Microservices Defined
Microservices define the latest iteration of a service-oriented architecture, under which applications are not written as a monolith but are built by joining discreet components — bits of functionality, called services — via application programming interfaces (APIs).
Among the advantages microservice architectures provide are the ability to iterate more quickly, by having teams work on these individual application components, speeding both bug fixes and the introduction of new features. These microservices are deployed via containers, which can be taken down from an application, amended, and plugged back in without causing the entire application to come down.
While the benefits of microservices are clear, having so many small pieces of functionality used to compile applications creates a security issue. The more services you run, the more surface area hackers can exploit. Microservices also create problems because often, organizations don’t know who created a service, or what will happen to their application if the service changes before they are aware of the change. Then there is the enormous issue of managing so many small, moving pieces.
vFunction has released a number of new capabilities that are designed to help companies deal with the increased complexity that microservices bring. “As enterprises push to innovate quickly, the complexity of microservices architectures often stands in the way,” Moti Rafalin, co-founder and CEO of vFunction, wrote in a blog post. “Without proper oversight, services multiply, … continue reading
KubeMQ announced the most recent enhancement to the KubeMQ Dashboard that turns it into a complete command center for handling microservices connectivity. The upgrade introduces two major features: auto-discovery and charts, offering users immediate insights and visualization abilities to optimize their microservices environment. With the new auto-discovery feature, the KubeMQ Dashboard provides users with an … continue reading
The Jakarta EE 10 Platform, Web Profile, and new Core Profile Specifications were released today, introducing new features for building modernized, simplified, and lightweight cloud-native Java applications. “This release is the ‘big one’ that plants Jakarta EE firmly in the modern era of microservices and containers,” said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. … continue reading
Luos is an open-source lightweight library that enables developers to develop and scale their edge and embedded distributed software. Developers can create portable and scalable packages that they can share with teams and communities and the project’s engine encapsulates embedded features in services with APIs, providing direct access to hardware. Remote control enables users to … continue reading
This is part 2 in a series on applying test data management (TDM) to microservices. Part 1 can be found here. The continuous TDM process for microservices applications is similar to that for general continuous TDM, but tailored to the nuances of the architecture. The key differences are as follows: Step 1(b): Agile Design Rigorous … continue reading
Applying TDM to microservices is quite challenging. This is due to the fact that an application may have many services, each with its own underlying diverse data store. Also, there can be intricate dependencies between these services, resulting in a type of ‘spaghetti architecture.’ For these systems, TDM for end-to-end system tests can be quite … continue reading
Mizu is an API traffic viewer for Kubernetes that enables users to view all API communication between microservices to help debug and troubleshoot regressions. “Viewing API traffic between microservices is essential if you want to understand the root cause of problems found in complex distributed systems,” Alex Haiut, the co-founder and vice president of engineering … continue reading
When people hear ‘microservices’ they often think about Kubernetes, which is a declarative container orchestrator. Because of its declarative nature, Kubernetes treats microservices as entities, which presents some challenges when it comes to troubleshooting. Let’s take a look at why troubleshooting microservices in a Kubernetes environment can be challenging, and some best practices for getting … continue reading
WireMock is a simulator for HTTP-based APIs that enables users to stay productive when an API that one depends on doesn’t exist or is incomplete. It supports the testing of edge use cases and failure modes that the real API won’t reliably produce. The company behind the project, MockLab, was recently acquired by UP9. The … continue reading
The benefits of microservices have been touted for years, and their popularity is clear when you consider the explosion in use of technologies, such as Kubernetes, over the last few years. It seems that based on the number of successful implementations, that popularity is deserved. For example, according to a 2020 survey by O’Reilly, 92% … continue reading
Companies around the world and across many industries have felt the pressure to release faster, yet they struggle to do so in a safe and reliable way that doesn’t compromise user trust. A lot of these companies think there’s a dichotomy between whether you can move fast or increase value. “I think the move fast … continue reading
Kong announced the general availability of its cloud-native, connectivity platform Kong Konnect with new features to enable reliable, secure and observable connectivity across microservices and APIs. The platform was first previewed last year as a private beta at Kong Summit 2020 with the promise to simplify complex cloud-native workflows. “Kong Konnect addresses a massive challenge … continue reading
