System Design on AWS - Microservices

Microservices is an architectural approach that break down an application into small, independent services that communicate with each other using APIs. Each service does a specific job and can be developed, tested, and deployed on its own.

AWS Microservices

Following are the list of microservices provided by AWS used in efficiently designing of the system.

• API Gateway: API Gateway is an AWS microservice that handles client requests and provides a single API interface for multiple microservices. It allows developers to create RESTful and WebSocket APIs for interacting with backend services.
• Lambda: A Lambda microservice is a small, independent program that runs on demand in AWS, without needing servers or infrastructure. It is a self-contained, serverless program that runs on demand and perform specific tasks.
• Amazon S3: Amazon S3 is a storage service in AWS where you can store and retrieve files. It is safe, reliable, and scalable service so that you can use it to store and serve a wide range of files.
• CloudWatch: CloudWatch is a service in AWS that monitors and tracks how your applications and services are doing. It helps you understand how they're performing, identify problems, and make improvements.
• ECS/EKS: ECS and EKS stands for Elastic Container Service and Elastic Container Service for kubernetes are two services in AWS that help you design and deploy microservices. They allow you to run and manage containerized applications at scale. You can use ECS for a fully managed service or EKS for a managed Kubernetes service.

Microservices Features

The key features of Microservices in system design on AWS are as follows:

• Loosely Coupled: Microservices in AWS system design are loosely coupled, which means that services are designed to work on their own and don't need to depend on other services.
• Scaling: Scaling in Microservices is possible as each service in it can be scaled independently, making it efficient and improving system performance. This means you can scale only what's needed, without affecting the entire system.
• Governance: Microservices provides different Governance and security features. These are policies, standards, and guidelines ensure consistency and coordination across multiple services.
• Deployment: Microservices support efficient deployment in different ways, such as using containers, serverless functions, or traditional servers. AWS provides tools to automate deployment, manage traffic, and ensure security.
• Testing: AWS supports Microservices testing involves checking individual services and their interactions. For this AWS provides numerous tools such as AWS CodeBuild, AWS CodePipeline, and AWS X-Ray.
• Autonomous: Each microservice is in charge of its actions and decisions. This means it can work independently without relying on other services.

Benefits of Microservices

Microservices comes with numerous benefits for designing system on AWS are mentioned below:

• Scalability: Microservices can be scaled individually. This makes it more efficient and improves system performance. It also allows for better use of resources.
• Resilience: In AWS system design, microservices offer resilience that allows individual services to handle failures, unexpected disruptions, and varying loads without affecting the overall system's performance.
• Flexibility: Microservices provide flexibility that allows easier changes to the application. Instead of modifying all the services, developers can make changes to individual microservices independently.
• Faster Development: Microservices in AWS system design enables faster development cycles. With microservices, you can develop, test, and deploy individual services independently, which allows for more agile development and faster time-to-market for new features.
• Reduced Risks: In microservices, each service is independent and can be deployed, scaled, and maintained separately, which means that if one service experiences issues it will not affect the entire system.

Limitations of Microservices

Microservices also comes with some limitations that are mentioned below:

• Complexity: Microservices architecture can be complex to manage and maintain, especially when dealing with multiple services.
• Difficulty in Debugging: Debugging microservices can be tough because they are distributed across multiple services. This makes it hard to track and fix issues.
• Not for Small Companies: Microservices may not be suitable for small companies that need to create and iterate quickly, as they can be slower to implement and more complicated to manage.
• Requires more resources: Microservices requires more resources, including databases and transaction management, which can be hard to manage. This can be a challenge for companies with limited resources.
• Testing: Testing microservices-based applications can be challenging due to their distributed nature. It's hard to test all the services working together. This makes it difficult to ensure everything works as expected.