Multi Tenant Architecture in Software: What Is It and Its Databases Patterns

The multi-tenant architecture is a software architecture approach where a single instance of an application serves multiple tenants, such as companies, groups, or individual users. Each tenant's data is isolated and customized, despite sharing the same infrastructure and code base. A simple example of a multi-tenant application is a shared house, where each tenant has their own locked room (data) and common facilities (infrastructure). In a cloud service like Slack or Jira, each company uses the same system but sees only their own data and customizations. Multi-tenant architecture differs from user accounts in that each tenant has its own isolated space, whereas user accounts share the same data and general configurations. In a multi-tenant application, each tenant can have different configurations, branding, or even functionalities. Managing databases in a multi-tenant application requires deciding how to design the database, such as using one database and one schema for all tenants, a database for each tenant, or one database with different schemas for each tenant. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages, including isolation, customization, and resource costs. The multi-tenant architecture is commonly used in SAAS (Software as a Service) applications, such as project management tools and cloud services. Understanding the multi-tenant pattern can help developers design and implement more efficient and scalable applications.