What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Microservices?
Microservices are seen as a famous software design architecture that breaks down monolithic systems. When it comes to software applications, they are a collection of loosely coupled services. Each microservice is responsible for a certain feature. In terms of software engineering, microservices adhere to service-oriented architecture (SOA) architectural principles.
Due to their independence from one another, testing microservices using test automation services can lead to streamlined benefits. When working with outdated systems or when the system architecture is goal-oriented, success with microservices is greatly enhanced.
In this article, we will attempt to comprehend the microservices architecture and look into the pros and cons of its implementation.
Introduction to Microservices Architecture
Microservices design is breaking down an application into many smaller services, each of which runs in its own process and communicates using lightweight protocols such as HTTP, AMQP, or XMPP. The best part is that these services can be simply built and implemented independently of one another. Microservices also have a self-owned data model, allowing them to manage their own database.
Microservices can be used in enterprise systems for a variety of tasks. This covers the creation of new features, application upgrades, etc. Microservices are typically implemented in tandem with containers to enable teams to bundle and operate their services independently. Containers are designed to make it easier to deploy your services across various environments.
Another way to understand the benefits of microservices architecture style is by comparing it with the monolithic style- a monolithic app created as a single entity.
Monolithic applications are no longer proving to be useful for users as more apps are being moved to the cloud. When using a monolith, the change cycles become entangled, making it difficult to keep a good modular structure for an extended period of time.
This issue is thought to be resolved by the microservice architectural style, which calls for the development of applications as collections of services. The ability to independently deploy, scale, and exhibit a strong module boundary for each service allows for the creation of distinct services in various programming languages.
Advantages of Microservices
Enhanced Scalability
The microservices architecture allows for the autonomous design and development of each service. As a result, the team can update the relevant microservice, which is in charge of that functionality, if any particular piece of the application has to be updated. This feature enables a smooth upgrade procedure and efficient operation of the software system.
Simplified Maintenance
Updates to microservices are significantly simpler than updates to monolithic applications because they are compact and self-contained. Additionally, there is a lower possibility of problems happening when changes are performed because each microservice is accountable for a certain task. This reduces the risk and time involved in maintenance and updating significantly.
Fault Isolation for Reduced Downtime
If a particular microservice undergoes a problem, you can isolate it to just that microservice and stop compounding failures from causing the application to crash. Because of this fault isolation, even if one of the important components of your application fails, it can still function.
Deploy Multiple Technologies
When developing new services, development teams have the freedom and flexibility to experiment with new technologies. It is critical to understand that the modules have less technological dependencies. Also, returning to previous iterations is less difficult.
Disadvantages of Microservices
Increased Network Traffic
Because they are designed to be independent components, microservices rely heavily on the network to communicate with one another. This may result in increased network traffic and long response times. Finding problems might also be difficult when numerous microservices are interacting with one another.
Issues with Global Testing
To be honest, testing a microservices application can be difficult. In a monolithic paradigm, all that would be required of us is to ensure that our WAR and the core database can communicate before deploying it to an application server. Microservices must be confirmed for each dependent function before testing can begin using them. This is considered as a prominent downside of microservices.
Complex Communication Among Services
The communication overhead increases when an application is broken up into multiple smaller parts. Developers must proceed with utmost caution when handling requests between the different components. There may be a need for an interpreter if various systems interact in different ways. This could make installing the entire system at once more difficult.
Extended Development Time
Since microservices are more intricate and require more collaboration than monolithic systems, they take longer to develop. Moreover, because each microservice is deployed separately, it takes much longer to get them all up and running. Additionally, developers must be knowledgeable in a wide range of technologies in order to focus on a microservice-based solution.
Conclusion
As stated in the text above, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of microservices is essential to making an informed decision about whether to deploy them in your enterprise systems. Microservices are a favored SOA over monolith due to improved performance and technology consumption. However, several disadvantages, such as the difficult deployment process, should be taken into account.
It is best to work with a knowledgeable microservices testing services company if you want to implement microservices architecture within your business. Join hands with ImpactQA which is a global leader in offering smart solutions around microservices deployment & testing to enterprises, SMEs and start-ups alike.
