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Microservices

▾ 2 MINUTE READ — CLOSE

Microservices are Built, Deployed and Managed Independently

Microservices are an architectural approach to software development based on building an application as a collection of small services. There is no standard definition for what amount of code constitutes a “small service.” But some experts say it’s about the size at which a team can query the service’s health with a single request that returns a “yes” or “no” answer. Similarly, a service is too big if it requires more than one team to manage it.

Each service has its own unique and well-defined role, runs in its own process and communicates via HTTP APIs or messaging. Each microservice can be deployed, upgraded, scaled and restarted independently of all the sibling services in the application. They are typically orchestrated by an automated system, making it possible to have frequent updates of live applications without affecting the end users.

Microservices Advantages

Microservices are an evolution of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) — and some would argue that microservices are just SOA rebranded to make it hip again. But really, cloud native microservices take the SOA concept to a new level. The difference now is that cloud infrastructure has finally caught up to the SOA concept, so that loosely-coupled services (aka microservices) are now feasible to implement and manage at scale.

By enabling small autonomous teams to develop, deploy and scale their respective services independently, microservices essentially parallelize development, thereby speeding up the production cycle exponentially.

Adoption of microservices is closely correlated with the use of DevOps, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) and containers. Container-based — and open source — systems like Docker and Kubernetes are a very effective way to develop, deploy and manage microservices. Many mature and robust tools, platforms and other services already exist in the container space, rendering containerization a natural fit for microservices-based applications.

Microservices Disadvantages

Microservices have many advantages, but migrating away from a monolith introduces its own set of challenges. With a microservices architecture, service discovery, networking, testing and monitoring all become more complex and difficult, if not impossible, to manage following reliable older systems and practices. And the problem is amplified as the number of services grow. Tools that once seemed essential, such as logging, are now racking up huge bills that can send a microservices migration into negative ROI territory. Thus, there are many business and process decisions involved in transitioning to a microservices-based architecture.

In a true microservices approach, teams run only the exact small services they need, and nothing else. It’s a sleek setup, but these services are not aware of each other until you step in to orchestrate them. Until recently, this implementation and orchestration piece have been beyond the engineering reach of many smaller to mid-size organizations.

A Market Leap Forward for Microservices Offerings

Fortunately, a market leap forward is now happening with microservices. There is a virtual tech sector land rush on, with companies feverishly producing not just microservices themselves, but the platforms, tools and frameworks necessary for joining them seamlessly together.

At this early stage in the developing ecosystem around microservices, it can be difficult to gauge both best fit and ultimate longevity. Despite the abundant potential benefits, microservices are not the right solution for every project. A well-built monolithic architecture can scale just as well, and remains the best option, in many scenarios.

Still, there are many companies for which microservices are the best option, and well worth the immediate challenge.


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Cloud Services / Containers / Kubernetes / Microservices

Software Defined Talk: An AWS Private Cloud Strategy, and YAML-Based Microservices

2 Jun 2017 2:50pm, by Michael Coté

API Management / CI/CD / Development / Microservices / Serverless / Contributed

Serverless Isn’t About Cost Savings, It’s About At-Bats

1 Jun 2017 3:00am, by Pete Johnson

CI/CD / Containers / Microservices

Microsoft Draft Offers Kubernetes Support for Developers

31 May 2017 8:26am, by Mary Branscombe

Cloud Native / Cloud Services / Microservices / Networking

Juniper Networks: Should Workloads and Infrastructure Be Managed with the Same Platform?

