Microservices Architecture Challenges and Solutions

By: Albert McQuiston   |   Updated: 2024-11-29   |   Comments   |   Related: > Application Development

Problem

Every team wants to migrate from traditional monolithic architecture to modern microservices architecture. But migration is not a straightforward task and you can face certain challenges as well. Let's see the major challenges and the potential solutions to implement a microservices architecture.

Solution

Developing applications is not a new concept. It has been ongoing for years. And you know what? We are simply getting better at it. Here is how!

Have you come across microservice architecture? Well, it is one of the most effective approaches—it entails a huge learning curve, lots and lots of advantages, and of course, some thought-provoking challenges. Don't worry! All these challenges do have a quick solution and will be discussed later in this tip. So, keep reading to learn how to use microservice applications for your business.

About Microservices

Microservices or microservice architecture is an architectural style that successfully structures an application into independently deployable and loosely coupled services for better outcomes. The concept has emerged from different aspects such as:

• Domain-driven design
• Continuous delivery
• Platform and infrastructure automation
• Scalable systems
• Polyglot programming
• Quick persistence

Now, each microservice is meant to conduct proper business functions that are developed, deployed, and scaled on an individual basis. Any large application is considered into account and can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently as well. In simple words, it is all about decomposing and breaking into easily manageable small components. And the best part here is all the responsibilities are narrowly defined. In other words, microservices are a building block for any application where each service acts as a mini-app of its own.

Being such a unique process, microservices offer a wide range of benefits. Let's explore them.

Scalability Improvements

As mentioned earlier, microservices tend to run on an individual basis; adding, removing, updating, or scaling is no longer a daunting task. All these activities can be performed without any kind of disruption. Now there are seasonal buying periods, fret not. You can increase and reduce resources as per your needs without any unnecessary complications.

Enhanced Fault Isolation

The next benefit is fault isolation. Earlier monolithic architecture was in use, but there were times when developers experienced unnecessary failures - one single mistake and the entire app collapsed. After the incorporation of microservices, the situation changed for good. Since the entire app is divided into smaller chunks, if one service fails, other parts won't be affected much. So, prevention of cascading failures is a huge benefit.

Simple Deployment

The next advantage is simple deployment. Microservices architecture is simple to deploy. And it becomes pretty easy for developers to add new modules and remove or recreate them without a major impact on the entire structure. Here many new features and functionalities can be added.

Reusability

It may interest you to know that there are microservices that can be easily shared among different businesses. No kidding! Let's say the site comprises a wide-range of areas, each featuring a specific login and payment option. It is possible to opt for the same microservice application.

Quick Time-to-Market

Lastly, there is no longer fear of conflicts, especially with other coding, or any mishap that can create a ripple effect across the website. Developers no longer need to wait for other teams to finish. They can work simultaneously on deploying new features and launch the app quickly.

Since microservice architecture offers so many advantages, what could go wrong? Well, it involves numerous challenges as well.

Challenges of Microservices Architecture and Their Solutions

So, what could go wrong with a self-contained, independent deployment module? Especially when it offers a plethora of benefits, such as low cost of scaling, changing, and upgrading services, less dependence, and ease of testing? Below are particular challenges that sooner or later you will need to face. Fret not! Solutions are included!

Operational Complexity

One of the top challenges faced by software developers these days is operational complexity. We all know a microservices-based application comprises tons of independent services. It also incorporates the usage of independent tools, technologies, and approaches for developing and deploying top-notch services. As a result, you are guaranteed a highly flexible, robust and scalable system. So, what could go wrong?

If there is some spike in the app usage, then things might not work as expected. What preventive measures must be taken? First and foremost, try establishing clear communication and coordination between different services no matter how challenging it seems to be. So, when one component fails, it doesn't mean the entire app will get damaged or destroyed, but it will result in unwanted disruption of the operational flow.

As a Solution: Developing microservices needs to be executed very neatly and accurately. Also, try to create services in such a manner that they remain resilient to any failures, be it internal or external. Additionally, setting up a robust messaging infrastructure can work wonders to prevent operational complexities; all that needs to be done with a good API management and monitoring approach.

Security

The next interesting or challenging aspect to take care of is security. Security has been one of the major concerns irrespective of your software development project, and microservices-based applications are not an exception. Some common security challenges you might face include:

• Infrastructure design and multi-cloud deployments
• Segmentation and isolation
• Identify management and access control
• Data management
• The rapid rate of application changes

As a Solution: To ensure your services are highly safe and secured, try applying some centralized authentication service. By doing so, you will be able to authenticate customers, especially those who are willing to use your application. Also, it is advisable to change them reasonably with authorization. In addition, you can deploy security at the container level, create a reasonable API gateway, isolate the database, and of course, make use of OpenID and OAuth 2.0.

Design Complexity

Another major issue with microservices is the design complexity. It doesn't matter whether you have begun developing an app or breaking down the previously developed monolithic app, managing multiple services is not easy. It also requires the establishment of proper communication to function well. Each microservice takes care of a precise function, and if you happen to not plan carefully, forget about developing well-defined services.

