Cloud native represents a concept that sounds futuristic, but it’s actually how many apps are being built right now. This guide will walk you through everything cloud native is, how it works, and how to keep it secure.

Cloud native meaning

Cloud native refers to the possibility of building and running applications that are designed to flourish in the cloud. These apps are built from scratch to get the benefits of the cloud infrastructure, such as scalability and flexibility, and also to be ready to change fast.

Basically, cloud native apps aren’t moved to the cloud, they’re created in it.

Explaining the cloud native architecture

Cloud native architecture is like assembling Lego blocks that you can change and move instead of starting from scratch. It’s all about:

• Microservices: Breaks the apps into smaller and independent components
• Containers: Packaging up the code and its dependencies
• APIs (Application Programming Interface): They help those components to talk to each other
• Immutable Infrastructure: Instead of changing live servers, you replace them entirely with new builds when changes are needed. This way it becomes a reliable model
• Service Meshes: This layer has features like retries and encryption, so there’s no need to touch your application’s code. 

This design makes it easy to deploy, scale, and fix things without dragging down the entire system.

Cloud native security best practices

When everything is moving in the cloud, security can’t be something to ignore. Here are a few methods to keep it safe:

• Shift-left security: Start scanning for vulnerabilities in early development stages
• Identity and access controls: Lock down the privilege access
• Runtime monitoring: Catch suspicious behavior in real time
• Secrets management: Never hard-code passwords or tokens. You can use instead   a secure storage and retrieval of credentials, API tokens, and keys
• Policy as code:  This way the compliance is automated and rules are enforced with tools like OPA (Open Policy Agent)

Pro tip: Cloud native is secure by default if you check the security at every step of the way.

Benefits of cloud native applications

By adopting a cloud native method, you get many organizational and technical advantages:

• Scalability: Applications can be scaled dynamically in response to the demand.
• Resistance: If you isolate the services, it reduces the risk of failure.
• Accelerated development cycles: Automated CI/CD pipelines get faster iteration, and it reduces time until deployment.
• Efficient resource utilization: Containers and serverless platforms have optimized infrastructure usage and cost.

These benefits alone enhance the ability to deliver value rapidly and reliably in competitive markets.

How does cloud native application development work?

This pipeline is fast and flexible, and it also favors experimentation. The development lifecycle of a cloud native application typically has:

• A service-oriented design: Architects change business functionality into microservices.
• Containerization: Devs package the services with their dependencies with a container tool.
• Deployment via orchestration platforms: Teams deploy the services to orchestrators such as Kubernetes.
• Monitoring and logging: It ensures system health and traceability, so you cannot miss anything.
• Feedback loops: There is monitoring and testing, and let’s not forget about the feedback from users. This feedback-driven process is enabled by principles and cloud infrastructure automation.
• Portability and consistency: Applications that are packaged in containers can run across diverse environments.

Cloud native computing platform and its security 

Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) defines and promotes key technologies like Kubernetes, Prometheus, Envoy, and more. These platforms are the backbone of the cloud native world.

To secure these platforms:

• For the APIs, you can use the role-based access control (RBAC). 
• Scan the container’s images regularly
• Secure ingress traffic with TLS and API gateways
• Implement the network segmentation
• Isolate the workloads per namespace or tenant

Security isn’t just a tool, it is a strategy baked into how cloud native platforms operate.

Embracing cloud native services, storage, and databases

Going cloud native isn’t just about how you build, it is about what you build with.

Cloud native applications will thrive when they’re paired with:

• Cloud native services like serverless functions, identity platforms, and observability tools
• Cloud-native storage like object storage and block storage
• Cloud-native databases

When your apps, data, and services are built cloud native from the ground up, you’re not just future-proof, you’re also future-ready.