{
  "OpenIdConnect": {
    "Authority": "https://localhost:44367",
    "ClientId": "ClassifiedAds.WebMVC",
    "ClientSecret": "secret",
    "RequireHttpsMetadata": "true"
  },
  "WebAPI": {
    "Endpoint": "https://localhost:44312"
  },
  "Login": {
    "UserName": "phong@gmail.com",
    "Password": "v*7Un8b4rcN@<-RN",
    "Scope": "ClassifiedAds.WebAPI"
  }
}

Download Chrome Driver

Update EndToEndUiTests/appsettings.json

{
  "ChromeDriverPath": "D:\\Downloads\\chromedriver_win32\\72",
  "Login": {
    "Url": "https://localhost:44364/Home/Login",
    "UserName": "phong@gmail.com",
    "Password": "v*7Un8b4rcN@<-RN"
  }
}

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Application URLs:

https://github.com/phongnguyend/Practical.CleanArchitecture/wiki/Application-URLs

Roadmap:

https://github.com/phongnguyend/Practical.CleanArchitecture/wiki/Roadmap

Licence 🔑

This repository is licensed under the MIT license.

Duende.IdentityServer License 🔑

Duende.IdentityServer is available under both a FOSS (RPL) and a commercial license.

For the production environment, it is necessary to get a specific license, if you would like more information about the licensing of Duende.IdentityServer - please check this link.

The source code under /src/IdentityServers/Duende folder uses the source code from https://github.com/DuendeSoftware/IdentityServer.Quickstart.UI which is under the terms of the following license.