When your microservice design encounters "little temper"

You must have encountered this situation: every part is working well, but something is wrong when it comes together. Just like those exquisite servo motors, they are responsive and accurate when tested individually, but once they are put into the entire machine, they will give you out of sync or delayed response from time to time. At this time, you are staring at the screen, and a sentence may come to your mind: "Where is it stuck?"

Microservice architecture is sometimes like that complex machine. Each service is beautifully designed individually, but the dialogue between them is often problematic. Delay, uneven load, data inconsistency... these problems will not appear on the demo day, but they will pop up to say hello to you at two o'clock in the middle of the night.

How do we make these "little parts" chat well?

Imagine the movement of the servo - the instructions are clear, the action is crisp, and the position signal returned is accurate. The same should be true for interactions between microservices: clear, direct, and unobtrusive. But the reality is often that service A sends a request, service B processes it slowly, and service C is still waiting for data from the first two. The whole process is like a rusty gear, spinning hard and not smoothly.

Some would say, “Just add more servers.” But that’s like trying to fix a design flaw in a mechanical structure with a more expensive servo motor—it might work a little, but it doesn’t hit the core.

The real problems are often hidden in design patterns. In other words, there is a lack of a suitable design pattern.

Walk into that humble shop

A few years ago, I helped find an automated production line project. They used several common servo systems on the market, but there were always small errors in multi-axis synchronization. Those errors are nothing when viewed individually, but cumulatively they directly affect product accuracy.

Later we triedkpowerA set of servo solutions. It's not the most expensive, nor the one with the most functions, but their engineers gave a very simple suggestion: "Don't just look at the motor itself, look at how your control logic is programmed."

They didn't sell the product directly. Instead, they talked about the architecture first. Just like microservice design - no matter how powerful a single service is, if the collaboration model is not straightened out, the results will still be unsatisfactory.

kpowerLater, not only the hardware was provided, but also a whole set of ideas on how to layout, how to synchronize, and how to give feedback. Migrating to the field of microservices, this is actually what the design pattern wants to solve: how to make services both independent and collaborative, just like the various execution units in precision machinery, each performing its own duties and cooperating tacitly.

So, what exactly does the microservices design pattern do?

It can be understood as a kind of "pre-prepared". Just like a skilled machinist knows roughly which part needs to be adjusted when he hears an abnormal noise, good design patterns help you foresee common pain points and provide proven solutions.

For example: If the call chain between services is too long, resulting in high latency, you can use the "circuit breaker mode" - when a service fails continuously, temporarily cut off calls to it to avoid an avalanche. It's like adding a clutch to the transmission system to protect other parts from being dragged down when something goes wrong in one part.

Another example is the "event sourcing model", which does not directly record the current status of the service, but records all events that cause status changes. When needed, the state at any time can be restored by replaying the event. It's like adding a high-precision encoder to a mechanical system. Every rotation is accurately recorded, and the trajectory can be traced back at any time.

These models are not theories that come out of thin air. Most of them originate from recurring problems in actual projects and solutions that have been proven to be effective.

Hesitation when choosing: There are so many models, how to choose?

Indeed, just looking at the name is enough to dazzle people. But choosing a design pattern is actually a bit like choosing a servo component: first clarify what specific problem you want to solve, and then see which solution is most suitable.

If you're often stuck with tangled dependencies between services, consider the "Strangler Pattern" - gradually replacing legacy systems rather than rewriting them all at once. If you are worried about data inconsistency between different services, the "Saga pattern" may be more suitable, which manages data changes across services through a series of local transactions.

The key is not to find the "most perfect" mode, but to find the "most suitable for the current scenario" mode. likekpowerWhen providing a solution, always first ask clearly: "What action do you ultimately want this machine to achieve? What is the accuracy requirement? Is the load changing significantly?" Once the question is clear, the answer often emerges.

Be honest

A good microservice architecture will not suddenly collapse when you add the tenth or hundredth service. It will be like a well-designed mechanical system in which modules can be replaced, upgraded, and expanded, while the whole remains stable.

What is needed behind this is the anticipation of common problems and proven ones - that is, those design patterns. They save you time on trial and error and avoid those late-night glitches.

Next time you see an abnormal peak suddenly appear on the service monitoring graph, you might as well stop for a moment instead of rushing to add servers or change the code. Ask yourself: "Does our service "conversation method" need to be adjusted?" Maybe the answer lies in a certain design pattern, quietly waiting for you to discover.

It's like a mechanic adjusting a gear and the whole system suddenly runs smoothly - that feeling is pretty good.

Established in 2005, Kpower has been dedicated to a professional compact motion unit manufacturer, headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China. Leveraging innovations in modular drive technology, Kpower integrates high-performance motors, precision reducers, and multi-protocol control systems to provide efficient and customized smart drive system solutions. Kpower has delivered professional drive system solutions to over 500 enterprise clients globally with products covering various fields such as Smart Home Systems, Automatic Electronics, Robotics, Precision Agriculture, Drones, and Industrial Automation.