Why do some companies opt for monolithic architecture while others swear by microservices?
Why do giants like Amazon strive to return to monolithic architecture right after moving to microservices?
Switching to microservices raises many questions that CTOs and other technology leaders might have but are afraid to ask.
This article aims to answer them and align business and tech perspectives, helping you decide if microservices are right for your specific case.
Let’s dive right in.
Monolithic and Microservices Architectures: What are the differences?
Monolithic architecture overview
A monolithic architecture is a single-tiered software application where all components and functionalities are interconnected within a single codebase. This makes the code management straightforward but often cumbersome to scale and modify.
Best for: Early-stage startups, small businesses, and legacy enterprise applications. Monolithic architectures excel in small-scale applications that don't require frequent updates. They're also used where performance bottlenecks are minimal, and the deployment environment is stable.
Features
Monolithic applications are tightly coupled, meaning changes in one part often require modifications elsewhere.
They use a single, shared database for all components, simplifying data management but creating a single point of failure.
Monolithic systems prioritize simplicity over flexibility.
Monolithic is about simplicity in development and deployment
Developing monolithic applications is straightforward due to a single codebase, making management easier. The centralized codebase allows for unified building, testing, and deployment. Tools like Ruby on Rails, Django, and Spring Framework offer extensive built-in functionalities, streamlining development.
Deployment is simplified since the application is bundled into a single package or container, reducing the need for orchestration tools. Debugging is also easier because all components are in one place.
This simplicity is tempting, however it can become a liability as the application grows, leading to longer build times and more complex deployments. Additionally, scaling can be inefficient since the entire application must be replicated across servers.
Microservices architecture overview
Microservices architecture decomposes a software application into small, loosely coupled services. Each service runs in its own process and communicates through lightweight mechanisms like HTTP/REST or messaging queues.
Best for: Large-scale web applications, e-commerce platforms, and complex enterprise systems. Cloud-native applications also heavily utilize microservices to leverage cloud infrastructure effectively. They suit applications that experience varying loads, allowing different parts to scale independently.
Features
Microservices are decentralized, with each service representing a specific business function.
Services can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently, often using different programming languages and databases suited to each service's requirements.
This architecture uses APIs for communication, promoting modularity and interoperability.
Companies undergoing digital transformation find microservices advantageous due to their flexibility and scalability.
Scalability and Flexibility are Microservices’ Advantages
Microservices offer horizontal scalability, letting each service scale independently based on demand, optimizing resource usage and performance. This ensures resource-intensive services get more resources without impacting the entire system.
The architecture supports continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) practices, reducing time-to-market for new features and updates. Services can be updated or rolled back independently, minimizing downtime and risk.
The decoupled nature allows for technological diversity, fostering innovation and experimentation with new tools and technologies. While fault isolation ensures that failures in one service don't cascade, improving resilience and overall system stability. Maintenance and iteration cycles are faster, as smaller codebases are easier to manage and understand, allowing teams to quickly address issues and implement changes.
Benefits of Migrating to Microservices
1. Scalability and Performance
Microservices shine when it comes to horizontal scaling, allowing each service to scale independently. This optimizes resource use and prevents bottlenecks. Take Netflix, for example. By moving to microservices, they managed to cut server costs by 30% and boost system reliability by 50%. It means a smoother experience for users and more efficient use of resources.
2. Development Flexibility
One of the biggest perks of microservices is the ability to update and deploy services independently. It reduces downtime and allows for more innovation. For Amazon this approach has led to a 20% faster delivery of new features and a 15% overall increase in system efficiency. As seen, microservices give teams the freedom to innovate without being bogged down by a monolithic structure.
3. Resilience and Fault Isolation
Microservices architecture is great for fault tolerance because it isolates failures to individual services. In other words, a problem in one area doesn’t take down the whole system. For instance, Spotify saw around 40% reduction in system downtime after adopting microservices. They implemented circuit breakers and bulkheads, which helped them handle service failures more gracefully and improve overall resilience.
Challenges of Migrating to Microservices
1. Complexity in Management
Managing a microservices architecture can be complex, especially when it comes to service orchestration and dependency management. Tools like Kubernetes are essential, but they add another layer of complexity. For example, some businesses see up to a 25% increase in operational overhead due to the intricacies of managing multiple microservices and their interdependencies. This means more effort is needed to ensure everything runs smoothly.
2. Data Management Issues
Handling data across multiple services can be tricky. Transactions that span several services pose consistency challenges. Advanced strategies like event sourcing and CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation) are often needed to manage this. Companies which aren't ready to handle it face around a 15% increase in latency due to the distributed nature of their data processing.
3. Security Concerns
Microservices increase the attack surface, which makes securing inter-service communication crucial. To mitigate risks, using API gateways, encryption, and conducting regular security audits are essential steps for businesses.
4. Cultural and Organizational Changes
Shifting to microservices often requires new skills and changes in team structure. This can lead to initial productivity dips, but the long-term benefits often outweigh the short-term challenges. For example, businesses should be ready to increase their training budget by around 20% to get teams up to speed with microservices. Otherwise, business leaders might face sabotage and lack of employee awareness, leading to low ROI.
Why Some Businesses Migrate Back to Monolith
Despite the numerous benefits of microservices, some businesses reconsider their architectural choices. The question arises: why would companies that have built microservices architecture decide to revert to monolithic one, switch to Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) or opt for other ways?
