Microservices Architecture using Docker Containers

Designing Microservices Architecture using Docker Containers

Developers today are using Docker to build microservices, which help to decentralize packages. They also serve to divide tasks into separate and stand-alone integrations that collaborate whenever required. As an example, developers for a nationwide food chain enterprise might build microservice applications for taking orders, processing payments, and creating a ‘produce food’ ticket for the makers and a delivery ticket for the delivery personnel. These microservices would then operate in a manner to get pizzas cooked and delivered all over the country from wherever orders come in.

Designing with microservices using Docker requires a new thought approach. However, it also creates limitless capabilities for building stable as well as scalable integrations. Let us see how they can work for you.

Microservices – A brief note

Developing an application using the microservices model is all about breaking down a “monolithic” application, and forming an architecture structure in which specialized, cloud-hosted smaller applications, each designed to perform a single task well, work together. Microservices serve to distribute application load and, therefore, ensure stability with services that are replicable, scalable and able to interact with one another when required.

Nevertheless, the major question is about the approach that needs to be picked up for breaking down the monolithic application. When decomposing the application into modules, software architects follow planned decomposition patterns and sort the new software modules into smaller but logical working groups.

As an example, the shipping and tracking software ( of a grocery chain) currently using one application for fruit can be decomposed into smaller modules that process individual fruits such as one for bananas, another one for oranges, etc. While this may improve some aspects of tracking, decomposing the software package along logical subdomains—fruit types as in this case—can have major consequences on business ability.

The software developer expert Martin Fowler opines thus about the trap of hyper-focus during decomposition by subdomain. He says that when trying to split a large application into smaller parts, the management often tends to focus on the technology, UI teams, and the database and server-side logic teams. When separated along this type of logic, making simple changes entails more time required for cross-teams seeking budgetary approvals.

However, microservices architecture takes a different approach when reorganizing the modules. It decomposes applications around business functions, using cross-functional teams to develop, maintain, and continuously deploy microservices. Fowler emphasizes a business-focused decomposition.

Microservices are typically designed to decentralize traditional data storage models found in monolithic applications. Microservices work best with their own data stores which are either repeated instances of the same database technology or a mix of separate database types that best suit the specific service. This approach is referred to as Polyglot Persistence. This ability to mix and match data-store types presents the developers with myriad possibilities.

Building microservices architecture – challenges encountered

The power and possibilities of microservices also throw up challenges that the developers have to address and manage regularly.

Service tracking

Services that are distributed across different hosts are difficult to track. Collaborating with microservices is a tougher job as they are scattered throughout your environment. They have to be inventoried and made quickly accessible.

Rapid resource scaling

A microservice consumes fewer resources than monolithic applications; however, it is important to keep in mind that the number of microservices in production can grow rapidly when your architecture scales. If they are not properly managed, several little hosts can together consume more resources than a monolithic application.

Inefficient minimal resourcing

In the event that you are utilizing the AWS environment, there is a bottom limit to the resources you can assign to a task. Microservices can be very small and may require only a portion of a minimal EC2 instance. This can result in wasted resources and excess costs that far exceed the actual requirement (of resources) of the microservice.

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