What is Cloud Native? Definition and characteristics

Cloud native is an approach to software development in which applications are specifically designed to run in the Cloud. They are scalable, flexible and use modern technologies such as containers, microservices and DevOps practices.

Cloud computing offers many benefits to businesses, including easier scalability of IT services, organizational flexibility, location-independent access and reduced hardware costs. In order to fully exploit these advantages, it is necessary to have applications designed specifically for a Cloud environment and can be executed directly in such an environment. This is where the cloud native development method comes into play.

This approach focuses on developing applications as individual microservices, which are not executed On-Premises (locally), but on agile container-based platforms. The result is cloud-native applications that fully exploit the strengths of cloud architecture.

The cloud native approach is based on four interconnected and interdependent pillars. On the technical side, we find microservices and container technologies developed specifically for the Cloud environment which constitute fundamental elements of the Cloud native concept. The different microservices perform a specific function and can be brought together in containers with everything needed to run them. These containers are portable and offer development teams a high degree of flexibility, for example to quickly test new services.

On the strategy side, DevOps process and the continuous delivery are well established. When designing an effective Cloud native architecture, the developer teams (Developers = Dev), but also the business (Operations = Ops) are directly involved. Good cloud-native applications are therefore created through close collaboration between all stakeholders. Within an agile DevOps culture, we look for the best solution for end users from the start. As part of a constant exchange, the team of developers adds certain functionalities to a microservice delivered automatically by continuous delivery processes.

Characteristics of cloud-native applications

Cloud native applications are distinguished by a series of characteristics that differentiate them from traditional applications:

• Microservice architecture : a typical characteristic of cloud-native applications is that they consist of several individual services with their own execution environment. These are only loosely coupled and exist independently of each other and their respective infrastructure. They can be freely combined, copied for other applications and reused if necessary.

• API : communication between microservices is carried out by Standardized APIs (interfaces), providing the user with a unified experience. In this context, the services are designed in such a way that they can be integrated into another application.

• Automation : another characteristic of Cloud native services is their standardized behavior, largely automated and therefore highly predictable. Unlike On-Premises applications used in traditional server environments, the performance of a Cloud native application is precisely adapted to the need. To increase performance, it is therefore never necessary to upgrade the application as a whole. Depending on current requirements, different microservices are upgraded independently. These processes take place automatically thanks to triggers predefined (trigger events).

• Availability : In the case of traditional On-Premises software, the deployment of individual updates often results in an interruption of the service concerned. This issue does not exist with cloud-native applications. This architecture allows the developer team to deploy changes as new features in real time. Users can therefore benefit immediately after deployment. For service or infrastructure errors, specific recovery mechanisms, distributed in a distributed manner, ensure that the user does not experience any notable restrictions.

What are the advantages of Cloud native?

The cloud native approach offers various advantages within a cloud environment. We have summarized the main benefits in the following sections.

Flexibility

The main advantage of the Cloud native approach lies in its flexibility. With the independent execution of services and the portability of microservices containers, developers benefit from great freedom. For example, they can start or stop several instances of a container. This is especially an advantage during the testing and development phases. Unlike a monolithic architecture, changes to the code of different microservices have no impact on the software as a whole. Deploying new versions of the software therefore presents a lower risk.

Scalability

Another considerable advantage lies in thescalability applications themselves, which allows companies to avoid having to carry out a expensive upgrade equipment in the event of increased requirements for a service.

Avoiding lock-in effects (lock-in)

As the different services are not tied to specific hardware or operating system, there is no dependency on a single vendor. Cloud-native applications can be run on any platformwhich leaves the company with the choice of the supplier best suited to its needs.

Update and automation

The fact that with a cloud-native architecture, updates and changes are immediately available allows companies to react very quickly to market developments and customer expectations. THE high level of automationwhich can be achieved in particular by orchestration solutions such as Kubernetes, also reduces human errors in configuration and use to a minimum.

In summary

Given the many advantages that Cloud native offers to DevOps teams, everything indicates that this development method will gradually become established. Its ability to quickly adapt to changing business requirements and technological innovations will make cloud native a benchmark for tomorrow's cloud applications.