Cloud Native has become a buzzword in the tech world, but what does it really mean? Is it different from Cloud Computing? And should you consider adopting a Cloud Native strategy for your applications? Let’s delve into this topic to understand its implications and advantages.
The Promises of Cloud Native
Cloud Native is a blueprint for developing web-scale applications on the cloud that are highly available and scalable. It offers increased agility, allowing you to quickly ship new features without compromising availability. This means you can respond faster to changing customer demands.
Cloud Computing vs. Cloud Native
To grasp the essence of Cloud Native, it’s essential to understand its close cousin, Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing involves running applications on computing resources managed by cloud providers, eliminating the need to purchase and manage hardware. Migrating existing monolithic applications to the cloud is a good starting point, as it frees your team from hardware infrastructure management and enables easy resource provisioning and scaling.
However, merely running an application on the cloud doesn’t make it Cloud Native. To be considered Cloud Native, an application should adhere to at least four pillars.
Pillar 1: Application Architecture
Cloud Native applications consist of multiple small, interdependent services called microservices. Unlike traditional monolithic applications, which contain all functionalities within a single binary, microservices break down functionalities into smaller, more manageable components. This approach allows teams to take ownership of their services, deploy and scale them independently on their own timeline, and communicate with each other via well-defined APIs.
Pillar 2: Containers and Container Orchestration
Cloud Native applications are packaged in containers. Containers are lightweight components that contain everything needed to run a microservice in any environment. Container orchestration, managed by platforms like Kubernetes, plays a crucial role in managing a large number of containers in a unified manner, ensuring smooth operation and load balancing between microservices.
Pillar 3: Development Process
Developing Cloud Native applications requires a microservices architecture, in which various services are developed, deployed, and scaled independently. This demands collaboration between development and operations teams and significant investment in automation, such as employing DevOps practices. Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) automate the software development and deployment process, ensuring faster and more reliable releases.
Pillar 4: Adoption of Cloud Native Open Standards
As the Cloud Native ecosystem evolves, standardized components and best practices become available. Embracing these standards and projects, such as Kubernetes for orchestration and Jaeger, Zipkin, and OpenTelemetry for distributed tracing, allows developers to focus on their microservice applications without worrying about common functionalities like logging, tracing, and service discovery.
When to Adopt a Cloud Native Strategy
Deciding whether to adopt a Cloud Native strategy depends on the size and complexity of your application. For small and relatively simple applications, a traditional monolithic architecture or a simpler deployment model may suffice. However, for larger and more complex applications, a Cloud Native approach offers numerous benefits, including increased scalability, availability, and faster development cycles.
Ultimately, the decision to adopt a Cloud Native strategy should be based on a careful evaluation of your application’s requirements and your organization’s resources. When done right, a Cloud Native approach can help you build and deploy applications that are more reliable, scalable, and resilient in a shorter amount of time.
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