MONOLITHIC ARCHITECTURE VERSUS MICROSERVICES

The power of the herd. Microservices (II)

29 June 2023

In the previous post, Microservices I, we already mentioned the advantages of this type of architecture.

A monolithic architecture is a traditional approach where all the functionality of an application is contained in a single package or module. This can be easier to implement and maintain initially, as all the code is housed in one place. However, as the application grows in complexity and size, it can become more difficult to scale and update.

A microservices architecture, on the other hand, divides an application into small, independent services that communicate with each other through an application programming interface (API).

The advantages of a microservices architecture include scalability and flexibility, as each service is responsible for a specific functionality.

The fact that each service can scale independently allows it to better adapt to changes in traffic and application growth. It also allows for greater flexibility, as each service can be developed in a different programming language and with different tools, which favours the adoption of new technologies and the choice of the best tools for each service. Consequently, the fact that each service can be developed, tested and deployed independently facilitates the updating and improvement process, maximising the performance and agility of the development.

1. The server side is technologically heterogeneous. Always maximising the performance and agility of development.
2. In its scalability, it only replicates the most congested part, improving infrastructure costs, rather than replicating the entire application. This improves infrastructure costs and adapts better to changes in traffic and application growth.
3. A refactoring is always about a part and not a whole. It will only affect a specific service and not the whole application, which facilitates the update and upgrade process.
4. Having parts in different repositories prevents conflicts. In a microservices architecture, each service is hosted in a different repository, which prevents conflicts and facilitates the development and upgrade process.
5. Only the necessary parts are exposed, which facilitates the implementation of perimeter security and better protects the application.
6. In a microservices architecture, each service has a unique responsibility, which prevents code duplication and eases the development and update process.
7. Deploying a part will always be faster than deploying a whole one. Each service can be deployed independently, which allows for a faster development and update process.
8. Less coupling. This is an advantage of the microservices architecture, as each service is independent and has its own unique responsibility, which reduces coupling between application components. This means that changes in one service do not directly affect the other services, which facilitates scalability, maintenance and application development. In addition, this allows for greater flexibility, as a service can be upgraded or replaced without affecting the operation of the entire application.

Conversely, a disadvantage of a microservices architecture is the additional complexity involved in handling multiple services and the communication between them. In addition, there may be a higher cost in terms of infrastructure and resources needed to handle a large number of services.

On the technical side, a microservices architecture requires good planning and design of APIs to ensure communication between services. It also requires, on the one hand, a good configuration management and deployment of services; and, on the other hand, a strategy for error handling and monitoring.

Furthermore, it is important to bear in mind that a microservices architecture requires a higher cost in terms of infrastructure and resources needed to handle a large number of services. Therefore, it is important to carefully evaluate the needs of the project and the available resources before choosing this architecture. This is why MindDen’s teams help our clients to find the optimal solution adapted to the reality of their project and their real needs.

At MindDen, we have been working in this type of paradigm for many years and have tackled projects of all kinds. Some, where a distributed architecture strategy is the best option, and others, where maintaining a coupled development base can help us achieve our objectives.