ANALYSIS OF MONOLITHIC AND MICROSERVICES SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES FOR AN E-COMMERCE WEB APPLICATION

Ajay Kotalwar Sanket Mendhe Allur Shivprasad Rao, Meenakshi Thalor

Abstract

This research paper explores the relative merits of monolithic and microservices architecture for ECommerce web applications, using Express JS and Node JS as the primary technologies. The study
provides a comprehensive examination of the two architecture patterns and employs a practical approach
to demonstrate the differences. The architecture is compared based on metrics such as latency,
throughput, response-time, error percentage and cost. The findings indicate that when it comes to large
and complex applications, microservices architecture outperforms monolithic architecture in terms of
scalability and reliability. On the other hand, monolithic architecture offers a simpler and more
straightforward approach for small-scale applications. Moreover, monolithic architecture also provides
better results for a small-scale approach whereas microservices architecture would be an expensive
approach. In the experiment, we found that monolithic architecture gives satisfactory results compared to
microservices architecture while having low traffic. However, the error percentage of monolithic
architecture is extremely high while having heavy traffic whereas microservices architecture handles
heavy traffic with a very low error percentage. In the paper we conclude that the appropriate choice of
architecture pattern should be determined by the unique needs of the project. The objective of this
research is to evaluate the monolithic and microservices architectures for an ecommerce use case, and to
propose guidelines for small and large scale enterprises on which architecture to implement. This is a
generic use case that does not account for any specific conditions or constraints.