Using Container Technology to Build a Microservices Architecture

In this article we discuss the features that make container technology well suited for development, testing, and building a microservices architecture on the AWS platform. Microservices make web applications more agile and easier to manage, especially for fast‑growing startups.

Web Development History – Early web applications used CGI scripts (often Perl) and later Apache modules such as mod_perl. The mixing of view and business logic led to the emergence of server‑page technologies and the Model‑2 design, which evolved into the Model‑View‑Controller (MVC) pattern used by frameworks like Apache Struts and Ruby on Rails.

Rise of REST – As IPC moved to text‑based formats (XML, JSON) and SOAP became complex, developers adopted the lighter‑weight REST protocol. MVC frameworks proved ideal for building REST endpoints, mapping resources to controllers and models.

Monolithic Architecture – Traditional MVC applications were deployed as a single process or directory, causing scaling challenges, resource contention, and tight coupling between development teams.

Microservices Architecture – Microservices split monolithic services into independent units that can be deployed on separate hosts, allowing language‑specific implementations, independent scaling, and faster development cycles. However, they introduce challenges such as service discovery, increased host count, and heterogeneous deployment requirements.

Role of Containers – Linux containers (e.g., Docker) provide isolation while sharing the host kernel, simplifying deployment of heterogeneous services. Docker images are defined by a Dockerfile; an example for a Ruby/Sinatra service is shown below:

FROM ubuntu:14.04
MAINTAINER John Doe <[email protected]>
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl wget default-jre git
RUN adduser --home /home/sinatra --disabled-password --gecos '' sinatra
RUN adduser sinatra sudo
RUN echo '%sudo ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL' >> /etc/sudoers
USER sinatra
RUN curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable
RUN /bin/bash -l -c "source /home/sinatra/.rvm/scripts/rvm"
RUN /bin/bash -l -c "rvm install 2.1.2"
RUN /bin/bash -l -c "gem install sinatra"
RUN /bin/bash -l -c "gem install thin"

Containers isolate services, allowing mixed‑language stacks (e.g., a Java/DropWizard service alongside the Ruby service) to run on the same host without conflicts.

Amazon ECS – Amazon EC2 Container Service manages clusters of EC2 instances, schedules tasks composed of multiple containers, and integrates with AWS services such as ELB, EBS, ENI, and Auto Scaling. It also simplifies service discovery, especially when combined with tools like Apache Zookeeper.

Overall, container technology aligns with the two‑decade evolution of web development by improving resource utilization and simplifying the maintenance of increasingly complex web applications, making it a natural fit for modern microservices architectures.