Decoupled architecture

In web content management, a decoupled architecture is one in which the back-end authoring environment is separated from the front-end publishing environment by a firewall and, at times, geographically (such as by servers being placed in two separate buildings with a secure connection). 

Thus, publishing content involves transferring it from one environment to another, making it a highly secure setup, as it’s much harder for hackers to access the authoring environment when hacking the website.

Key benefits

  • It creates a much more secure authoring environment 
  • Authoring can continue seamlessly in the background even when the front-end publishing environment is undergoing maintenance or is not functional 
  • Vice versa, the website can stay operational, even when the authoring environment is offline 
  • It’s much easier to scale the front end 
  • It’s easier to upgrade since the front end and back end can be upgraded independently 
  • It makes it possible to set up multiple publishing locations (e.g. one behind the Great Firewall of China) and deploy content easily from a single authoring environment

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