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Microservicessystem_design~12 mins

Mutual TLS between services in Microservices - Architecture Diagram

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System Overview - Mutual TLS between services

This system enables secure communication between microservices using Mutual TLS (mTLS). Each service authenticates the other by exchanging certificates, ensuring encrypted and trusted connections. Key requirements include strong authentication, data encryption in transit, and prevention of unauthorized access.

Architecture Diagram
User
  |
  v
Load Balancer
  |
  v
API Gateway
  |
  v
+-------------------+       +-------------------+
|   Service A       |<----->|   Service B       |
| (mTLS Client &    |       | (mTLS Server &    |
|  Server)          |       |  Client)          |
+-------------------+       +-------------------+
       |                            |
       v                            v
+--------------+             +--------------+
| Certificate  |             | Certificate  |
| Authority    |             | Authority    |
+--------------+             +--------------+
       |                            |
       +------------+  +------------+
                    |  |
                 +-------------------+
                 |  Database          |
                 +-------------------+
Components
User
user
Initiates requests to the system
Load Balancer
load_balancer
Distributes incoming traffic evenly across API Gateway instances
API Gateway
api_gateway
Handles client requests, routing them to appropriate services
Service A
service
Microservice acting as both mTLS client and server to communicate securely with Service B
Service B
service
Microservice acting as both mTLS server and client to communicate securely with Service A
Certificate Authority
certificate_authority
Issues and manages certificates for services to enable mutual TLS authentication
Database
database
Stores persistent data accessed by services
Request Flow - 9 Hops
User → Load Balancer
Load Balancer → API Gateway
API Gateway → Service A
Service A → Service B
Service B → Database
Service B → Service A
Service A → API Gateway
API Gateway → Load Balancer
Load Balancer → User
Failure Scenario
Component Fails:Certificate Authority
Impact:New certificates cannot be issued or renewed, causing mTLS authentication failures between services
Mitigation:Use multiple redundant CAs with automated failover and certificate rotation to maintain trust
Architecture Quiz - 3 Questions
Test your understanding
Which component ensures that Service A and Service B trust each other’s identity?
AAPI Gateway
BLoad Balancer
CCertificate Authority
DDatabase
Design Principle
This architecture uses Mutual TLS to provide strong, bidirectional authentication and encryption between microservices. It ensures that only trusted services communicate, protecting data in transit and preventing unauthorized access. The use of a Certificate Authority centralizes trust management, while the Load Balancer and API Gateway handle traffic routing and scalability.