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What signals indicate that a microservice should be split or refactored in DevOps?
Asked on Nov 04, 2025
Answer
In DevOps, the decision to split or refactor a microservice often hinges on observability and performance indicators that suggest inefficiencies or bottlenecks. Key signals include increased latency, scaling challenges, and complex dependencies that hinder deployment velocity and reliability.
Example Concept: Observability models, such as the SRE golden signals (latency, traffic, errors, and saturation), help identify when a microservice may need refactoring. If latency increases or error rates rise, it could indicate that the service is handling too much responsibility or has grown too complex. Additionally, if scaling the service becomes difficult due to tightly coupled dependencies, it may be time to decompose the service into smaller, more manageable components.
Additional Comment:
- Monitor latency and error rates using tools like Prometheus or Grafana.
- Evaluate service dependencies and communication patterns for complexity.
- Consider domain-driven design principles to guide service decomposition.
- Use load testing to assess scaling capabilities and identify bottlenecks.
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