How Spring Cloud Gateway Orchestrated Our App Modernization

Link

https://springone.io/2021/sessions/how-spring-cloud-gateway-orchestrated-our-app-modernization

Author(s)

Dodd Pfeffer as Advisory Solution Engineer, VMware

Partha Chandramohan as Solutions Architect, AARP

Length

25:16

Date

28-09-2021

Language

English 🇺🇸

Track

Architecture

Rating

⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  • ✅ Great session about how Spring Cloud Gateway becomes handy for application modernization as a simple solution able to fulfill a lot of solution requirements. Interesting architecture lesson.

  • ⛔ Fewer abbreviations (who knows SCG stands for Spring Cloud Gateway).

  • ⛔ Confusing speakers switching.

  • ⛔ The cons of Spring Cloud Gateway were not mentioned.


Legacy application

The decade-old application about to be modernized:

  • AARP is a nonprofit organization empowering people to choose how they live, advocating healthcare, social security, and health insurance, and serves more than 40 million members today.

  • DSM manages the Digital and Membership strategies for AARP including the technology and production of content on [aarp.org](aarp.org) and the AARP Now application, and strategies that help them to acquire, maintain and bring value to members.

Legacy setup

The legacy application consists of over 30 applications and monoliths:

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  • No meaningful auto-scaling (it was based on CPU/Memory but not actual incoming traffic).

  • No gateway.

  • No throttling.

  • No rule-based routing.

Needed solution

Migrate to modernized application gradually without impacting the functionality, and application metrics and with a quick rollback strategy to the original state, Throttle the traffic into the new applications incrementally and route traffic to legacy and new service at the same time.

Modernization strategy

Break down monolithic apps (key piece), gradually peel off one service at a time, and route traffic to legacy and new services, SCG was the solution for routing, A/B testing, traffic splitting, ruling by header values.

Blue-Green deployment

  • Outlined requirement as part of application modernization: Spring Cloud Gateway became the fundamental enabler to achieve it using header values.

  • Spring Cloud Gateway enabled quick switching and roll-back between a new service and legacy solution (50:50) for A/B testing and load measurements of the infrastructure.

The setup

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Pros of Spring Cloud Gateway

  • Developer-friendly works seamlessly with the platform.

  • Keeps things simple

  • Easy integration.

  • Comprehensive configuration list.

  • Avoids the need for other expensive products.