What makes cloud-native apps so unique, and why are they so popular with developers?
- In the context of cloud computing, what is a cloud-native application? Can the words “cloud-based” and “cloud-native” apply to the same architecture?
- Its cloud-native architecture merely hosting, running, and handling the app in a specific environment, or does it imply a specific range of methodologies and tools?
Let us clarify cloud-native apps and the core concepts of the cloud-native development process in simple terms and dispel some of the stereotypes and misunderstandings about cloud-native technology and architecture.
What Does “Cloud-Native” Mean, and What Are the Main Patterns?
You can create and run your scalable app in a complex environment, such as a public, private, or hybrid cloud, using cloud-native technologies.
Immutable infrastructure, containers, service meshes, and declarative APIs are only a few examples of basic approaches that support the “cloud-native” approach.
They make it much easier for loosely coupled systems to function. This allows you to launch new features faster, with less time, with greater predictability, but with no adverse effect on the end user’s experience.
What Exactly is a Cloud-Native App?
The most straightforward concept is an application built using cloud-based technology entirely hosted and managed in the cloud.
Can you make a clear distinction between a “cloud-based” and a “cloud-native” application?
The first could be an outdated app that has been re-architected to run better on a cloud operating system; the second has always been hosted in the cloud.
It was written, reviewed, and implemented in the cloud, using cloud-based technology and software, rather than rehosted to a cloud computing environment.
Now, if we were to illustrate the characteristics that distinguish them from traditional applications, I would sum up them as follows:
- They are designed to be agile and flexible, which leads to better protection, good performance, and a better customer experience.
- They are designed to be agile and flexible, which leads to better protection, good performance, and a better customer experience.
- The high pace at which you can add new features, make updates, and configure the app in general;
They do not rely on a single monolithic software codebase; instead, they are designed in a modular fashion, using multiple infrastructures and cloud computing frameworks.
A Cloud-Native App’s Three Defining Characteristics
To put it another way, how can you identify a cloud-native app?
Let me shorten down the long list of traits to the most specific ones:
- They are not limited to just a few public cloud infrastructures.
- They scale better since they take advantage of the elasticity of the cloud platform.
- They are made using a combination of cloud-specific dev-ops methodologies, tools, and architectural approaches: Infrastructure as code, microservices, and orchestration are all examples of lightweight container environments.
7 Reasons to Choose a Cloud-Native Application
If the benefits given above are not enough to persuade you to choose cloud-native development, consider the following:
It has Become Easier to Handle Your Infrastructure.
Allow serverless to take care of it!
Operations like configuring the networking, provisioning cloud instances, and ensuring adequate storage can be taken care of automatically with serverless systems like AWS Lambda and Azure Functions.
It is now just a matter of uploading your code as functions.
Apps that are built for the cloud are much more resilient to failures.
It is the “ideal” app with self-healing capabilities.
As a result, expect it to treat outages immediately and to be fault-tolerant by design. If a problem arises, the cloud-native app’s processing can be moved quickly and quietly from one data centre to another.
In brief, this will not harm the end user’s experience, and you will not incur any downtime costs.
You will be able to release the apps more quickly.
Your cloud-native app will accelerate the whole product development process because it supports DevOps processes that streamline primary operations like building, analysing, implementation automation, and collaboration.
Cost-cutting
The below are the four main reasons for reducing costs:
- Containers: containerising the app would make it simpler and better to handle.
- Cloud-Native Tools, which have resulted in some tooling standardisation
- The Open-Source Model for Serverless Computing, which allows for a pay-per-use model and greater pricing flexibility.
Your app automatically scales to meet your changing needs.
Auto-scaling is one of the essential features of a cloud-native app’s architecture.
Basically, by nature, the app would scale to meet your future business needs. This is reflected in the prices as well: you will only be paying with the computing resources you use.
Your App Supports Auto-Provisioning
Imagine the mission-critical app running without any downtime, thanks to on-demand support allocation from inside the app.
It will use self-service and programmatic provisioning to provide them with the resources they need, so you will not have to supply them with the resources they need manually.
You would be able to provide a superior customer experience.
And, since cloud-native standards emphasise rapid delivery of new functionality and constant iteration, you should expect to have a better end-user experience.