Cloud native application is the base for cloud computing architecture. Organisations are under the pressure to deliver software faster, operate more efficiently, and scale without compromising reliability, and this is what cloud native development can provide.
Enter cloud native development: a transformative approach that lets businesses build and run scalable applications in dynamic environments like public, private, and hybrid clouds. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore what cloud native means, how it integrates with DevOps, why Kubernetes is a game-changer, and what it takes to build truly modern, resilient applications.
What is cloud native?
Before getting into the key characteristics of cloud native applications, let’s dig into the term “native app”. A native app is a software designed to be used on a specific platform or device. Cloud native applications are built in the cloud to take full advantage of cloud computing. Moreover, as cloud technology ensures modern, fast and agile solutions, these applications are flexible, resilient and predictable.
If your applications are not in the cloud yet, in a previous article, we explored 7 proven cloud migration strategies.
Cloud native is an approach to building and running applications that fully exploit the advantages of the cloud computing model. Cloud native systems are designed to be resilient, manageable, and observable, using technologies like containers, microservices, service meshes, and declarative APIs.
Let’s see and example!
We all love to watch series and movies on everyone’s favourite streaming service: Netflix. Netflix is one of the most prominent examples of a cloud-native application. Netflix is a cloud-native pioneer, showing how a company can scale to serve a global audience through a combination of microservices, DevOps, automation, and cloud infrastructure. Here’s how:
- Microservices architecture Netflix transitioned from a monolithic architecture to microservices, where each component (user recommendations, streaming, billing, etc.) is independently developed, deployed, and scaled. This allows the platform to handle millions of users simultaneously without downtime.
- DevOps + continuous deployment Netflix uses DevOps practices and an internal platform called Spinnaker for continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD). This enables thousands of deployments per day, reducing risk and increasing innovation speed.
- Cloud native infrastructure Netflix runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and takes full advantage of cloud scalability, elasticity, and global distribution. They can automatically scale up during peak hours (e.g., evenings or new show releases) and scale down when traffic is low.
- Resilience & observability Netflix built tools like Chaos Monkey to deliberately cause failures in their systems to test resilience. This demonstrates cloud-native reliability practices like observability, self-healing, and automated recovery.
- Containerization & Kubernetes (in some components) While Netflix doesn’t run fully on Kubernetes, some services are containerized for consistency, scalability, and faster deployment - a hallmark of cloud-native DevOps with Kubernetes.
This way, Netflix is fast, reacts to changes quickly and it doesn’t really bug and lag - which is why it’s a pioneer!
Just to summarise, these are the key characteristics of cloud native applications: • Containerised: Each component is packaged in its own container for consistency across environments. • Dynamically orchestrated: Containers are managed and scheduled by orchestration platforms like Kubernetes. • Microservices-based: Applications are broken down into loosely coupled services that can be independently deployed and scaled. • Designed for continuous delivery: Supports fast, frequent changes without downtime.
Cloud Native and DevOps: A perfect match
Cloud native and DevOps are not just compatible, they’re symbiotic. DevOps focuses on streamlining software delivery and infrastructure changes through automation and monitoring. Cloud native provides the tools and architecture to make this possible at scale.
Benefits of cloud native DevOps:
- Faster time to market: Continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines ensure rapid feature releases.
- Improved reliability: Automation reduces human error and increases uptime.
- Greater agility: Developers can test and deploy independently, making teams more responsive.
- Efficient resource usage: Autoscaling and containerization ensure optimal use of compute resources.
Cloud native DevOps with Kubernetes
Kubernetes has become the backbone of cloud native DevOps. It orchestrates containerized applications, handles scaling, self-healing, and service discovery - all crucial for modern application delivery.
Key Kubernetes features for DevOps:
- Automated rollouts and rollbacks
- Horizontal scaling
- Self-healing capabilities
- Load balancing and service discovery
- Secrets and configuration management
Kubernetes enables DevOps cloud native teams to create robust environments that are scalable, resilient, and secure.
Why does cloud native matter?
Cloud native technology gives businesses a huge advantage with its scalability, cost efficiency, speed and agility. It can be scaled down or up based on demand, businesses can pay only for the resource they use, deploy new features quickly to react market changes. It also gives freedom the developers! The advantages for developers is that they can use best-of-breed tools across the software lifecycle, and microservices and CI/CD pipelines allow for rapid iteration.
However, as everything, cloud native comes with its own set of challenges. Its complexity, meaning more and more tools and components to manage, security gaps and without proper cost management, it can be an expensive technology without a skilled team to manage it! It’s highly important to be prepared when you switch to cloud native architecture. Let’s see what you need to build a secure and agile cloud native architecture!
How to build a cloud native architecture?
If you are planning to transition to a cloud native architecture for your business, it involves more than just containers. It requires a shift in mindset and tooling. Here are the core building blocks:
- Microservices: Split monolithic applications into smaller, independently deployable services.
- Containers (e.g., Docker): Package applications and dependencies into a consistent runtime environment.
- Orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes): Manage container deployment, scaling, and networking.
- CI/CD pipelines: Automate the building, testing, and deployment of applications.
- Service Mesh (e.g., Istio): Manage communication between services with traffic control, security, and observability.
- Infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform, Helm): Define and manage infrastructure through code to ensure repeatability and automation.
- Observability and monitoring: Use tools like Prometheus, Grafana, or Datadog to monitor application health and performance. Best practices for cloud native success
- Start small: Begin with a pilot project to understand tooling and workflows.
- Invest in culture: Foster a DevOps culture that values collaboration and automation.
- Standardize tooling: Choose tools that integrate well and support your stack.
- Focus on observability: Make monitoring a first-class citizen from the start.
- Automate everything: From testing to deployments, automation is key to efficiency.
With keeping these best practices, you will get exactly what you were promised with the cloud native technology: flexibility and agility.
Summary
Cloud native and DevOps are the pillars of modern software development. By embracing a cloud native architecture- backed by robust cloud native DevOps with Kubernetes, organisations can innovate faster, scale efficiently, and stay competitive.
As you begin your journey, start small, build the right foundations, and scale confidently with the right strategy and partners.