Cloud-native is an approach to building and running applications to take advantage of the distributed computing offered by cloud delivery models. Cloud-native apps are designed and built to take advantage of the scale, elasticity, flexibility, and resiliency that the cloud provides.
As defined by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), these technologies authorize organizations to build and run scalable applications across public, private, and hybrid clouds. Features such as containers, service meshes, microservices, fixed infrastructure, and interpretive application programming interfaces (APIs) best reflect this approach.
These features enable loosely coupled systems that are flexible, manageable, and observable. They also allow engineers to make high-effect changes frequently and with minimal attempts.
Features of Cloud Native
Microservices that are part of a cloud-native app architecture are packaged in containers that connect and communicate through APIs. Orchestration tools use to manage all these components.
Here are some key features of cloud-native:
- Microservices-based: Microservices disintegrate an application into a series of independent services or modules. Each service sources its own data and assists in a definite business goal. These modules communicate with each other through Application Program Interface (API).
- Container-based: A container is a type of software that logically separates an application to run independently from physical resources. Containers prevent microservices from intruding with each other. They inhibit the application from consuming all the shared resources of the host. They also permit multiple instances of the same service.
- API-based: APIs connect microservices and containers, providing simplified maintenance and security. They also permit microservices to communicate, acting as the gum between loosely coupled services.
- Dynamically Arranged: Container orchestration tools use to manage the container lifecycle, which can be complex. Container orchestration tools handle resource management, load balancing, scheduling of restarts after internal failures, and provisioning and deploying containers on server cluster nodes.
Advantages And Disadvantages
Cloud-native applications develop to take advantage of the speed and ability of the cloud. These apps take benefits of cloud computing structures and their loosely coupled cloud services. Here are some advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
- Effective Cost: Computing and storage resources scaled up as needed. This eliminates the need for overprovisioning and load balancing of hardware. Virtual servers can be simply put for testing and cloud-native applications run quickly. Containers can also be used to accelerate the number of microservices running on a host, saving time, assets, and money.
- Freely Scalable: Each microservice is logically unique and can scale independently. If one microservice changes at scale, the others will affect. Should some components of an application needs to update faster than others, the cloud-native architecture accommodates this.
- Portability: Moreover, these applications are vendor neutral and use containers to port microservices between different vendors’ infrastructures to help avoid vendor lock-in.
- Reliable: If a failure occurs in one microservice, there is no impact on the adjacent services as these cloud-based applications use containers.
- Easy to manage: These applications use automation to locate app features and updates. Developers can track when all updated microservices and components are. Because applications divide into smaller services, an engineering team can focus on a specific microservice and need not worry about how it will interact with other microservices.
- Visibility: Because a microservices architecture separates services, it makes it easier for engineering teams to study applications and learn how they function together.
Disadvantages
- Although microservices enable a continual approach to application improvement, they also create the need to manage more elements. Instead of one large application, it becomes necessary to manage far smaller, discrete services.
- Moreover, these apps demand additional appliances to control the DevOps pipeline, replace traditional monitoring structures, and control microservices architectures.
- Moreover, these applications allow rapid development and deployment, but they also demand a business culture that can cope with the pace of that innovation.
The future of cloud-native applications
These applications have seen increased use in recent years and are predicted to be the future of software development. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation estimates that there were at least 6.5 million cloud-native developers in 2020, compared to 4.7 million in 2019.
These applications address some of the inherent problems of cloud computing. Still, there are a number of challenges in migrating to the cloud to improve operational efficiencies.
About Us
TriColor Initiative (TCI) provides consulting expertise to help customers rapidly build scalable, innovative cloud-native apps. We provide an innovation hub where businesses of all sizes can design and build apps that solve real-world business needs.
