Introduction: The rise of cloud computing and containerisation has transformed how software is designed, developed, and deployed. However, many organisations still have legacy monolithic applications that were not designed with cloud in mind. In this white paper, we will discuss the process of re-engineering a monolithic on-premise application and developing a containerized solution in the cloud from a technical perspective.
Step 1: Assess the Application Architecture and Dependencies: Before re-engineering a monolithic application, it is essential to assess the application’s architecture and dependencies. A thorough assessment will help identify the application’s dependencies, performance bottlenecks, and scalability issues. The assessment should include analyzing the application’s architecture, data flow, integration points, and technology stack.
Step 2: Refactor the Application: Refactoring involves breaking down the monolithic application into smaller, independent components. This step is crucial to enable containerization and microservices architecture. Refactoring can be achieved using different techniques, such as domain-driven design, service-oriented architecture, or event-driven architecture.
Step 3: Containerise the Application: Containerization involves packaging the application components and their dependencies into containers. Containers are lightweight and portable, making it easier to deploy and scale applications in the cloud. Docker is a popular containerisation tool that can be used to containerise the application. Docker images can be built and published to a container registry, such as Docker Hub or Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR).
Step 4: Deploy the Application in the Cloud: The next step is to deploy the containerized application in the cloud. Cloud platforms provide several options for deploying containerized applications, such as Kubernetes, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), or Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). Kubernetes is a popular container orchestration platform that can be used to manage and scale containerized applications in the cloud.
Step 5: Manage and Monitor the Application: Managing and monitoring the application in the cloud is essential to ensure it runs smoothly and meets performance expectations. Cloud platforms provide several tools to manage and monitor applications, such as Kubernetes Dashboard, Prometheus, and Grafana. These tools enable real-time monitoring, alerting, and troubleshooting of the application.
What is Refactoring?
Refactoring a monolithic application involves breaking it down into smaller, independent components that can be more easily managed, scaled, and maintained. Here are the steps to refactor a monolithic application:
Step 1: Identify Application Boundaries: The first step in refactoring a monolithic application is to identify the application’s boundaries. This involves identifying the different functional areas of the application and their dependencies. This can be done by reviewing the application’s architecture, code, and data flow.
Step 2: Extract Common Functionality: The next step is to identify common functionality that can be extracted from the monolithic application into independent modules. This involves identifying modules that perform specific functions or have distinct data models.
Step 3: Decouple Dependencies: The next step is to decouple dependencies between the extracted modules. This involves removing interdependencies between the modules and replacing them with well-defined interfaces. This step is crucial to enable each module to operate independently of other modules.
Step 4: Implement Communication Mechanisms: Once the modules are decoupled, communication mechanisms must be implemented to enable them to communicate with each other. This can be achieved using message queues, RESTful APIs, or event-driven architectures.
Step 5: Test and Iterate: The final step is to test the refactored application and iterate as necessary. This involves testing each module and the interactions between the modules to ensure they work as expected. Any issues or bugs that are identified must be fixed before moving to the next iteration.
Overall, refactoring a monolithic application can be a complex and time-consuming process. However, by breaking down the application into smaller, independent components, it becomes easier to manage, scale, and maintain the application over time. By following the steps outlined in this white paper, organisations can successfully migrate their legacy applications to the cloud and reap the benefits of modern cloud computing.
