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Microservices architecture development is a relatively new field. A number of practices are still being ironed out. Unfortunately, there are a lot of common mistakes that can lead to costly outcomes. Developers need to look out for them at all costs.
When you are working on microservices development project, clear limits are set on what your microservice can or cannot do. The move to microservices requires not only a change in architecture but also a solid foundation of trust between the different teams working together to develop these microservices. Building this trust gives them the confidence they need to trust the availability of services and the fulfillment of the service contract agreed for the standard APIs.
Without a high level of trust between the developer teams, chaos will quickly occur in the development of the microservices interface. Each team will create what they want and/or change APIs without notifying the rest of the organization. In this state of confusion, the functionality of the microservices will be broken and software development will stop.
While trust is extremely important in the development of microservices, planning ahead for possible security issues is even more critical. Unfortunately, security considerations are often overlooked in the process of transitioning to a microservices architecture without taking into account that the consequences of security breaches can be devastating to the business.
Problems with Microservices Architecture Development
For example, suppose you are implementing a microservice that accepts a userās input and passes that input to a back-end database. If your service is not secure and the entry is not validated, hackers will be able to inject malicious code into the system and reduce part of the service, or perhaps even worse, compromise the entire system.
Here are some of the most common microservices development pitfalls you might face.
Developing too many microservices
As the repertoire of services and applications grows, it is probably safer to assume that the number of available microservices will also grow. As the number of options increases, more and more security issues are likely to arise. Today, we will look at some of the architecture problems and possible solutions we need to consider before we start using microservices.
Reusing too much code
The use of shared codes and libraries can help drive the movement to microservices, but it can also be a double-edged sword. If you choose to use an open source solution, you will always be tied to that code and all its deficiencies.
On the one hand, reusing industry-standard technology can be a good thing as it has already been tested and used around the world. On the other hand, the widespread use of standard technology can be problematic. If a component vulnerability arises, our company and other companies using the technology will need to apply emergency patches to mitigate critical flaws in all applications. Imagine what it would be like to have to implement all your services again due to a new security package, or patch the servers with a completely new binary. This scenario sounds like a nightmare, doesnāt it?
If we take the Heartbleed bug, for example. When the bug was discovered in April 2014, approximately 66% of Internet web servers needed a patch because the software that included vulnerable libraries was used on almost every web server in the world. This catastrophe required patching and restarting hundreds of thousands of servers in a very short period of time. A similar problem could arise with microservices as well.
If you have a smaller number of servers, the solutions of deploying everything all over again or patching with a new binary are feasible, either manually or with a basic amount of scripts. But when you scale, there are no longer viable options to solve this problem. In these cases, you must have a proven and verified method of orchestration to be able to perform massive operations quickly to alleviate this type of problem.
Not preparing for denial of service attacks
Ensuring that microservices applications are secure is not an easy feat, and managing a number of services that have multiple entry points from the outside can be difficult. As the number of services grows, the magnitude of this problem amplifies. Proper management of security groups will help ensure that only the right ports are exposed. If this is done, it can reduce distress if a malicious party attacks our product in an attack.
