Conductor (software)
| Company type | Open-source software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Cloud computing |
| Founder | Netflix |
| Products | Microservice orchestration platform |
| Owner | Netflix (original developer) |
Conductor is a no-cost and open-source platform designed for microservice orchestration, initially created by Netflix. It tackles the complexities involved in managing microservices and business workflows at scale within cloud-native settings. Distributed under the Apache License 2.0, Conductor has gained traction among organizations looking for robust and scalable orchestration solutions.
This platform allows developers to create durable, large-scale, cloud-native applications with stateful behavior by utilizing stateless components.
Architecture
Developed in Java, the Conductor server offers HTTP and gRPC APIs that facilitate language-independent development. Available client libraries include Java, Python, and Go.
Workflows are specified through a streamlined JSON schema that incorporates elements such as fork/join operations, conditional branching, loops, and error handling mechanisms. A core component of Conductor is its queuing system responsible for task scheduling and workflow control. The architecture supports interchangeable queue implementations; the open-source release uses Netflix’s Dyno-Queues by default.
Workflow tasks may be system-defined constructs (e.g., fork, join, switch, loop), external HTTP services executing business logic, or worker processes operating externally from the server. These workers communicate with the server via HTTP or gRPC APIs. Lightweight client libraries assist in managing worker states across supported languages, with APIs available for integrating additional programming languages.
Conductor accommodates various databases for storing state data, including Redis (in stand-alone mode, Sentinel, Cluster configurations, and Dynomite), Postgres, MySQL, and Cassandra; Elasticsearch is employed for indexing purposes.
The user interface, built with ReactJS, enables users to search for workflows, visualize their progress, and manage them effectively.
Cloud Hosted Services
Orkes, established by the original developers of Netflix Conductor, provides a cloud-hosted managed service of Netflix Conductor spanning multiple cloud providers and data centers.