The answer is simple: microservices aren't a cure-all, and developers have been proving this to business leaders for years.
Of course, companies face challenges like complexity, performance issues, organizational fit, or costs. So before starting your microservice journey, manage your expectations by considering each of these difficulties.
1. Complexity Overhead
Microservices can introduce significant operational complexity, making management and coordination more challenging. It often outweighs the benefits for some organizations, leading them to revert to simpler architectures.Use CaseAmazon Prime Video initially adopted microservices to handle their video quality monitoring. However, they soon faced overwhelming complexity and high costs with AWS Step Functions and S3. This operational burden led them to revert to a monolithic architecture, which reduced their infrastructure costs by over 90% and simplified their management processes.
2. Performance Bottlenecks
While microservices can enhance performance through scalability, they can also introduce latency issues due to inter-service communication overhead. It can be particularly problematic for applications requiring real-time processing.
3. Team and Organizational Fit
Not all teams are equipped to handle the demands of a microservices architecture. The need for new skills and team restructuring can lead to cultural misfits, impacting productivity and morale.
Use Case: A large enterprise found that their traditional development teams struggled with the shift to microservices. The required changes in workflows and responsibilities caused confusion and resistance among staff. Eventually, they decided to revert to a monolithic approach, which better aligned with their existing team structure and skills.
4. Cost Considerations
Maintaining a microservices environment can be unexpectedly costly, with expenses related to infrastructure, monitoring, and management tools. Extra costs can add up, making microservices less economically viable for some businesses.
Best Practices for Successful Microservices Adoption
Strategic Planning and Assessment
Before switching to microservices, businesses must ask key questions:
❓ "Do we need independent scalability for different parts of our app?"
❓ "Are we facing bottlenecks due to tightly coupled components?"
❓ "Is our deployment frequency hindered by our current setup?"
❓ And the most important one “Do we need microservices at all?”
Microservices solve issues like scalability, agility in deployment, and fault isolation. However, they might not address simpler problems that can be fixed within a monolithic architecture.
If a company lacks the necessary expertise, microservices could introduce more complications. So, it’s compulsory to make a profound discovery, analyze business conditions, pain points and objectives before making a decision to migrate to microservices.
ROI calculation is another must-have thing you should make before starting the project. Define all the resources you need to invest into this process and compare it with the outcomes you will get instead.
Choosing Appropriate Technologies
Effective use of tools is vital in a microservices architecture. Service meshes like Istio or Linkerd manage communication between services, providing load balancing and security features. API gateways such as Kong or Apigee handle requests and security, facilitating external access. Orchestration tools like Kubernetes deploy, scale, and manage containerized microservices, ensuring efficient resource use and high availability.
Internal Developer Platform Usage
Internal developer platforms (IDPs), like Transformatic, streamline microservices development and maintenance. They provide standardized environments, automate repetitive tasks, and reduce setup time. IDPs enhance QA by ensuring consistent testing environments and automating deployments, improving accuracy and speed. They also offer centralized management, simplifying monitoring, logging, and security. Internal platforms facilitate CI/CD pipelines, speeding up releases and reducing errors. Benefits these solutions offer significantly boost the efficiency and reliability of microservices development. Therefore if you decide to opt for this way, keep in mind that a proven IPD might be your reliable ally.
Ensuring Robust Monitoring and Logging
Centralized logging and real-time monitoring are another thing you should ensure. ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) or Prometheus with Grafana aggregate logs and metrics from various services into a single view. This approach allows quick identification and resolution of issues, improving system reliability. Real-time monitoring detects anomalies and performance bottlenecks promptly, ensuring smooth operation.
Security Measures
Cybersecurity remains one of the priority fields businesses invest in 2024 and beyond. The simplest way to achieve a high level of protection for your microservices is to implement secure communication protocols. Mutual TLS (mTLS) ensures encrypted and authenticated data transmission between services, preventing unauthorized access and data breaches. Securing API gateways with proper authentication mechanisms like OAuth enhances overall security. Regularly updating and patching services to fix known vulnerabilities also matter.
Conclusion
Migrating to microservices can transform your business by enhancing scalability, flexibility, and fault tolerance. However, it’s important to recognize that this architecture also brings complexity and higher costs. Whether you choose monolithic or microservices, aligning the architecture with your specific business needs is essential. Strategic planning and thorough assessment will pave the way for successful implementation and long-term success.
Want to streamline microservices development and maintenance? Schedule a personalized demo with one of our experts to see how DevEx platform Transformatic can make a difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
🔵 Why do some companies prefer monolithic architecture?
Monolithic architecture is simpler to develop, deploy, and manage, making it ideal for small-scale applications and teams with limited resources.
🔵 What benefits do microservices offer over monolithic architecture?
Microservices provide better scalability, flexibility, and fault isolation, allowing each service to be developed, deployed, and scaled independently.
🔵 Why do some businesses revert to monolithic architecture after adopting microservices?
Businesses often revert due to the operational complexity and higher costs associated with managing multiple microservices.
🔵 What are the main challenges of managing a microservices architecture?
Key challenges include service orchestration, dependency management, and ensuring data consistency across multiple services.
🔵 How can internal developer platforms aid in microservices adoption?
Internal developer platforms streamline development and maintenance by providing standardized environments, automating tasks, and facilitating CI/CD pipelines.