As a Solution: I would suggest implementing design patterns that are effective now and as well as later on. Below I would like to elaborate with some examples.

Domain-driven Design (DDD)

• This is an interesting software development approach which mainly focuses on modeling the problem of the domain for better alignment with business.
• Let's say you have an eCommerce platform, where microservices must be organized around Products, Orders, Payments, Customers, and Inventory.

Event-Driven Architecture (EDA)

• Event-driven architecture is all about establishing successful communication between decoupled services. By doing so, it is possible to operate independently. And if there is an issue, other services can keep running.

API Gateway Pattern

• API gateways tend to act as a single-entry point for different requests. Several aspects can be well taken care of, such as load balancing, caching, authentication, and other cross-cutting concerns. Design patterns can lessen the complexity and complications that mainly arise during microservices and everything turns out to be more manageable.

Data Management

Maintaining data consistency is another challenge faced while conducting a microservice app-based project. Here, data is replicated and partitioned among different services, which is way more challenging than expected. The end goal is data coherence and freshness.

As a Solution: Fret not! Here I would like to mention certain solutions to take into consideration.

Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS)

• Do the obvious - separate read and write operations. This optimizes data consistency and performance. Also, it is advisable to make use of as many reading and writing models as possible. Keep things customized to pre-defined requirements.

Saga Pattern

• Another way to address data management challenges is to implement the saga pattern. This is done to coordinate all the distributed transactions among multiple services. In simple words, bifurcate the long-running transactions into small, compensating actions to maintain effortless consistency.

Eventual Consistency

• And lastly, eventual consistency must be considered for amazing scalability and fault tolerance properties.

Testing

Another microservices challenge to take into account is testing. Testing microservices means you have entered a never-ending puzzle. Traditional unit tests couldn't help you crack it especially when you lack in terms of proper testing and monitoring tools. Each service incorporates huge logs so debugging each one of them can be challenging, not to mention the interdependencies, which can lead to serious issues like never before.

As a Solution: Below are a few appropriate solutions to consider.

Contract Testing

• This solution ensures all the services play well together by sticking to an appropriate set of interfaces and standards. Try to collaborate on end-to-end testing just to find out how the services interact and how the data moves. Do not forget to check for compatibility between the services first.

Service Virtualization

• Another interesting method is stimulating third-party APIs while testing. This is done so that developers no longer have to rely on external dependencies. It is done to test different scenarios and identify potential issues before the product is deployed.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) Pipeline

• Try implementing a robust CI/CD pipeline that successfully automates the process of testing, developing, and deploying the microservices. Debugging becomes easier and downtime automatically reduces.

Communication

With the increase in microservices, chances of miscommunication and misinterpretation also increase. Let's see a solution for that as well.

As a Solution: Try implementing the following strategies.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• This is extremely important. Try conducting as many brainstorming and knowledge-sharing sessions as you can. Also, make sure regular sync-ups are conducted and different teams share important insights properly.

Clear Ownership and Accountability

• Defining clear ownership is the second amazing way to address communication-based challenges in microservices. Everything must be well-defined from responsibilities to deliverables, as well as success metrics. Also, motivate teams to come up with necessary decisions while staying aligned with the common goal.

Well-established Communication Channels

• Lastly, it is imperative to establish clear communication channels with the help of tools like Slack, Skype, Microsoft Teams, JIRA, Trello, etc. Encourage the concept of open communication and transparency.

Deployment Challenges

Last, but certainly not least, is deployment-related issues. When we talk about microservices architecture, deployment is one sure-shot thing that is supposed to be handled precisely, which itself is more complex and complicated. For that, automated deployment must be taken into account. Wondering how?

As a Solution: Here's how the deployment challenge must be addressed regarding microservices.

CI/CD

• CI/CD pipelines are meant to automate different processes regarding developing, testing, and deploying. No matter how different microservices are, this streamlines the entire workflow, and all the nerve-wracking manual intervention decreases.

Containerization

• Docker is one of the best containerization technologies, and it is the lightest, most portable way to package microservices and their dependencies. This is done in isolated containers to further encapsulate the runtime environment. As a result, you get seamless consistency and reproducibility.

Container Orchestration

• Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that ensures quick automation in regards to deployment, scaling, and management of containerized microservices. Some of its core aspects include service discovery, load balancing, auto-scaling, rolling updates, simplifying the management of microservices, etc.

Conclusion

That is it! Gone are the days when we only had the option of monolithic apps. Fortunately, with microservices architecture, this is no longer supposed to be the case. I hope you found the tip valuable: what microservices are, how they are beneficial, what challenges you will face (sooner or later), and most important of all, how to address these challenges for better outcomes.

Next Steps

• Check out these tips: Application Development and DevOps.

About the author

Albert McQuiston is a software developer with more than 10 years of experience. He has worked with many companies and holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science.

This author pledges the content of this article is based on professional experience and not AI generated.

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