{"id":11674,"date":"2021-02-19T10:03:48","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T09:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intellias.com\/?p=11674"},"modified":"2023-06-15T12:08:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T10:08:57","slug":"the-decisive-role-of-microservices-in-modern-software-development","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/intellias.com\/the-decisive-role-of-microservices-in-modern-software-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Microservices Architecture: A Guide to Sustainable Modernization"},"content":{"rendered":"
During the first two quarters of 2020, Netflix added nearly 26 million new subscribers and was ready to stream more content than ever (thanks to furloughs and lockdowns). So much so that the European Commission asked Netflix CEO Reed Hasting<\/a> to switch EU subscribers to standard definition (SD) streaming (instead of HD) to prevent European internet infrastructure from going down due to the increased load.<\/p>\n How could Netflix accommodate such immense growth without flinching? Hint: thanks to a cloud-based microservices architecture.<\/p>\n Between 2010 and 2016, the streaming platform took a strategic step to fully migrate its operations to the cloud and speed up microservices development. Today, Netflix relies on over 700 microservices<\/a> to power different aspects of its binge-watching service, from saving watched shows to billing your card. Each service is independently deployable and upgradable, meaning if Netflix wants to make a quick change or two, the entire platform and viewing experience won\u2019t be affected.<\/p>\n While Netflix was one of the earliest proponents of microservices architecture advantages, it\u2019s no longer the exclusive connoisseur of this approach to modern software development. From Apple to Zoom, businesses across all verticals are retiring their legacy architectures in favor of microservices.<\/p>\n A 2020 O’Reilly article titled \u201cMicroservices Adoption in 2020\u201d<\/a> shares that almost one-third (29%) of tech leaders have either migrated their systems to or implemented most of their systems using a microservices software architecture.<\/p>\n That leaves us wondering: Why are over two-thirds of business leaders not yet sold on the advantages of microservices?<\/p>\n Given that most industries have vaulted years ahead in terms of consumer and business digital penetration courtesy of the pandemic, issues of application performance and scalability have become even more pressing.<\/p>\n So the question is this: Will your business be like the European Commission, asking users to please slow down as we can\u2019t keep up? Or would you rather take the Netflix approach and confidently work towards delivering unbeatable service to your customers?<\/p>\n The answer is obvious, isn\u2019t it? Before we get into the details. let\u2019s start with a quick refresher of the key terms.<\/p>\n A microservice is a bundle featuring a certain set of processes that run independently and can communicate with other services via lightweight protocols known as RESTful APIs.<\/p>\n You can think of a microservice as a LEGO brick \u2014 it might be either independent or connected with other bricks to make a more complex structure. Depending on the purpose, microservices use either:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a simple example of how microservices communicate:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Source: Microsoft<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n A less technical explanation? In a microservice-based architecture, different services communicate via application programming interfaces, or APIs \u2014 code-level interfaces for connecting applications. Microservice APIs act like glue, holding together all elements of a platform.<\/p>\n An API is a special set of rules and routines for exchanging data and actions between different microservices.\u00a0An API gateway serves as an intermediary between the UI (clients) and microservices, forwarding user requests to specific services and returning responses from them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The benefits of microservices include higher resilience due to isolation, faster deployments, and technological diversity.<\/p>\n Higher resilience due to isolation.<\/b> Microservices are designed as products that can run independently of one another. So if one microservice fails, requests to it can be rerouted to a failover microservices. Additionally, the scoped nature of microservices lets you deploy updates, changes, or patches to one service rather than the entire app, effectively reducing the risks of downtime.<\/p>\n Finally, using microservices you can work on new features in a sandbox environment \u2014 and build a separate microservices platform to power new product features, test it for efficiency, and connect it to the main service. Each microservices codebase can be developed and managed autonomously without any exposure to other internal system components.<\/p>\n Faster deployments.<\/b> Containers and containerized deployments are some of the core principles of a microservices architecture. In essence, containers are ready-to-deploy software packages that can be launched automatically whenever the need arises, such as to replace a failed container or to release a new product feature. Containers dramatically reduce redundancy and speed up the frequency of new releases.<\/p>\n Primary reasons why organizations run container technologies<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Source: Portworx \u2014 Container Adoption Survey<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Technological diversity.<\/b> Each microservice can be programmed in a different language, meaning you can diversify your tech stack and cherry-pick the best technology for the purpose. This makes microservices a great tool for modernizing your codebase in installments and migrating to newer tech without operational disruptions.<\/p>\n For example, core banking software written in COBOL can be sustainably decoupled and modernized in increments. How to approach legacy banking software modernization<\/p>\n Quick FAQs: What is a microservice?<\/h2>\n
\n<\/p>\nHow do microservices communicate with each other?<\/h3>\n
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Microservice vs API: What\u2019s the difference?<\/h3>\n
What are the advantages of microservices?<\/h3>\n
\nAre there any disadvantages to microservices?<\/h3>\n