Creating Microservices Architecture with .NET Core: An Overview

Introduction

Microservices have changed how we build modern software by breaking applications into smaller, independent parts. Instead of one large system, you create smaller services that focus on specific tasks. This makes it easier to update, scale, and develop faster. Microservices and .NETΒ can resolve scalability issues and provide a strong foundation for your system during peak traffic.Β 

With .NET Core, a lightweight and cross-platform framework from Microsoft, building these small services becomes simple, efficient, and powerful. It supports everything you need to design, test, and deploy microservices effectively.Β 

In this guide, we can discover the way to create, design, and control microservices using .NET Core

Microservices Architecture

Microservices architectureΒ is a software design pattern where an application is composed of small, independent services, each responsible for a specific business function. These services communicate with each other through lightweight protocols such as REST, gRPC, or messaging queues like RabbitMQ.Β 

By adopting a microservices architecture, software development teams can build more agile, scalable, and stable applications, resulting in faster development cycles and improved overall performance.Β 

The microservices architecture is increasingly being favoured for the large and complex applications based on the independent and individual subsystems.Β 

Key Features of Microservices Architecture

  • Independent Services:

Each microservice acts as an independent application with its own database, simplifying updates and maintenance.Β 

  • Scalability:

Services can be scaled independently to optimize resource usage and costs.Β 

  • Fault Isolation:

The failure of one service does not affect other services, improving the reliability of the entire system.Β 

  • Technology Diversity:

Each service can use different technologies and programming languages, if they can communicate effectively.Β 

  • Inter Service Communication:

Effective inter-service communication and service discovery mechanisms, such as service registries and API gateways, are essential to maintaining consistent and efficient interactions within a microservices system.Β 

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Best Practices for Designing Microservices Architecture in .NET Core

To ensure that your microservices are robust and scalable, follow these best practices:Β 

Single Responsibility: Each service should handle only one business capability.Β 

Independent Databases: Use a separate database per service to avoid coupling.Β 

Lightweight Communication: Employ protocols like REST or gRPC. For asynchronous messaging, use RabbitMQ or Kafka.Β 

Fault Tolerance: Implement retries, circuit breakers, and graceful degradation using libraries like Polly.Β 

Security First: Secure APIs with OAuth2, JWT tokens, or Azure AD B2C.Β 

Observability pattern: This pattern helps discover unknown issues between various service interactions to build a secure app.

Monolithic vs Microservices Architecture

Monolithic architecture is the traditional model of a software program that is built as an integrated unit that is self-contained and independent of other applications. While the word “monolith” often conjures up images of something big and slow, this isn’t too far off the truth of monolithic architecture in software design. A monolithic architecture is a single, large computer network with a code base that connects all business needs. To make a change to this type of application, you must update the entire stack by accessing the code base and creating and deploying updated versions of the service-side interfaces. This makes updates limited and time-consuming.Β 

A microservices architectureΒ results in an application designed as a set of small, independent services. Each one represents a business capability. The services loosely couple with one another and communicate over the network, typically making use of lightweight protocols such as HTTP or messaging queues.Β 

  • Each service is responsible for a single functionality or feature of the application and can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently.Β 
  • The Microservice architecture has a significant impact on the relationship between the application and the database.Β 

Smaller, independent units make up microservices. It is simpler to comprehend, test, and maintain each service separately with this modular approach. Without having to worry about the application as a whole, developers can concentrate on particular features.Β 

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Microservices with .NET Core

In .NET Core, developing microservices requires a methodical approach. Let’s go over how to construct a basic service:Β 

1. Before we move on, make sure to download and install .NET Core SDK.Β 

2. Open visual studio and you can add a blank solution first, optional to keep all the services in single solutionΒ 

Β or create a .net core Web API project directly.

3. Follow the same process and add required number of project as microservices and finally your project solution will look like below. I have added two services.Β 

4. Now you can simply run these services and test your API endpoints.Β 

5. Database integration: Β 

  • Use Entity framework core to connect to a database.
  • Install EF Core package.
  • Scaffold models and configure the DbContext.

Because most microservices use their own databases, ensuring data consistency and maintenance can be difficult. If you’re having trouble keeping track of data across your microservices, you might want to look into utilising Entity Framework Core, a popular object-relational mapper (ORM) for .NET.Β 

Building Scalable Microservices with .NET Core and Docker

In software development, containerization is an approach in which a service or application, its dependencies, and configurations (in deployment manifest files) are packaged together as a container image.Β 

The containerized application may be tested as a whole and then deployed to the host OS in the form of a container image instance.Β 

This method of software containerization allows developers and IT professionals to easily deploy applications to many environments with few code changes.Β 

What is Docker?

