Cloud Arch Simulator teaches cache placement through live traffic failure scenarios

A developer has built Cloud Arch Simulator, an educational tool designed to teach cloud architecture concepts by letting users observe how component placement affects traffic flow in real time. The simulator models traffic on a directed graph, where offload components like CDNs, caches, and read replicas absorb a fixed fraction of passing traffic rather than processing full request volumes. Each scenario begins with a flawed topology that users must diagnose and fix by repositioning components within budget and latency constraints. Key lessons include how a cache placed on the wrong network branch provides no protection, and how autoscaling can be too slow to handle an initial traffic burst. The application is built with Angular and packaged as a Windows desktop app using Tauri, with the board, live metrics, and YAML config kept in sync throughout each simulation.