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Migration to Microservice Architecture

28/03/2024

Migration to Microservice Architecture

In the contemporary age of containerization and cloud computing, monolithic systems are no longer practical. In recent years, the intricacy of software systems has increased, and monolithic systems have become harder to build and manage. In a monolithic system, system components are created and packaged as a single entity. If even one component was changed, the system as a whole would need to be redeployed. Because of this, it is more challenging to scale and less adaptable. In addition, a self-contained system’s interrelated and interconnected structure might be challenging for developers to work with when creating complete applications. 

 

Affected systems additionally make it challenging to adopt new technology stacks, make significant changes, or launch updates and upgrades. The foundation for steering away from monolithic programming was initially established by a service-oriented architecture that comprises several services that may interact with one another within a system.

 

Microservice architecture is used to develop applications, with each application process being run as a service by separate components. These services connect with one another utilizing simple APIs and clearly defined interfaces. Every service has a particular function and is designed with business capabilities in mind. Every service can be updated, launched, and expanded to match the demand for specific functionalities of an application because they are separately operated. The design paradigm known as microservice architecture, or simply “microservices,” is used while creating application software. With the use of microservices, a huge application can be divided into several more manageable, standalone components, each of which is in charge of a different set of duties. For example, a microservices-based application may make numerous calls to its internal microservices to create its response in response to a single user request.

Microservice Architecture: Benefits and Features

The benefits of microservice architecture are as listed below:

 

  • Agility

 

Microservice architecture can be used to organize small, independent teams that take ownership of their services. Teams are given the tools they need to work more swiftly and autonomously in a specified environment. As a result, development cycle times are shortened. You actually gain from the organization’s overall throughput.

 

  • Flexible Scaling

 

The demand for the application feature that each service serves can be met thanks to microservices independently. This allows teams to scale their infrastructure requirements effectively, estimate the cost of a feature, and ensure service availability in case of a demand spike.

 

  • Easy Deployment

 

Continuous integration and delivery are made possible by microservices, making it simple to test out new concepts and roll back when something doesn’t work. The lower cost of failure encourages experimentation, facilitates code updates, and shortens the time it takes to market new features.

 

  • Technological Freedom

 

Microservice architecture does not adhere to a “one size fits all” philosophy. Instead, teams can select the ideal tool to address their particular issues. Teams creating microservices can therefore select the ideal tool for each task.

 

  • Reusable Code

 

Teams can use the functions of software which has been segmented into manageable, well-defined modules in a wide range of ways. For example, a service developed with a specific objective in mind may act as the basis for a different functionality. As a result, programmers don’t need to start from scratch when adding new features to an application.

 

  • Resilience

 

The resilience of an application to failure is increased through service independence. With a monolithic architecture, it is possible for one component to fail and render the entire program unusable. Microservice-based applications react to a service failure by decreasing functionality instead of crashing.

Migration of Monolithic Applications to Microservice Architecture 

 

In a conventional monolithic application, a single, closely interwoven codebase manages every one of the data objects and operations. Typically, data is kept in a single database or disc. The server codebase as well as the client application both include the business logic, and functions and methods are created to access the data easily from this storage mechanism. To create a unified group of microservices that carry out the same tasks as the original apps under a single user interface, it is feasible to migrate a number of monolithic programs and/or platforms, each containing distinct data storage systems, user interfaces, and data schema.

 

The benefits of converting these programs to microservice architecture include:

 

  • Eliminating redundant manual entry work
  • Risk reduction for programmatic development
  • Enhancing the control and synchronization of these systems 

 

One of the main reasons for switching to a microservice design is scalability. Additionally, the scalability impact on infrequently used components is minimal. Therefore, the most frequently used components should be given priority while planning a move. Users want systems to respond to their interactions with the relevant data at the proper level of detail, typically as quickly as that data can be obtained. Each of the user jobs involves one or many data objects, and every data object includes a list of possible associated actions. The group of jobs, data actions, and data objects must be taken into account by the development team before the system is designed and put into operation.

 

How to Migrate to Microservice Architecture?

 

To make use of microservice architecture for migration, keep in mind the following:

 

  • Identify the logical components

 

The system’s data is divided into three main categories. 

 

  • Data objects are the logical building blocks of the data that the system uses. 
  • The instructions used on one or many data objects, maybe on distinct varieties of data, to complete a task are known as data actions. 
  • In contrast, the function “job to execute” is used to carry out a task on the data that is now accessible. 

 

All three components must be determined when merging the various systems into a unified strategy. In the codebase, these elements are implemented as modules. The system architects will be able to choose the actions to be taken on the data sets that will be useful in the application’s later stages by identifying these components.

 

  • Refractor or Flatten Components

 

All modules and components must be categorized and uniquely identifiable before the firms can internally organize these groups. Before implementing a microservice architecture, it is necessary to address the components with comparable functionalities. One microservice is ultimately required to carry out a specific task.

 

  • Identify Component Dependencies

 

The dependencies between the components must be determined by the system architects once they have identified and reorganized the components for the migration from a monolithic application to microservices. The process of finding calls between various libraries and data types can be carried out by architects utilizing static analysis of the source code.

 

  • Identify Cohesive Component Groups

 

The architects must concentrate on organizing the components in cohesive groups that can become microservices when the dependencies and components have been discovered. The goal of this stage is to isolate a small group of objects and the operations that make up each one so that they may be logically segregated in the final system.

 

  • APIs for Remote User Interface

 

Both during migration and after the microservice is deployed, the interface must be usable. When migrating from monolithic to microservices, the remote user interface must alter the data because the components will likely shift as they are improved. The goal of this step is to provide a single API that will allow users to interact with the system and alter data. It should be planned and created to ensure that the current data exchanges are not drastically changed. As opposed to that, it must be adaptable enough to include new data sets, functionalities, objects, properties, and actions as they are discovered and made accessible.

 

  • Migrate to Macro service

 

Microservices enable more intricate data object interactions and have a more liberal attitude toward sharing data repositories. It is therefore advised to use this phase as a transitional approach while converting your monolithic application to a microservice architecture. This step involves separating the components into their own projects and deployments. Each microservice should, at the least, be capable of being independently deployed from within the pipeline for continuous deployment (CD) and continuous integration (CI) of the system.

 

  • Migrate to Microservice 

 

After the components of the monolithic application have been moved to the macro service, grouped, and organized, the system architects must transfer these components to the microservice. As it gives insight into how to divide these components into microservices further, using microservices as an interim procedure makes the conversion simple and quick.

 

  • Deploy and Test

 

Integration testing and deployment come next once a microservice is prepared for deployment. The monolithic system needs to be set up to use the new service for data needs rather than its old data store. It can be challenging to locate all datastore calls made from the old monolithic system. It may be feasible to delete the old information pertaining to the moved datasets that the new microservice architecture is now in charge of in a testing environment.

 

To Conclude

 

To avoid the problems associated with legacy IT systems, organizations nowadays are always rushing to modernize their infrastructure and antiquated technologies. However, keeping these systems up to date is crucial because they are the foundation of an organization’s growth. And there is nothing better than microservice architecture – a precise strategy and vision that may assist you in replacing your outdated legacy systems with cutting-edge technologies.

Published:28/03/2024

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