DIMOCO initially approached me in order to develop a prototype for an architecture evaluation with Akka Cluster to help make a decision of which technology to use (the other contending technology was VertX). I developed a software prototype deployed on multiple Raspberry PIs to demonstrate the resilience and failover capability of Akka Cluster (unplugging a network cable while transactions were being executed and showing that the processing continues and no transaction is failing makes for a good demonstration).

Akka Cluster was subsequently selected as the technology to use for developing the new version of DIMOCO’s SMS delivery platform. I supported the engineering team in the early stages of the development of the platform by:

• reviewing the architecture and the technical design
• regularly reviewing the code
• providing guidance and best practices with regard to the use of Akka and Akka Cluster

Topics & tools: Distributed systems, Reactive design principles, Akka Cluster, Kubernetes