Cloud-Based Learning Management System (LMS)

Overview

Cloud-Based Learning Management System (LMS) is a robust and scalable platform that enables teachers to upload video-based courses and students to enroll, pay, and stream content securely. The platform is fully serverless and optimized for cost, performance, and security.

Role-Based Functionality

• Teacher Role:

  • Teachers can securely sign in via Clerk and access their dashboard.
  • They can upload large course videos directly to AWS S3 using pre-signed URLs.
  • Teachers can create courses, manage uploaded content, and track enrolled students.

• Student Role:

  • Students can browse available courses and enroll through a secure, Stripe-integrated multi-step checkout process.
  • Once enrolled, students gain access to streaming content delivered through CloudFront with pre-signed URLs, ensuring time-limited access to private videos.
  • Students can view purchase history and securely manage their course dashboard.

Frontend Implementation

• Built using Next.js with dynamic routing and React Server Components.
• Applied Tailwind CSS and Radix UI for building a responsive, accessible user interface.
• Clerk was integrated on the frontend for authentication and role management.
• User flows include course discovery, payment, dashboard access, and secure video viewing.
• Hosted on Vercel with GitHub-based CI/CD workflows for seamless deployment and rollback.

Backend Architecture

• The backend was developed using Express.js and Dockerized for portability.
• All routes are secured and validated to enforce user roles (teacher/student).
• Video upload requests generate pre-signed S3 URLs, allowing large file transfers while bypassing the 10MB API Gateway limit.
• Data is stored in Amazon DynamoDB, organizing courses, enrollments, and transactions with efficient NoSQL schema.
• Stripe is used to handle secure payments, supporting multi-step checkout and authenticated user validation.

AWS Integration

• AWS S3 stores all uploaded video content.
• AWS CloudFront is used to distribute videos securely using pre-signed CloudFront URLs, enabling time-restricted streaming access.
• Pre-Signed S3 URLs allow teachers to upload large video files directly without routing through the backend.
• The backend is Dockerized and deployed to AWS Lambda using serverless-http, ensuring scalability and cost-efficiency.
• API Gateway serves as the secure entry point for all backend HTTP requests and routes them to Lambda functions.
• DynamoDB is used to store all critical app data (courses, users, payments), offering high availability and scalability.

Deployment & DevOps

• The frontend is deployed on Vercel, using automatic deployment pipelines triggered by GitHub commits.
• The backend runs on AWS Lambda, deployed via the Serverless Framework with Docker support.
• Leveraged Git and modular design patterns for maintainability and collaborative development.

Live Demo

Visit the project: next-lms-management.vercel.app