29 May 2017 1:00am, by Scott M. Fulton III

Cloud Native / Containers / Kubernetes / Microservices / Contributed

The Myth of Cloud-Native Portability

24 May 2017 1:00pm, by Bilgin Ibryam

Cloud Services / Containers / Development / Kubernetes / Microservices / Monitoring / Open Source / Security / Storage

Google, IBM, Lyft Launch a Kubernetes-based Open Source Microservices Framework

24 May 2017 11:57am, by Alex Handy

Cloud Native / Containers / Data / Kubernetes / Microservices

Microsoft Brings Container Orchestration to Azure Service Fabric, for Windows and (Soon) Linux

17 May 2017 1:00am, by Mary Branscombe

API Management / Microservices / Serverless

Serverless Works Best in API Architectures

9 May 2017 4:00am, by Mark Boyd

Culture / DevOps / Edge / IoT / Machine Learning / Microservices

A New Developer Conference Explores the Intersection of Infrastructure and Application Technologies

4 May 2017 3:10pm, by Alex Williams

API Management / Cloud Native / Cloud Services / Containers / Development / DevOps / Kubernetes / Microservices / Open Source

Cloud Foundry Service Broker API: Simplicity Is the Secret Sauce

3 May 2017 3:00pm, by Joab Jackson

Cloud Services / Containers / Development / Kubernetes / Microservices / Tools

Red Hat Summit Serves Up OpenShift.io, a Cloud Service for Containerized Java Microservices

3 May 2017 11:01am, by Scott M. Fulton III

Cloud Native / Kubernetes / Microservices

The Case for Containerizing Middleware

2 May 2017 6:00am, by Scott M. Fulton III

Cloud Native / Containers / Microservices / Networking

F5 Networks: Containers Need Both Networking and Orchestration

28 Apr 2017 12:51pm, by Scott M. Fulton III

API Management / Microservices

A MuleSoft Concession? RAML Creators Join OpenAPI Initiative to Unify API Descriptions

28 Apr 2017 10:08am, by Alex Handy

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Linkerd 1.0, a Communications Service Mesh for Cloud-Native Apps

27 Apr 2017 1:00am, by Susan Hall

Containers / Development / Kubernetes / Microservices

Docker Doesn’t Fear Kubernetes, Keeps Sights on the Enterprise Instead

26 Apr 2017 11:23am, by Joab Jackson

Containers / Kubernetes / Microservices

Tutorial: Configuring a Kubernetes DevTest Cluster in DigitalOcean

20 Apr 2017 1:00am, by Janakiram MSV

Cloud Native / Culture / Edge / IoT / Microservices / Security / Serverless

iRobot Confronts the Challenges of Running Serverless at Scale

12 Apr 2017 1:00am, by Mark Boyd

Cloud Native / Development / Microservices

The Latest Pivotal Cloud Foundry Sets the Stage for .NET Microservices

10 Apr 2017 1:00am, by Scott M. Fulton III

CI/CD / Cloud Native / DevOps / Machine Learning / Microservices

Staples Moves to Microservices and Cognitive Computing for Flexibility and Growth

5 Apr 2017 12:00pm, by Darryl Taft

Cloud Native / Cloud Services / Containers / Kubernetes / Microservices

IBM Taps Kubernetes for the Bluemix Container Service

3 Apr 2017 1:00am, by Darryl Taft

Microservices / Monitoring

Weave Cloud’s New Enterprise Edition Comes with Guided Functionality, Additional Support

29 Mar 2017 7:42am, by Scott M. Fulton III

Containers / Kubernetes / Microservices / Networking / Security / Contributed

Automating Kubernetes Cluster Operations with Operators

21 Mar 2017 8:59pm, by Timo Derstappen

CI/CD / Cloud Native / Containers / DevOps / Microservices / Contributed

The Cloud-Native Application Lifecycle Difference: Continuous Change

21 Mar 2017 1:00am, by Chip Childers

CI/CD / Development / Microservices / Networking / Contributed

IT Automation Best Practices for Network Engineers and Architects

14 Mar 2017 8:55am, by Eric Anderson

CI/CD / Containers / Development / Kubernetes / Microservices

Ansible Container: Playbooks as the Sole Build and Management Tool

8 Mar 2017 1:00am, by Susan Hall

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