# Microservices: Granularity vs. Performance

**Authors:** Dharmendra Shadija, Mo Rezai, Richard Hill  
**arXiv:** [1709.09242](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.09242)  
**Date:** 2017-09-26  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/arxiv-id/1709.09242v1/

## Key points

- Microservice Architectures (MA) increase agility in software development
- Microservice granularity and its impact on application latency are examined
- Two approaches to microservice deployment: single container vs separate containers
- Negligible increase in service latency when using multiple containers
- Partitioning microservices across separate containers does not significantly affect application performance
- Importance of considering microservice granularity for efficient software development
- Valuable insights for businesses looking to adopt Microservice Architectures
- Potential benefits of MA in supporting evolving software needs, particularly for IoT applications

## Summary

Microservice Architectures (MA) have gained popularity in software development due to their potential to increase agility. In the context of evolving software requirements, particularly for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, the issue of microservice granularity and its impact on application latency is examined. This study explores two approaches to microservice deployment: one with microservices in a single container and another with microservices partitioned across separate containers. The research findings indicate that there is only a negligible increase in service latency when using multiple containers for microservice deployment compared to a single container. This suggests that partitioning microservices across separate containers does not significantly affect application performance. The authors, Dharmendra Shadija, Mo Rezai, and Richard Hill, emphasize the importance of considering microservice granularity in order to achieve efficient software development and support emerging requirements. The study provides valuable insights for businesses looking to adopt Microservice Architectures and highlights the potential benefits of this approach in supporting evolving software needs, particularly for IoT applications.