Eureka Server can be deployed or run as a Runnable JAR. Spring Boot connects Eureka Client, which is integrated into the application. It is best suited for edge connections like external devices or JavaScript clients. The Consul application is launched via the command line. Control-C is used to terminate the server instance gracefully. Consul anticipates that each data center will run 3-5 cases of the Server. In this article, we will learn the difference between Eureka and Consul.

Eureka

Eureka Server is an application that stores information about all client-service apps. Each Microservice will register with the Eureka server. Similarly, the Eureka server recognizes all client apps operating on each port and IP address. We can deploy or self-launch the Eureka Server as a Runnable JAR. Eureka Client is integrated into the application via Spring Boot.

Example of Eureka:

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.cloud.netflix.eureka.server.EnableEurekaServer;

@SpringBootApplication
@EnableEurekaServer
public class EurekaServerApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(EurekaServerApplication.class, args);
    }
}

This code sets up a Eureka Server using Spring Boot, which acts as a service registry for microservices architecture. The @EnableEurekaServer annotation activates the Eureka Server functionality, allowing other services to register and discover each other.

Key features of Eureka

• In Eureka Server, Netflix Eureka can provide a service registration server. It can contain a registry of available microservices and also provide an interface for service registry, discovery, and monitoring.
• Eureka Client has a library that allows microservices to communicate with the Eureka server and check other services that have been registered with the server.
• Eureka can integrate with Spring Boot applications, allowing for better service registry and discovery.

Pros of Eureka

• Eureka provides various advantages for microservices development, including simplicity, resiliency, and flexibility.
• It is simple to set up and use, requiring minimal configuration and dependencies, and it works well with other Netflix OSS and Spring Cloud components.
• Eureka has robust and extensive security infrastructure and also offers customized infrastructure to fit the application’s requirements.

Cons of Eureka

• Eureka is the technique of dividing incoming requests across many service instances to ensure optimal resource usage but does not provide high availability.
• It’s a service registry and discovery server created by Netflix that takes more time than any other service registry.
• Eureka cannot provide client-side load balancing by just delivering a list of available service instances to the client.

Consul

The Consul is an application that runs from the command line. We can use control-c to end the server instance gracefully. However, a data center is attached internally via a join command that specifies the Consul Server nodes. To connect the data centers, one of the Consul Server instances must join -wan with the other WAN servers. As a result, Datacenter to data center communication is limited to Consul Server communication between Centres.

Example of Consul:

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.cloud.client.discovery.EnableDiscoveryClient;

@SpringBootApplication
@EnableDiscoveryClient
public class ConsulClientApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(ConsulClientApplication.class, args);
    }
}

This code sets up a Spring Boot application that registers itself as a Consul client for service discovery. The @EnableDiscoveryClient annotation enables the application to be discovered by other services registered with Consul.

Key features of Consul

• Consul’s identity-based DNS allows you to discover healthy services in the Consul catalog.
• Services registered in Consul provide health information, access points, and other statistics that allow you to control how data flows through your network.
• Teams add services to the Consul catalog, which is a central register where services may find one another without an operator having to manually modify the application code.

Pros of Consul

• Consul server can help you save time and money on application development and deployment.
• The Consul server simplifies the process of discovering, connecting, and securing services, as well as automating other network operations.
• Consul has a centralized configuration database with naturally high availability.

Cons of Consul

• Consul server not only allows you to reduce the time and cost of application development and deployment it also increases the quality and reliability of your applications.
• Consul should have cryptography built in. Depending on other solutions does not look wise.
• Its front end has room for development and there is also some bad documentation.

Difference between Eureka and Consul

Below is the difference table of Eureka and Consul.