How to Build a Complete Backend Stack for Your Startup from Scratch

If you are the leader of a startup, this article explains how to build a backend technology stack from zero, covering the four layers of language, components, processes, and systems.

Backend Technology Stack Structure

The overall structure is illustrated in the diagram below:

Component Selection

1. Project/Bug Management

Redmine – Ruby‑based, many plugins, customizable fields.

Phabricator – PHP‑based, originally from Facebook, includes code review and task management.

Jira – Java‑based, supports user stories, burndown charts, and extensive project tracking.

Wukong CRM – Open‑source CRM with basic task management, suited for small B2B customers.

2. DNS

Alibaba Cloud DNS (Aliwanwang)

Tencent DNSPod

Choose one based on region and cost; for overseas services, Amazon Route 53 is recommended.

3. Load Balancing (LB)

Supports TCP/UDP (layer 4) and HTTP/HTTPS (layer 7).

Cloud providers offer managed LB services (Alibaba SLB, Tencent CLB, AWS ELB); self‑hosted options include LVS + Nginx.

4. CDN

Domestic providers: Wangsu, Tencent, Alibaba. International providers: Amazon CloudFront, Akamai. Use multiple CDNs for redundancy and better coverage.

5. RPC Frameworks

Cross‑language: Thrift, gRPC, Hessian, Hprose. Service‑governance: Dubbo, DubboX, Motan, rpcx.

6. Service Discovery

etcd – Distributed key‑value store used by Kubernetes.

Consul – Service discovery and health checking.

Apache ZooKeeper – Coordination service.

7. Relational Databases

Traditional: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, etc.

NewSQL examples: TiDB, CockroachDB.

8. NoSQL

Key‑Value: Redis, Memcached.

Column‑Family: HBase, Cassandra.

Document: MongoDB, CouchDB.

Graph: Neo4j.

9. Message Middleware

Used for asynchronous processing, system decoupling, and traffic shaping; common choices include RabbitMQ, Kafka, and RocketMQ.

10. Code Management

Git as version control.

GitLab (open‑source) for repository hosting and CI.

Gerrit for code review.

11. Continuous Integration

Jenkins, TeamCity, Strider, GitLab CI, Travis, GoCD.

12. Logging System

ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) with Nginx reverse proxy for security.

13. Monitoring System

Prometheus (pull‑based) with Grafana for visualization; alternatives include Zabbix and Open‑Falcon.

14. Configuration Management

ZooKeeper or etcd with UI/API and version history.

Automation tools (Puppet, Ansible) to push config files.

15. Release & Deployment

Typical flow: code → artifact → deployable service → production. Open‑source tools include Jenkins + GitLab + Walle for release pipelines.

16. Jump Server

Jumpserver provides role‑based access control, audit logs, and session recording for privileged operations.

17. Machine Management

Ansible – agentless, SSH‑based, suitable for small‑to‑medium fleets.

SaltStack – uses ZeroMQ, better for large‑scale concurrency.

Startup Recommendations

1. Choose the Right Language

Prefer languages familiar to the team, modern, with rich open‑source ecosystem, and easy to hire.

2. Choose Components & Cloud Provider

Select reliable cloud vendors and mature open‑source components proven in large‑scale production.

3. Define Processes & Standards

Establish coding, release, operations, database, alert handling, and reporting procedures.

4. Build or Adopt Supporting Systems

Use open‑source tools that match your language and component choices to solidify processes.

5. Consider Future Scalability

Evaluate whether the stack can grow to hundreds of engineers and whether major changes will be needed as the company expands.