Docker is a free and set of platforms as a service product that use OS level virtualization for automating the deployment of applications as portable, self-sufficient containers that can run on cloud or on-premises. Docker also has premium tiers for premium features.β€―Β 

When it comes to a microservices architecture, the .Net app developers can create applications that are independent of the host environment. This can be done by encapsulating each of the microservices in Docker containers. Docker is a concept that enables the developers to package the applications they create into containers and here each container has a standard executable component and operating system library to run the microservices in any platform.Β 

Docker Installation Steps

  • Docker’s default configuration for Windows employs Linux Containers. When asked by the installation, just accept the default settings.Β 
  • You may be prompted to sign out of the system after installing Docker.Β 
  • Make sure Docker is up and running.Β 

Once the setup is complete, launch a new command prompt and enter β€œdocker –-version” to check if docker is installed and its version:Β 

Once the docker installation confirmed, It is time to add Docker file to every service, it will have all the configuration required to build the application for containers.Β Β 

This is how you can add the docker file from solution explorer:Β 

In solution explorer right click on the service go to Add >> Docker SupportΒ 

You will be prompted to a window to confirm the OS, choose Linux and click β€œOK”. A docker file will be added to your service.Β 

After following above steps, you will see a docker file in solution explorer under your service it will look like below.Β 

This Docker file will build a Docker image that contains your .NET Core application.Β 

Add an yml file, which will contain the services information to build their image and run it in container, create a file named docker-compose.yml.Β 

When you are done with above configurations, your application is ready to run inside docker container.Β 
To test if the services are ready to run inside docker containers, Open new command prompt window and go to the root directory of you project where the docker-compose.yml file is located and run β€œdocker-compose up –build” command it will build the images and run the services inside containers. This can be confirmed from Docker desktop; under containers you will see the listing of service’s containers with their respective status and ports details. Like below:Β 

Understanding API Gateways in .NET Core Microservices

In a microservices architecture, API Gateways serve as a single point of entry for all client requests. Clients communicate with the gateway, which forwards requests to the relevant backend services, rather than contacting each microservice directly.Β Β 

Why Use an API Gateway?

  • Single Entry Point: Client don’t have to be aware of the URLs for each service.Β 

  • Load Balancing: Distributes traffic across multiple instances of a service.Β 

  • Security: Centralized authentication, authorization, and rate limiting.Β 

  • Caching: Improves performance by caching responses.Β 

  • Transformation: Modifies request/response formats (e.g., aggregating multiple responses).Β 

  • Logging & Monitoring: Centralized request logging and tracking.Β 

There are multiple options available of Api Gateways, here we will use Ocelot API gateway. Ocelot is a lightweight API gateway for .NET Core. It is a popular open-source API Gateway designed for .NET Core microservices.Β 

Setting Up Ocelot

1. Create a .net core web API project for API gateway, the same way we have added a service.Β 

2. Install Ocelot.AspNetCore dot net package into it.Β 

3. Add a configuration file with name ocelot.json, In this file we will declare routes to send the incoming request to requested service.Β 

4. Now add ocelot configuration in API gateway project to read the configurations from ocelot.json file and add ocelot service.Β 

5. You are all set to use single endpoint for all your services, to test your API Gateway’s working, run all the services along with API gateway and now you will see that you will be able to call your services from API gateway ports. Open browser and search http://localhost:gateway-ports/upstream-path this will send the request to mentioned service and will return with expected response.Β 

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Conclusion

When paired with the capabilities of the .NET platform, microservices architecture gives developers a scalable and adaptable way to create applications. Better scalability, flexibility, and maintainability can be attained by developers by segmenting applications into smaller, independent services. In the .NET ecosystem, ASP .NET Core, Docker, and Kubernetes are crucial tools that make microservice development, deployment, and management easier. For microservices applications to be successful, factors like API design, data management, testing, monitoring, and deployment are essential. You can fully utilize microservices in the .NET ecosystem by adopting these best practices.Β 

Related Topics

Cleared Doubts: FAQs

You need an Azure subscription, a Power Automate account, and a basic understanding of ASP.NET Core and REST APIs.Β 

You can create a flow by logging into Power Automate, selecting a template or creating a flow from scratch, and configuring the triggers and actions.Β 

ASP.NET Core can interact with Power Automate using HTTP requests to trigger flows or receive data from flows.

A webhook is an HTTP callback that allows one system to send real-time data to another. In this integration, ASP.NET Core can use webhooks to trigger Power Automate flows.Β 

You can create a webhook by setting up an HTTP endpoint in your ASP.NET Core application that listens for incoming requests from Power Automate.

You can secure communication using authentication methods like OAuth, API keys, and HTTPS to ensure data is transmitted securely.Β 

Connectors are pre-built integrations that allow Power Automate to interact with various services and applications, such as SharePoint, Outlook, and SQL Server.Β 

Custom connectors allow you to define your own APIs and integrate them with Power Automate. You can create custom connectors using the Power Automate portal.Β 

Error handling ensures that workflows can gracefully handle exceptions and continue running or notify users of issues.Β 

You can implement error handling by configuring actions to run only if previous steps fail or by using the β€œConfigure run after” option.Β 

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