URL Shortener Service

A modern URL shortening service built with a focus on performance and scalability. This application provides real-time analytics and tracking capabilities through a distributed architecture. The system utilizes Redis caching for quick URL resolutions, Kafka for processing click events asynchronously, and MySQL for persistent storage.

Overview

The service is designed to handle high-throughput scenarios with features like:

• Efficient URL shortening with customizable slugs
• Real-time click tracking and analytics
• Geographic location detection for each click
• Distributed event processing for analytics
• Cache-first architecture for faster response times
• Scalable database design for URL management

The frontend provides a clean, responsive interface built with React and Vite, while the backend implements a robust microservices-style architecture using Express, Kafka, and Redis.

Project Architecture

Frontend Stack

• React with Vite
• React Router DOM
• TypeScript support

Backend Stack

• Node.js with Express
• Redis for caching and quick URL lookups
• MySQL (Sequelize ORM) for persistent storage
• Apache Kafka for click event processing
• GeoIP-lite for location tracking
• Winston for logging

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js
• Docker and Docker Compose
• npm/yarn

Infrastructure Setup

1. Clone the infrastructure repository:

git clone https://github.com/prasadborse02/docker-short-url-setup.git
cd docker-short-url-setup

2. Start the infrastructure services:

docker-compose up -d

This sets up:

• Redis server (port: 6379)
• MySQL database (port: 3306)
• Apache Kafka (port: 9092)
• Zookeeper (port: 2181)

Application Setup

1. Frontend:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev    # Runs on default Vite port

2. Backend:

cd backend
npm install
npm start      # Runs on port 3000

Configuration

Frontend (.env):

VITE_API_URL=http://0.0.0.0:3000

Backend (.env):

PORT=3000
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
KAFKA_BROKERS=localhost:9092
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=your_user
DB_PASS=your_password
DB_NAME=shorturl

API Documentation

URL Operations

Create Short URL

• POST /api/shorten

  {
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "requestCode?": "custom-name"
  }

Access Short URL

• GET /api/l/:shortCode
  • Redirects to original URL
  • Tracks analytics
  • Uses Redis cache

Analytics

• GET /api/analytics
  • Returns click statistics
  • Geographic data
  • Temporal analytics

Health Check

• GET /api/ping
  • Returns {"message": "pong"}

Architecture Features

Performance Optimizations

• Redis caching for frequent URLs
• Event-driven architecture using Kafka
• Efficient data persistence with MySQL

Dependencies

Frontend Packages:

• React v19
• React Router DOM v7
• Vite v6

Backend Packages:

• Express
• Sequelize
• Redis v4
• Kafka.js
• Winston
• GeoIP-lite

Screenshots

Front Page

Implementation

Analysis Tab