Amazon Prime Video’s Evolution: A Microservices Transformation, Not a Monolithic Shift
In a recent development, Amazon Prime Video engineers reported a shift in their service quality monitoring application, initially built on a microservices platform, failing to maintain quality levels even below 10% of service capacity. To address this, they consolidated Quality of Service (QoS) monitoring operations previously separated into isolated AWS Step Functions and Lambda functions into a unified code module. This move was initially perceived as a shift towards a monolithic application, sparking discussions on the viability of microservices architecture. However, experts analyzing the change noted that the new structure is, in fact, a more evolved microservice, offering better scalability and functionality. The transformation is seen as a strategic move to adapt to the increasing demands of live streaming, particularly for NFL Thursday Night Football, which attracts an average of 16.6 million real-time viewers. The change aims to enhance the viewer experience by reducing glitches and improving service quality.