2024: Crisis Management Days Conference Proceedings
Communication and Technology (Crisis Communication, Application of New Technologies and Artificial Intelligence in Crisis Management)

Using the gRPC protocol in the context of crisis management

Davor Lozić
University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica
Vladimir Bralić
University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica
Antun Matija Filipović
CARNET

Published 2025-02-05

Keywords

  • gRPC protocol,
  • inter-service communication,
  • crisis management

How to Cite

Lozić, D., Bralić, V., & Filipović, A. M. (2025). Using the gRPC protocol in the context of crisis management. Crisis Management Days. Retrieved from https://ojs.vvg.hr/index.php/DKU/article/view/523

Abstract

Speed, stability, and efficiency are key parameters in inter-service communication during crisis management. Traditionally, REST, an architectural style based on HTTP protocol principles was used in microservice architecture due to its simplicity and broad support. However, with the increasing number of requests to and between microservices, the gRPC protocol is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative. This paper presents the technical advantages of the gRPC protocol over traditional REST in the context of inter-service communication in crisis conditions, focusing on several key parameters: low latency, efficiency, data streaming capability, and support for distributed transactions. This paper demonstrates the gRPC protocol through the Go programming language, which is also recognized as a very efficient, reliable, and scalable, making it acceptable for microservices development.

References

  1. Bellemare, A. (2020). Building event-driven microservices. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  2. Belshe, M., Peon, R., & Thomson, M. (2015). RFC 7540: Hypertext Transfer Protocol Version 2 (HTTP/2). Retrieved from Internet Engineering Task Force: https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7540
  3. Fielding, R. T. (2000). Architectural styles and the design of network-based software architectures. Irvine: University of California.
  4. Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H., Masinter, L., Leach, R., & Berners-Lee, T. (1999). RFC 2616: Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1. Retrieved from Internet Engineering Task Force: https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt
  5. Google LLC. (2024). Protocol Buffers. Retrieved from Protocol Buffers Documentation: https://protobuf.dev/
  6. Gourley, D., & Totty, B. (2002). HTTP: The Definitive Guide. O'Reilly Media.
  7. Grigorik, I. (2013). High Performance Browser Networking. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  8. Indrasiri, K., & Kuruppu, D. (2020). gRPC: up and running: building cloud native applications with Go and Java for Docker and Kubernetes. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  9. Iyengar, J., & Thomson, M. (2021). RFC 9000: QUIC: A UDP-Based Multiplexed and Secure Transport. Retrieved from Internet Engineering Task Force: https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9000
  10. Kleppmann, M. (2017). Designing data-intensive applications: The big ideas behind reliable, scalable, and maintainable systems. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  11. Nielsen, H. F., Gettys, J., Baird-Smith, A., Prud'hommeaux, E., Lie, H. W., & Lilley, C. (1997). Network performance effects of HTTP/1.1, CSS1, and PNG. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM'97 conference on Applications, technologies, architectures, and protocols for computer communication, 155-166.
  12. Niswar, M., Safruddin, R. A., Bustamin, A., & Aswad, I. (2024). Performance evaluation of microservices communication with REST, GraphQL, and gRPC. International Journal of Electronics and Telecommunication, 70(2), 429-436. Retrieved 1 25, 2025, from https://ijet.pl/index.php/ijet/article/view/10.24425-ijet.2024.149562/2855
  13. Ramu, V. B. (2023). Performance Impact of Microservices Architecture. The Review of Contemporary Scientific and Academic Studies, 3(6). Retrieved from https://thercsas.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/rcsas3062023010.pdf
  14. Richardson, L., & Ruby, S. (2008.). RESTful web services. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  15. Thomson, M., & Benfield, &. (2021). RFC 9114: HTTP/3. Retrieved from Internet Engineering Task Force: https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9114
  16. Wang, X., Zhao, H., & Zhu, J. (1993). GRPC: A communication cooperation mechanism in distributed systems. ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review, 27(3), 75-86.