Request aggregation in Microservices - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is request aggregation in microservices?

Request aggregation is a design pattern where a single service collects data from multiple microservices and combines it into one response for the client.

beginner

Why is request aggregation useful in microservices?

It reduces the number of client requests by combining multiple service calls into one, improving performance and simplifying client logic.

intermediate

What is a common challenge when implementing request aggregation?

Handling latency and failures from multiple services while ensuring the aggregated response is timely and reliable.

intermediate

Name two common approaches to implement request aggregation.

1. API Gateway pattern, where the gateway aggregates responses before sending to client. 2. Backend for Frontend (BFF), a dedicated service per client type that aggregates data.

beginner

How does request aggregation improve user experience?

By reducing the number of network calls and combining data, it lowers wait times and simplifies the client’s data handling.

What does request aggregation primarily aim to reduce?

A Server CPU usage

B Number of microservices

C Number of client requests

D Database size

Request aggregation reduces the number of client requests by combining multiple service calls into one.

Which pattern often uses request aggregation to serve clients?

A Circuit Breaker

B API Gateway

C Event Sourcing

D CQRS

API Gateway often aggregates responses from multiple services before sending to the client.

What is a key risk when aggregating requests from multiple services?

A Overloading a single microservice

B Data duplication in database

C Client-side caching issues

D Increased latency due to waiting on all services

Waiting for multiple services can increase latency and affect response time.

Which service is responsible for request aggregation in the Backend for Frontend pattern?

A A dedicated service per client type

B Database service

C Authentication service

D Load balancer

BFF uses a dedicated service per client type to aggregate data tailored for that client.

Request aggregation helps improve user experience by:

A Reducing network calls and wait times

B Increasing the number of microservices

C Adding more client-side logic

D Duplicating data across services

Reducing network calls lowers wait times and simplifies client logic, improving user experience.

Explain request aggregation and why it is important in microservices architecture.

Think about how a single client request can get data from many services efficiently.

Describe common challenges and solutions when implementing request aggregation.

Consider what happens if one service is slow or fails during aggregation.