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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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Microservices / Sponsored

Why a Microservices Hybrid Model Is What You Probably Need Instead

3 Apr 2019 3:00am, by Sonya Koptyev

Microservices / Networking

Kong Applies Machine Learning to Microservice Management

1 Apr 2019 9:11am, by Susan Hall

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28 Mar 2019 5:00pm, by B. Cameron Gain

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22 Mar 2019 9:34am, by Wojtek Cichon

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How Service Tiers Can Help to Avoid Microservices Disasters

20 Mar 2019 10:08am, by Lee Atchison

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How Service Meshes Are a Missing Link for Microservices

14 Mar 2019 5:00pm, by B. Cameron Gain

CI/CD / Cloud Native / Microservices / Sponsored

CI/CD Gets Standardization and Governance

12 Mar 2019 9:25am, by B. Cameron Gain

Microservices / Storage

Kubernetes-based Hammerspace Debuts Data-as-a-Microservice

5 Mar 2019 10:24am, by Mike Melanson

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Scytale Launches SPIFFE-Based Service Identity Management

4 Mar 2019 8:50am, by Susan Hall

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What Cloud Native Apps Really Mean

1 Mar 2019 3:00am, by Brian Dawson

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Why Service Meshes, Orchestrators Are Do or Die for Cloud Native Deployments

22 Feb 2019 10:16am, by Zach Jory

Edge / IoT / Microservices / Networking / Service Mesh / Technology / Contributed

Envoy and the Programmable Edge: Edge Proxies and the Developer Experience

13 Feb 2019 11:07am, by Daniel Bryant

Cloud Native / Microservices / Service Mesh / Technology / Sponsored

Top 3 Service Mesh Developments in 2019

29 Jan 2019 3:00am, by Zach Jory

Containers / Microservices / Sponsored / Contributed

How Teckro Uses Containers

28 Jan 2019 12:00pm, by Theo Despoudis

Cloud Native / Microservices / Networking

SuperGloo Unifies Management of Multiple Service Meshes

28 Jan 2019 6:00am, by Susan Hall

Microservices / Monitoring / Sponsored

How Raygun Co-Founder and CEO Spun Gold Out of Monitoring Agony

25 Jan 2019 2:03pm, by B. Cameron Gain

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Taming the Complexity Monster in a Cloud Native World

24 Jan 2019 3:00am, by Michael Churchman

Data / Kubernetes / Microservices

Database Operators Bring Stateful Workloads to Kubernetes

22 Jan 2019 7:50am, by Joab Jackson

Kubernetes / Microservices / Monitoring

LogicMonitor Shifts to Kubernetes Monitoring

17 Jan 2019 6:00am, by Mike Melanson

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Monitoring Metrics You Can’t Afford to Ignore

11 Jan 2019 7:24am, by Dave Farinelli

Cloud Native / Cloud Services / Kubernetes / Microservices / Serverless / Sponsored

Two CEOs Describe What the Cloud Really Offers Them  

10 Jan 2019 3:00pm, by B. Cameron Gain

Development / Microservices / Sponsored

Steeltoe: Modernize .Net Apps for a Microservices Architecture

9 Jan 2019 3:00am, by David Dieruf

Data / Microservices / Contributed

Microservices and NoSQL: A Great Match

7 Jan 2019 3:00am, by Oren Eini

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Why Bloomberg Bet Its Data on Kubernetes

28 Dec 2018 3:00pm, by B. Cameron Gain

Microservices / Service Mesh / Technology

How a Project Graduates from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation

26 Dec 2018 3:00pm, by B. Cameron Gain

Cloud Native / Containers / Microservices / Storage

How Storage Software Layers Facilitate Cloud Native Development

26 Dec 2018 11:29am, by Emily Omier

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