Daily Archives: March 15, 2023

Microservices and K8: The Pros and Cons of Converting Applications?

Converting applications into microservices and setting up into K8 can deliver a number of important advantages, such as:

  • Scalability: In a microservices application, each microservice can be scaled individually by increasing or decreasing the number of instances of that microservice. This means that the application can be scaled more efficiently and cost-effectively than a monolithic application.
  • Agility: Applications that run as a set of distributed microservices are more flexible because developers can update and scale each microservice independently. This means that new features can be added to the application more quickly and with less risk of breaking other parts of the application.
  • Resilience: Because microservices are distributed, they are more resilient than monolithic applications. If one microservice fails, the other microservices can continue to function, which means that the application as a whole is less likely to fail.

However, there are also some disadvantages to using microservices, such as:

  • Complexity: Microservices applications can be more complex than monolithic applications because they are made up of many smaller components. This can make it more difficult to develop, test, and deploy the application.
  • Cost: Because microservices applications are made up of many smaller components, they can be more expensive to develop and maintain than monolithic applications.
  • Security: Because microservices applications are distributed, they can be more difficult to secure than monolithic applications. Each microservice must be secured individually, which can be time-consuming and complex.

Examples of applications implemented in Microservices:

There are many applications that have been implemented using microservices. Here are some examples:

  1. Amazon: Amazon is known as an Internet retail giant, but it didn’t start that way. In the early 2000s, Amazon’s infrastructure was a monolithic application. However, as the company grew, it became clear that the monolithic application was no longer scalable. Amazon began to break its application down into smaller, more manageable microservices.
  2. Netflix: Netflix is another company that has found success through the use of microservices connected with APIs. Similar to Amazon, this microservices example began its journey in 2008 before the term “microservices” had come into fashion.
  3. Uber: Despite being a relatively new company, Uber has already made a name for itself in the world of microservices. Uber’s microservices architecture is based on a combination of RESTful APIs and Apache Thrift.
  4. Etsy: Etsy is an online marketplace that has been around since 2005. The company has been using microservices since 2010, and it has been a key factor in its success. Etsy’s microservices architecture is based on a two-layer API structure that helped improve rendering time.
  5. Capital One: Capital One is a financial services company that has been using microservices since 2014. The company has been able to reduce its time to market for new products and services by using microservices.
  6. Twitter: Twitter is another company that has found success through the use of microservices. Twitter’s microservices architecture is based on a decoupled architecture for quicker API releases.
  7. Lyft: Lyft moved to microservices to improve iteration speeds and automation. They introduced localization of development to improve iteration speeds.

The Critical activities to play when converting applications into microservices:

When converting applications into microservices, there are several critical activities that need to be performed. Here are some of them:

  1. Identify logical components: The first step is to identify the logical components of the application. This will help you understand how the application is structured and how it can be broken down into smaller, more manageable components.
  2. Flatten and refactor components: Once you have identified the logical components, you need to flatten and refactor them. This involves breaking down the components into smaller, more manageable pieces.
  3. Identify component dependencies: After you have flattened and refactored the components, you need to identify the dependencies between them. This will help you understand how the components interact with each other and how they can be separated into microservices.
  4. Identify component groups: Once you have identified the dependencies between the components, you need to group them into logical groups. This will help you understand how the microservices will be structured.
  5. Create an API for remote user interface: Once you have grouped the components into logical groups, you need to create an API for the remote user interface. This will allow the microservices to communicate with each other.
  6. Migrate component groups to macroservices: The next step is to migrate the component groups to macroservices. This involves moving the component groups to separate projects and making separate deployments.
  7. Migrate macroservices to microservices: Finally, you need to migrate the macroservices to microservices. This involves breaking down the macroservices into smaller, more manageable pieces.

The Roles in microservices projects:

There are several roles that are critical to the success of a microservices project. Here are some of them:

  1. Developers: Developers are responsible for writing the code for the microservices. They need to have a good understanding of the business requirements and the technical requirements of the project.
  2. Architects: Architects are responsible for designing the overall architecture of the microservices. They need to have a good understanding of the business requirements and the technical requirements of the project.
  3. Operations: Operations are responsible for deploying and maintaining the microservices. They need to have a good understanding of the infrastructure and the deployment process.
  4. Quality Assurance: Quality assurance is responsible for testing the microservices to ensure that they meet the business requirements and the technical requirements of the project.
  5. Project Managers: Project managers are responsible for managing the overall project. They need to have a good understanding of the business requirements and the technical requirements of the project.
  6. Business Analysts: Business analysts are responsible for gathering and analyzing the business requirements of the project. They need to have a good understanding of the business requirements and the technical requirements of the project.