Resource allocation in microservice architectures

A computer system hosting a microservice-based application which is run by applying a resource allocation ratio to allocate a total amount of resource between the microservices, the computer system comprising:

• one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage medium, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangible storage medium for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, wherein the computer system is capable of performing a method comprising:
• receiving as input a sequence for testing the microservices, a minimum performance level of a performance metric which the application is required to meet, and the resource allocation ratio;
• allocating the total amount of resource between the microservices according to the resource allocation ratio;
• for each microservice in order of the sequence for testing, identifying whether it is a bottleneck for the application a, wherein the identifying comprises:
• decrementing, via a resource allocation analyzer, the total amount of resource allocated to that microservice;
• and
• measuring, via the resource allocation analyzer, a corresponding change in the performance metric below the minimum performance level, wherein the corresponding change worsens performance of the application;
• for each microservice identified as a bottleneck in reverse order of the sequence for testing, applying successive increments to the total amount of resource allocated to that microservice at least until the performance metric meets the minimum performance level;
• and
• determining and outputting a revised resource allocation ratio for the application based on relative amounts of resource allocated to each of the microservices after said increments have been applied to the total amount of resource allocated to those microservices identified as bottlenecks.

A computer program product for determining resource allocation between a plurality of microservices used to run an application, the computer program product comprising:

• one or more computer-readable tangible storage medium and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangible storage medium, the program instructions being executable by a processor capable of performing a method, the method comprising:
• receiving as input a sequence for testing the microservices, a minimum performance level of a performance metric which the application is required to meet, and a resource allocation ratio;
• allocating a total amount of resource between the microservices according to the resource allocation ratio;
• for each microservice in order of the sequence for testing, identifying whether it is a bottleneck for the application a, wherein the identifying comprises:
• decrementing, via a resource allocation analyzer, the total amount of resource allocated to that microservice;
• and
• measuring, via the resource allocation analyzer, a corresponding change in the performance metric below the minimum performance level, wherein the corresponding change worsens performance of the application;
• for each microservice identified as a bottleneck in reverse order of the sequence for testing, applying successive increments to the total amount of resource allocated to that microservice at least until the performance metric meets the minimum performance level;
• and
• determining and outputting a revised resource allocation ratio for the application based on relative amounts of resource allocated to each of the microservices after said increments have been applied to the total amount of resource allocated to those microservices identified as bottlenecks.