What is Cloud Native?

Cloud native is a modern approach to designing, developing, and operating applications that are built to fully leverage the scalability, flexibility, and resilience of cloud infrastructure. It emphasizes modular architectures typically using microservices, containers, and continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) to enable rapid deployment, dynamic scaling, and efficient resource usage across public, private, and hybrid cloud environments.

Why is Cloud Native Important?

Cloud native technologies enable faster innovation, higher system resilience, and optimized resource consumption: critical advantages for developers building applications for modern workloads in IoT, mobile, infrastructure, and AI. By decoupling services and automating delivery, organizations can iterate quickly, scale efficiently, and ensure robust system availability, even under varying loads or failure scenarios. This approach is foundational to the broader Arm ecosystem, supporting everything from edge computing to hyperscale cloud infrastructure.

How does Cloud Native Work?

Cloud native applications are developed with modular principles, typically following a microservices architecture. Each microservice is packaged into a container and managed by an orchestration platform. Configuration, networking, and state management are externalized via APIs and backing services. The CI/CD pipeline automates development workflows, while infrastructure-as-code tools provision cloud resources predictably. As applications run, observability tools monitor performance and ensure availability, often in real time. This dynamic design allows teams to deploy and update parts of the application independently with minimal risk.

What are the key Cloud Native Components or Features?

Microservices: Applications are divided into independent services, each focused on a specific function and deployed separately.
Containers: Lightweight, portable execution environments that encapsulate code and dependencies, enabling consistent deployment across environments.
Service meshes: Layers that handle communication between microservices, adding observability, security, and traffic management.
APIs: Standardized interfaces that facilitate interaction between microservices and external systems.
CI/CD pipelines: Automated build, test, and deployment processes for rapid, reliable delivery.
Immutable infrastructure: Servers are provisioned as disposable resources that are replaced rather than updated.
Orchestration: Tools such as Kubernetes manage container scheduling, scaling, failover, and service discovery.

FAQs

Can cloud-native applications run outside the cloud?

Yes. They can run in on-premises or hybrid environments, as long as they adhere to cloud-native principles such as containerization and automation.

What’s the difference between cloud native and cloud enabled?

Cloud-enabled applications are adapted to run in the cloud, often by lifting and shifting monolithic architectures. Cloud native apps are designed from the ground up for the cloud, using modular, scalable design patterns.

What role does Kubernetes play in cloud native?

Kubernetes is a key orchestration tool that automates deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications, making it integral to most cloud-native architectures.

Why is observability critical in cloud-native systems?

Observability tools help monitor, trace, and debug distributed systems, ensuring uptime and performance across dynamic environments.

Relevant Resources