However, at the early stages of software creation, there is a tendency to design the platform following the principles of the monolithic architecture when everything is contained within one large codebase and is tightly coupled. Even though such an approach suits well for developing applications of small sizes, it becomes difficult when dealing with increasing numbers of subscribers. Any change in one line of code causes numerous problems throughout the entire application, and scaling implies multiplication of the entire application rather than separate elements. Learning about how microservices architecture scales SaaS platforms will help you understand why today’s tech industry separates monolithic software to create advanced and flexible cloud applications.
It is easier to compare this technical innovation to an image of a team of specialists instead of a single artisan doing all the jobs.
Instead of putting such aspects as user management, billing, notifications, and analytics together within one large module, microservices architecture creates separate, loosely coupled services for each function and operation. In turn, each microservice performs its functions, uses its own database, and interacts with the other pieces through APIs.
Transitioning to the modular architecture allows one to gain numerous benefits when scaling the cloud-based platform:
Also Read: What is SaaSEcosystem? Platforms, Integrations & Marketplaces
Resource Allocation Separately: Cloud software vendors can assign computing resources to specific services that get heavy loads in certain situations, such as a payment gateway during a flash sale, without allocating any computing power for non-demand modules.
Speed Up Deployment Cycles: Developers have the opportunity to upgrade every single functionality separately without any downtime of the whole cloud-based solution.
Fault Tolerance and High Availability: Even in case of a malfunction of the background notifications module, the main application will still be available.
However, while modular architecture is extremely flexible, there are other issues that arise when working with distributed systems:
APIs: In order to have a seamless exchange between hundreds of different APIs, one needs a good API gateway that will make sure the latency is reduced.
Monitoring: Monitoring the overall health of the system implies the need for centralized logging and tracing that will allow engineers to keep track of the flow of traffic through the distributed system.
As more and more cloud platforms become available, using an outdated single-block codebase will impede progress and innovation. This paper discusses the ability of microservices architecture to scale SaaS platforms and explains how breaking up software helps to ship updates quickly, optimize server costs, and provide uninterrupted application availability.
