Cloud Computing in the IT sector has become one of the fastest-growing technology which doesn’t need the participation of the user directly. It is used for storing the data of computer resources, i.e. cloud storage. If we are talking about the term cloud computing, then Service Oriented architecture, i.e. SOA and Microservices, is something that is known to all. There is a debate going on between the two to prove that which is the best method. Everyone in the modern era is talking about these two terms and their fast applications.
Microservices vs SOA
The main difference between Microservices and SOA is that microservices is used for small groups like in web-based applications. While SOA is used for large scale integrations. Microservices has a simple and easy deployment process. While SOA is not so simple and has less flexibility when it comes to deployment. The main work of Microservices is to design the host services that can work independently. While SOA’s main work is to share the resources across different kinds of services.
Microservices is one of the kinds of Service-oriented architecture. It forms a small part of SOPA. It arranges the applications in a very loose couple system. Services in Microservices are finely grained, and the protocols are very lightweight. The main aim of Microservices is to provide services to others so that others can work independently. The requirement of communication is very less in Microservices. But interface needs to be designed with care. There are various advantages of Microservices. No single definition can be used to define it.
SOA holds an important role in the field of software engineering. It is the type of style that supports the service orientation. It is applicable in those areas where there is a need for services to other components by application components via the communicational protocol. SOA works independently from technologies, products and vendors.SOA is a self-contained service that consists of more than one service. SOA breaks the components into small parts so that each service can communicate with another service to meet the objective of the business.
Comparison Table Between Microservices and SOA
| Parameters of Comparison | Microservices | SOA |
| Data Storage | Independent | Sharing |
| Size | Small | Large |
| Remote services | JMS & REST | AMQP & SOAP |
| Coupling and Cohesion | Bounded context | Sharing resources |
| Component sharing | Doesn’t supports | Supports |
| Governance | Collaboration | Common protocols |
| Communication | API layer | ESB layer |
What is Microservices?
Microservices is an advanced version of SOA. As it is evolved from it and is a type or variant of SOA. Unlike SOA, its services are independent and are finely grained. If any of the application or function fails in Microservices, it will continue to function as it is independent of one another. Each service has its distinctive purpose. The communication used in the Microservices is via API, i.e. Application Programming Interface. They are organized in a particular domain of the business. Together, all these services constitute to form very complex applications.
In the application building and deployment process, Microservices is way much better than other services because of its function to work independently. Because of these characteristics, it has more capability to tolerate more failures than other approaches or services. At times, Microservices are operated via containers. They are made frequently and then deployed in the cloud services.
Microservices are more focused on decoupling. They are fully stacked than SOA. The stacking of microservices can be very large. Every service in it has independent storage of data. They don’t involve in the sharing of the components. At times, it can perform a single business. Its app can contain dozens of services.
What is SOA?
SOA or Service-oriented Architecture is the very traditional type of style structure that was made for building application according to monolithic approaches. It breaks the components into small parts, and then that services communicate with each other to meet the specific objectives of the business. Every module in SOA is smaller than the monolithic approach so that it can be deployed to serve other purposes in the enterprise. Although, deployment is not very easy in SOA. It is less flexible. SOA delivers services via the cloud, and its services include platforms, infrastructure, and applications
The two main roles of SOA are service consumer and service provider. The service consumer layer operates the user interface while the service provider includes various services. It delivers four types of services like Application Services, Enterprise Services, Infrastructure Services, and functional services. Application services are used to deploy apps and develop them. Enterprise services see the functionality. Infrastructure services see the security and authentication. Functional services are for business operations.
SOA uses the communication layer of ESB, i.e. enterprise service bus, for coordinating and controlling these services. It supports multiple protocols at times. It is focused on maximizing the application service and using it for reuse. It is designed in a way to share its services with others. It involves data storage sharing between services.
Main Differences Between Microservices and SOA
- Microservices as an independent data storage. While SOA shares the data between the services.
- Microservices is good for small applications. While SOA is good for large scale applications.
- Microservices uses protocols like JMS & REST for remote services. SOA uses protocols like AMQP & SOAP for remote services.
- Microservices relies on bounded context for coupling. SOA relies on sharing the resources.
- Microservices doesn’t involve sharing the component. SOA involves sharing the components.
- Microservices requires collaboration between various teams. SOA requires common protocols across the teams.
- Microservices communicates via the API layer. SOA communicates via the ESB layer.
Conclusion
Both Microservices and SOA are important parts of software engineering. Microservices has evolved from SOA. There is a tussle going on between the two that who provides better services. But there are certain points to know which one is better than the other. Like SOA breaks the modules into smaller parts for its monolithic approach while Microservices is itself smaller and provides a finely grained approach for the same objective provided by SOA.
Both of them run into the cloud system regularly. Both increase their deployment and flexibility for services. Both are applicable in the same organization depending upon the needs and cases. Both are best in their approaches and uniqueness.
References
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00450-016-0337-0
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/7880473/