Leveraging Serverless Architecture
To Gently Break Apart Your Monolith
Linda Nichols
@lynnaloo
Norfolk.js
norfolkjs.org
RevolutionConf
Virginia Beach, VA
www.eta.im
@etechadvisor
The Monolith
@lynnaloo
The Monolith
@lynnaloo
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Single-tiered
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Performs all tasks
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Not modular
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Legacy technology
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On-premises/On a Mainframe
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Expensive to host/maintain
The Monolith
@lynnaloo
The Monolith?
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The Monolith Onion
@lynnaloo
@lynnaloo
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Long-lasting, yet perishable
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Contains many layers
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Difficult to modularize
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Messy when applied directly to bare metal
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There can be a "smell"
The Monolith Onion
@lynnaloo
The Monolith Onion
BREAKING APART the monolith
@lynnaloo
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Separate the application tiers
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Create microservices
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Upgrade legacy technology
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Re-write application code
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Move to "the cloud"
refactoring is expensive
@lynnaloo
legacy stays legacy
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Patching is cheap.
works "just fine" now.
containers, containers, containers...
@lynnaloo
breaking apart the monolith
@lynnaloo
what is serverless
@lynnaloo
Serverless Architecture is an event-driven system that uses remote functions (via a BaaS or a FaaS product) without concern for the operations of the containers that execute the code.
Example: AWS with Aws Lambda
serverless functions
@lynnaloo
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No Ops required*
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Developers focus on code
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Triggered by internal or external events
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Built-in API Gateway
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Costs nearly nothing
serverless functions
@lynnaloo
serverless functions
@lynnaloo
'use strict';
const catNames = require('cat-names');
function getCatName(event, context, callback) {
callback(null, { payload: `Your cat name is ${catNames.random()}.` });
}
module.exports.getCatName;Functions are microservices
@lynnaloo
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Responsible for one specific task
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Lightweight and fast
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Re-usable
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Deployed independently
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Stateless
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Not dependent on other services
gently break apart the monolith
@lynnaloo
@lynnaloo
Look for functionality that has the fewest dependencies executable by an event:
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Cron jobs
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Background services
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Calls to APIs
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Maintenance scripts
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Logging/analytics
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Message bus
break off serverless microservices
@lynnaloo
break off serverless microservices
conclusion
@lynnaloo
As more functionality is removed, less compute power is needed for the monolith. Re-engineering a small core is now more manageable and less expensive.
conclusion
@lynnaloo
Modernization doesn’t have to be a one-time effort.
Serverless architecture facilitates gradual changes and results in a more immediate reduction in complexity and cost.
Thank You!
@lynnaloo
Photo Credit
@lynnaloo
@PaulCHINJR
Leveraging Serverless Architecture to Gently Break Apart Your Monolith
By Linda Nichols
Leveraging Serverless Architecture to Gently Break Apart Your Monolith
6/23 DCFullStack Summit
