Why should we combine DevOps and Microservices?
Introduction
Microservices and DevOps are two very different technologies. Both of them offer agility and operational efficiency. Moreover, these technologies are not limited just to the transformation of monolithic architecture into decomposed services. Enterprises like Netflix, Amazon, Etsy, etc. have leveraged these technologies to their full potential by optimizing their CI/CD pipeline. On one hand, microservices are responsible for the rapid development of application features while on the other hand, DevOps is responsible for managing and maintaining the functionality of the software. These technologies can work in conjunction with each other for many unsaid benefits. A few of them are mentioned below.
Structure of agile teams
The architecture of microservices has always included DevOps. Microservices, unlike other architectures, allow the DevOps team to develop separate functionality in parallel using agile concepts and breaking the software down into smaller pieces. They accomplish this by converting standard horizontal teams into cross-functional teams. Individual software functionalities are then assigned to such teams for development, maintenance, and deployment.
Microservices combined with DevOps provide numerous business benefits, including:
- Improved code quality
- Reduced errors
- Reusability of software
- Product quality improvement
DevOps culture increases delivery speed
When microservices adhere to DevOps principles, they are able to break down organizational silos, resulting in an increased development capacity and improved cross-departmental communication. Adopting DevOps can help your company develop a unified strategy and improve communication.
One such example is DocuSign. Using an Agile approach to software development, the company launched e-signing technology. However, problems occurred due to a lack of collaboration among the various teams.
As a result, DocuSign embraced the DevOps culture to better cooperation between members of the operations and development teams. Despite the organization's cultural shift as a result of DevOPs adoption, the CI/CD problem persisted. To achieve continuous integration, they used application mock for internal APIs.
A mock endpoint and response are provided by the application mock tool. DocuSign combines it with incident management and puts the app through simulations before releasing it. It allowed them to build and test quickly.
Provides versatility
Providing DevOps with microservices allows them to properly resolve bug issues. Because dealing with microservices entails dealing with numerous distinct modules, production faults may be addressed quickly without compromising other features. Microservices' decoupled architecture allows the DevOps team to streamline development and testing procedures while permitting independent software service modification.
Automation
Some of the unspoken advantages of a microservices architecture are the automation of testing, packaging, and deployment procedures. Any errors that arise in a DevOps pipeline's automated task have no bearing on other services. Packing microservices with DevOps increases feedback loops while addressing errors, thanks to the simpler codebase.
Microservices provide significant benefits during the deployment and maintenance stages. The service is deployed as a container using an automated job once all of the testings is completed. The procedure saves a significant amount of time when it comes to managing dependencies and network configurations.
Containers
Containerization is another significant component of microservices-based architecture. Containers, as indicated in the previous section, pack each service as an image to help decrease the complexity caused by duplicate dependencies and configurations. Containerization improves the efficiency of your continuous delivery pipeline. Containerized services operate as fully autonomous entities, making them completely reusable while communicating with other systems.
Microservices' service-based model is well suited to working with DevOps. By embracing shared toolkits, the microservices design improves DevOps productivity. Both technologies work together to boost software product efficiency and quality while taking advantage of architectural flexibility. Both technologies are capable of creating highly scalable cloud-native apps that meet user requirements. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section below.