Monolithic vs. Microservices Architecture: Choosing the Right Approach for Your Application
Explore the Key Differences, Advantages, and Considerations for Building Scalable and Manageable Systems
What is monolithic architecture?
A monolithic architecture is a traditional software design where the program is built as a single, self-contained unit, separate from other applications. The term "monolith" suggests something large and unchanging, which fits the nature of monolithic software design. It consists of one large computing network with a single code base that combines all business functions. To make changes to this type of application, you must update the entire stack by accessing the code base, then building and deploying a new version of the server-side interface. This process makes updates restrictive and time-consuming.
Monoliths can be convenient early in a project's life because they simplify code management, reduce mental effort, and make deployment easier. This setup allows everything in the monolith to be released at the same time.
Advantages of a Monolithic Architecture
Simplifies code management
Reduces mental effort
Eases deployment by allowing simultaneous releases
Disadvantages of a Monolithic Architecture
Updates are restrictive and time-consuming
Requires updating the entire stack for changes
What are microservices?
A microservices architecture, often called microservices, is a design approach that uses a series of independently deployable services. Each service has its own business logic and database, focusing on a specific goal. Updating, testing, deployment, and scaling happen within each service. Microservices separate major business and domain-specific concerns into distinct, independent code bases. While microservices don't reduce complexity, they make it more visible and manageable by breaking tasks into smaller processes that work independently and contribute to the overall system.
Advantages of Microservices
Independent updates and scaling
Easier testing and deployment
Focused business logic for each service
Disadvantages of Microservices
Increased complexity in managing multiple services
Requires more coordination between services
Potential for higher resource consumption
When to Use Monolithic vs. Microservices Architecture
Both monolithic and microservices architectures help developers build applications using different approaches. It's important to understand that microservices don't reduce an application's complexity. Instead, they make the complexities more visible, allowing developers to build, manage, and scale large applications more efficiently.
When choosing between a microservices or monolithic architecture, consider the following factors.
Application Size
The monolithic approach is better for designing a simple application or prototype. Since monolithic applications use a single code base and framework, developers can build the software without needing to integrate multiple services. Microservice applications might require a lot of time and design effort, which may not be worth it for very small projects.
On the other hand, microservices architecture is ideal for building complex systems. It offers a strong programming foundation for your team and allows them to add more features flexibly. For example, Netflix uses AWS Lambda to scale its streaming infrastructure and save development time.
Team Competency
Even though microservices offer flexibility, developing with them requires a different skill set and design approach. Unlike monolithic applications, working with microservices demands knowledge of cloud architecture, APIs, containerization, and other skills specific to modern cloud applications. Additionally, troubleshooting microservices can be difficult for developers who are new to distributed architecture.
Infrastructure
A monolithic application runs on a single server, while microservices applications work better in a cloud environment. Although you can run microservices on a single server, developers usually host them with cloud service providers to ensure scalability, fault tolerance, and high availability.
It's important to have the right infrastructure before starting with microservices. Setting up the tools and workflow for microservices requires more effort, but they are more suitable for building complex and scalable applications.
Here’s a list of References and Resources for your blog on Monolithic vs. Microservices Architecture:
References
Microservices vs Monolithic Architecture
https://www.nginx.com/blog/microservices-vs-monolithic-architecture/
A detailed comparison of microservices and monolithic architectures, including use cases and benefits.Microservices Architecture on AWS
https://aws.amazon.com/microservices/
AWS resources on how to design and implement microservices architecture using AWS services.