Title: Load balancing and auto-scaling issues in container microservice cloud-based system: a review on the current trend technologies

Authors: Shamsuddeen Rabiu; Chan Huah Yong; Sharifah Mashita Syed-Mohamad

Addresses: School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800 – Penang, Malaysia ' School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800 – Penang, Malaysia ' Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, 21030 – Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract: Load balancing and auto-scaling are essential to cloud features for cloud-based container microservices as they control the number of computing resources available. Many research works have proposed load balancing and auto-scaling approaches for microservices individually; however, they are less likely to propose the two approaches in solving their problems simultaneously. The paper aimed to critically analyse the current issues related to load balancing and auto-scaling in container microservices cloud-based systems. This will open room for researchers in the field to enhance performance for better QoS to the users. We present a comprehensive literature review of the existing techniques used for load balancing and auto-scaling in cloud-based containerised microservice applications. After the in-depth review, it is found that load balancing and auto-scaling contribute as a value-added feature to the microservice applications. This can optimise the issues of Servers overloaded, service failure, traffic spikes, et cetera, during the microservices communication phase.

Keywords: microservice; docker; container; cloud-based; load balancing; auto-scaling; quality of service; QoS; algorithm; QoS metrics; QoS parameters.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWET.2023.136165

International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, 2023 Vol.18 No.4, pp.294 - 318

Received: 22 Jan 2023
Accepted: 12 Jun 2023
Published online: 19 Jan 2024 *

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