The modern cloud approach for microservices & agile development: container images, ConfigMaps & orchestration

While in our article last week we dealt with the Classic cloud approach (Golden Images, IaC, ScM & Autoscaling), today's focus is on the modern cloud approach, which has significantly changed software development.

Container images, orchestration and external configuration enable agile, scalable and efficient deployment of applications - ideal for microservices and cloud-native architectures. They are revolutionizing the way we develop applications.

Container images: The packing station for applications

Container images are lightweight, executable packages that contain everything an application (or part of it) needs to run.

They ensure consistency and portability - the application runs the same everywhere, whether on the developer laptop or in the cloud.
Unlike golden images, they do not contain a complete operating system. They only encapsulate the necessary dependencies of the application.

Orchestration: The conductor of the container orchestra

Orchestration tools such as Kubernetes or Docker Swarm automate the provision, scaling and management of containers.

They take care of the placement of containers on the hosts, the load distribution between the containers and the automatic recovery of containers in the event of failures.

ConfigMaps: The external configuration center

ConfigMaps (in Kubernetes) or similar mechanisms make it possible to decouple configuration data from the container images.

You save stage-specific configurations (e.g. database connections, API keys, feature flags).
The container images themselves remain unchanged and reusable across different environments.

This is what the agile workflow looks like:

Development: Developers create and test container images locally. Tools such as Docker Compose make it possible to simulate complex applications with several dependent containers on your own laptop. This creates a very production-like environment and enables rapid iteration.
CI/CD: CI/CD pipelines build, test and store the images in a container registry.
Orchestration: Orchestration tools provide the container images in the cloud.
ConfigMaps: ConfigMaps are used to provide the containers with stage-specific configuration at runtime.
Scaling: Orchestration tools automatically scale the containers as required.

Advantages of this approach - focus on agility

Speed: Containers are lightweight and start quickly, which enables fast deployments and scaling.
Efficiency: Containers share the kernel of the host operating system, which leads to a more efficient use of resources.
Scalability: Orchestration tools enable the simple and dynamic scaling of microservices in order to absorb peak loads.
Agility:
- Developer productivity: Containers enable developers to create isolated, reproducible and production-like environments on their laptops. They can work independently on different services without worrying about dependencies or conflicts. [see previous blog post]
- Fast iterations: The ability to test changes locally and deploy them quickly significantly increases the speed of development.
- Microservices: Containers are an excellent fit for microservices architectures that enable agile development and deployment. Each service can be developed, tested and deployed independently.
- Independence: The decoupling of applications and infrastructure enables greater independence between development and operations teams.

Who is the modern cloud approach suitable for?

Microservices architectures.
Cloud-native applications.
Companies that require high agility, scalability and developer productivity.
Teams that apply DevOps practices.

Container images, orchestration and ConfigMaps are the basis of modern cloud and microservices architectures. They make development more flexible, faster and more productive - even if getting started can seem complex at first. Teams benefit enormously in the long term.