Application Development using Microservices and Serverless
What form of software development to select when building an application is a crucial decision for business leaders. Due to their scalability, flexibility, and performance, serverless and microservices software architectures are becoming more popular. Serverless and microservices instances, which are extensively used in cloud computing, should rise fast as cloud service spending doubles in four years.
Startups and businesses who need to build fast and grow quickly prefer serverless architectures, while organisations that need more hands-on backend infrastructure management prefer microservices. Microsoft (Azure), Amazon (AWS Lambda), IBM, and Google Cloud all provide serverless and microservices solutions.
Microservices Architecture vs Serverless Architecture
What’s Serverless?
Serverless architecture or computing lets developers design and run application code without managing the underlying infrastructure.
In a serverless architecture, a cloud service provider handles OS and software upgrades, security, monitoring, and more.
A serverless framework doesn’t mean no servers. Serverless solutions let CSPs provision servers instead of developers, letting them focus on code and business logic. Serverless apps let cloud providers provision resources on-demand, which is more flexible and cost-effective. The serverless billing cycle begins and ends with code execution. Serverless, along with IaaS and FaaS, is a leading cloud service.
What are Microservices?
Microservices architecture, or microservices, is a cloud computing architecture that breaks a program into numerous independent and interconnected sections. Microservices stacks commonly involve databases and database management models.
REST APIs, event streaming, and message brokers help microservices communicate. Search engines and online order processing microservices are typically categorised by business capabilities and separated by a restricted environment.
Microservices, like serverless, depend on cloud infrastructure. Cloud infrastructure use cases are developing quickly worldwide, and microservices spending will exceed $6 billion in four years.
Microservices are generally discussed in terms of their architectural design, but their most popular enterprise benefits can help explain their economic value:
- Update or change code without affecting an app.
- Switch programming languages and stacks simply.
- Use independent, highly scalable components.
Microservices vs Serverless Functions
Both serverless and microservices architectures aim to improve complicated application flexibility and scalability. Although they are similar, there are numerous key differences, including:
Scalability
Serverless and microservices are ‘highly scalable,’ allowing software applications to add users while maintaining performance.
The two designs provide organisations different levels of control and automation. Serverless solutions scale functions automatically based on triggering events, while microservices scale services on demand. Although microservices need more manual configuration, they allow developers more power.
Development
Serverless vs. microservices in development depends on how much control your company needs.
Each service and function in a microservice must be written, tested, and deployed using Docker or Kubernetes containers. This method is more customisable than serverless, but developers must spend more time and effort on it.
However, serverless development and deployment are fast, agile, and simple. Serverless architecture outsources infrastructure administration to a CSP, including OS installation and configuration, server management, and software updates. Application functions can be packaged, deployed, and scaled automatically.
Infrastructure management
Serverless architecture lets developers focus on business logic and code authoring and deployment while a third party (usually a CSP) manages infrastructure provisioning, administration, and scaling.
Serverless code runs closer to the user, reducing latency and enhancing speed and performance. Serverless models allow developers to focus more on code authoring, but they have minimal control over the OS or server provisioning.
Developers must manage the stack for each microservice they deploy in a microservices architecture. Infrastructure, development methods, and network settings are included. Microservices give developers more control over the development environment, but they also require more DevOps skills.
Monolithic and granular architecture
Granularity is a system’s breakdown. Serverless and microservices are finer-grained than monolithic architecture.
Serverless and microservices separate application functions like user interface, logic, and database operations from monolithic architecture. Some companies that need to develop simple, focused apps prefer monolithic architecture.
Microservices-based architecture is better than monolithic but not serverless. The microservices design breaks down monolithic apps into smaller, autonomous services that may be deployed separately. Serverless architecture is finer. Serverless architectures divide applications into functions smaller than services. In serverless architecture, each function is a piece of business logic that is only executed when triggered.
Runtime
A CSP manages crucial infrastructure needed to build and deploy code in a serverless environment, including runtime. This means data stored during a function is lost after it’s finished.
In contrast, microservices architectures maintain their state on dedicated virtual machines (VMs).
Cost
Billing models make microservices systems less cost-effective than serverless. Serverless functions are billed depending on the amount of events that trigger code deployment, however microservices require upfront infrastructure and resource charges.
In serverless architecture, users are billed per use, but in microservices, organisations pay for resources regardless of use.
Microservices without Servers
A concept called ‘serverless microservices’ combines the best of serverless and microservices architectures, depending on an organization’s needs.
This hybrid architectural framework builds microservices as serverless functions. Serverless functions are popular for microservices because they are scalable and may be integrated with managed services, saving costs.
Developers can focus on designing more specialised functionality than in a serverless system without maintaining infrastructure. Scalability, cost effectiveness, and flexibility are achieved by combining serverless and microservices systems. Some issues must be considered.
Challenges of serverless microservices
Function boundaries: In a serverless microservices context, development teams struggle to specify function boundaries and roles. This sometimes leads them to stretch reasoning across too many functions, making it illogical.
Performance: Serverless environments are challenging to maintain application performance due to various difficulties, most notably ‘cold starts.’ Cold starts are function triggers after inactivity. When no warm containers are available, it can delay container instances by two or three seconds.
Monitoring: Serverless microservices designs make it difficult to monitor programs and identify problem causes. Multiple microservices and functions might make it harder to trace requests through the environment, which is important to explain many common problems.
Difference between Serverless and Microservices
Serverless functions vs Microservices
As cloud computing grows and businesses explore for new ways to use it to produce value, serverless and microservices use cases develop.
Use scenarios without servers
Artificial intelligence and machine learning
Business use cases for AI and ML, especially generative AI, have grown rapidly in recent years. Event-driven AI uses serverless to make real-time decisions using a steady flow of intelligence.
A hybrid cloud
Hybrid cloud creates a flexible, cost-effective IT architecture from public, private, and on-premises infrastructure. Serverless provides agility, flexibility, and scalability for hybrid cloud companies.
Big data analysis
Serverless makes data application code authoring and deployment much cheaper and easier. Serverless systems let developers focus on code and business logic rather than infrastructure management.
Use cases for microservices
Cloud computing
Microservices are not essential for cloud computing, but their distributed application components make them ideal. Microservice designs let services and functions work independently and assist applications. Microservices’ great scalability lets them operate numerous instances on a server, another benefit for cloud computing.
Live data processing
Microservices are ideal for real-time data processing applications like driverless vehicles and streaming video. These apps can function because microservices provide real-time operations and immediate output.
Re-factoring
Refactoring when an enterprise redesigns its IT capabilities is a popular microservices architecture use case. IT departments often want to refactor from a monolithic architecture to microservices for flexibility and efficiency.
Get started
Serverless computing simplifies and lowers the cost of cloud application development and operation. Learn about IBM Cloud Code Engine, a pay-as-you-use serverless platform that helps developers construct serverless apps and workflows without Kubernetes knowledge.
