On the Effectiveness of Microservices Tactics and Patterns to Reduce Energy Consumption: An Experimental Study on Trade-Offs
Xingwen Xiao, Chushu Gao, Justus Bogner

TL;DR
This study evaluates microservices tactics and patterns for reducing energy consumption, revealing trade-offs with performance and maintainability, and highlighting the importance of balancing energy efficiency with other quality attributes.
Contribution
It provides an empirical analysis of the effectiveness and trade-offs of specific microservices tactics and patterns in reducing energy consumption under different load conditions.
Findings
All techniques reduced energy consumption at certain load levels.
Some techniques negatively impacted response time, increasing it up to 25.9%.
Certain techniques improved throughput by up to 34%.
Abstract
Context: Microservice-based systems have established themselves in the software industry. However, sustainability-related legislation and the growing costs of energy-hungry software increase the importance of energy efficiency for these systems. While some proposals for architectural tactics and patterns exist, their effectiveness as well as potential trade-offs on other quality attributes (QAs) remain unclear. Goal: We therefore aim to study the effectiveness of microservices tactics and patterns to reduce energy consumption, as well as potential trade-offs with performance and maintainability. Method: Using the open-source Online Boutique system, we conducted a controlled experiment with three tactics and three patterns, and analyzed the impact of each technique compared to a baseline. We also tested with three levels of simulated request loads (low, medium, high). Results: Request…
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