Serverless Computing is a misnomer that can be misleading, as it does not mean an absence of servers. Instead, it is a cloud-based computing model that allows for specialized software to take care of the provisioning, scaling, and maintenance of servers, so developers are freed from the responsibility of server management. Serverless Computing is the next stage in cloud computing, where applications are delivered over the internet without the need to manage any infrastructure. This allows developers to focus more on developing their applications, without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. With Serverless Computing, the cloud provider automatically handles the provisioning, scaling, and maintenance of servers, and users only pay for the resources they consume. This makes it more cost-effective and reliable.
Serverless Computing
Serverless Computing
Serverless Computing is a cloud computing model that allows developers to create, deploy, and run applications without the hassle of managing and provisioning servers. It enables developers to focus on their product rather than being concerned about the infrastructure and scaling of servers. The cloud service providers that offer a serverless framework include AWS, Microsoft Azure, and the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The serverless model adds an abstraction layer on top of the cloud infrastructure, providing a complete system to run applications without needing to directly manage the server.
Features of serverless computing
- Serverless computing enables users to run code without having to manage servers, and functions are triggered only when an event is triggered, instead of running continuously.
- You can run any application, regardless of the language or framework used.
- It enables functions to scale dynamically in response to changes in demand, without any additional setup.
- The functions can be triggered by different event types, such as via API gateways.
- FaaS Model
The best way to understand serverless computing is by exploring the Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) model. It is important to understand the concepts of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) before delving into FaaS.
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a type of cloud computing where software applications are hosted centrally and accessed by users via the internet on a subscription basis. This means users can access their desired software and its features from any device with an internet connection. SaaS applications are typically updated and managed by the provider, meaning users do not have to worry about software maintenance or updates. Examples of SaaS applications include Google Apps, Dropbox, and WebEx.
IaaS, which stands for Infrastructure as a Service, is a cloud computing service that provides virtualized computing resources such as servers, storage, and networking. It is a flexible, pay-as-you-go model that allows users to scale up and down their computing resources in order to meet their needs. Examples of IaaS providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS) EC2, Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine, and Rackspace. With IaaS, users are able to build, deploy, and manage applications in the cloud without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure.
PaaS is a platform that provides both software and infrastructure for application development. AWS Beanstalk and Azure App Services are some well-known examples of this type of cloud computing. On the other hand, FaaS, which stands for Function as a Service, is a model that allows developers to develop, run, and manage applications without having to worry about the application infrastructure. It is based on the concept of single-purpose blocks of code called functions. It uses an event-driven architecture to process these functions, in which each function is triggered by an event such as an API request, an event in the database, or a scheduled event. Serverless applications are built by combining multiple FaaS functions. However, one important thing to note about the FaaS model is that it is stateless since the functions run in ephemeral containers and the state from a previous run cannot be accessed. It is possible, however, to use external sources such as Amazon S3 to store and retrieve data instances that can be shared between functions.
PaaS and FaaS may seem similar upon first glance, but there are clear differences between the two models. While PaaS provides an environment for application development, FaaS provides a model for running and managing applications without the need for infrastructure. Additionally, the FaaS model is stateless, meaning that the data from a previous run cannot be accessed, while PaaS does not have this limitation.
difference between them.
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offers convenience in deploying and managing web applications, but does not provide the same degree of flexibility as Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) where entire applications can be taken up and down for each request.
FaaS infrastructure provides more flexibility to deal with individual requests than PaaS infrastructure, which relies on other PaaS based solutions such as AWS Elastic Beanstalk for application scaling.
Advantages of Serverless Computing
Reducing Operational Costs
Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) provides reduced operational costs, as pre-defined runtimes and shared runtimes contribute to significant cost savings. Developers can focus on core features, as the cloud provider manages the infrastructure, and FaaS facilitates automatic horizontal scaling and scaling up and down of infrastructure, resulting in reduced scaling costs.
Additionally, FaaS offers an easier operational management approach, allowing businesses to quickly take their ideas to reality.
Accelerating Development
Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) provides a rapid development process by allowing developers to focus on core features, as the cloud provider manages the infrastructure. In addition, FaaS supports automatic horizontal scaling and scaling up and down of infrastructure, resulting in reduced scaling costs. Furthermore, the operational management approach is simplified, significantly reducing the time required to take an idea from conception to a finished product.
Optimizing Cost
Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) offers a cost-efficient solution, as pre-defined runtimes and shared runtimes contribute to significant cost savings. Additionally
Limitations of Serverless Computing
Cold Start Issues in Serverless Computing
Since serverless computing is an event-driven architecture, there is a concern of a cold start. This refers to a longer response time to an event after a period of inactivity. The lack of activity can cause the code to take longer to respond.
Infrastructure Control Limitations in Serverless Computing
Serverless architectures are monitored by the cloud providers, meaning users have limited control over the infrastructure. This limitation can be a drawback for those who prefer to have more control over their server and hosting environment.
Long-Running Application Challenges
Serverless computing is not well adapted for long-running batch operations due to its pre-defined runtime features and a timeout period set by the cloud providers. This can be a challenge when attempting to run a program that requires a longer runtime.
Vendor Lock-In in Serverless Computing
One of the major limitations of serverless computing is vendor lock-in. This means that users are unable to switch to another cloud provider from the existing one, making it difficult to take advantage of different features or pricing from another provider.
Shared Infrastructure Issues
Serverless applications use shared infrastructure, meaning multiple applications can run alongside each other, regardless of business ownership. This can lead to potential conflicts where the code of one application may be affected by the high load of another application. While this issue is not exclusive to serverless computing, it can still be a concern.
AWS Serverless Platform
AWS provides a comprehensive serverless platform to help you quickly and easily deploy and run your applications. This platform comprises a range of services that enable you to build, manage, and operate a fully managed, serverless environment. These services include Amazon API Gateway, AWS Lambda, Amazon Simple Queue Service, and Amazon DynamoDB, all of which enable you to create, deploy, and manage applications without having to manage any underlying infrastructure. With the serverless platform, you can focus on developing and deploying your applications quickly, securely, and cost-effectively.
Compute
AWS provides services such as AWS Lambda, Lambda@Edge, and AWS Fargate to help users deploy and run their applications without the need to manage or provision servers. AWS Lambda allows users to run code without any need for provisioning or managing servers. Lambda@Edge enables users to respond to events generated by Amazon CloudFront, while AWS Fargate provides an easy-to-use serverless compute engine for containers.
Storage
AWS provides Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to ensure secure and highly-scalable object storage. Amazon S3 is a durable, highly-scalable object storage service that makes it easy to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere on the web. Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) is another storage service offered by AWS to provide simple, scalable, and elastic file storage.
Data Store
AWS provides Amazon DynamoDB, a NoSQL database service, and Amazon Aurora Serverless, an automated database service that allows users to start, stop, and scale their databases. AWS also offers database proxy services using Amazon RDS Proxy.
API Proxy
Amazon API Gateway is a service that provides developers with the ability to create, publish, maintain, and secure APIs at any scale. This service allows users to process hundreds of thousands of concurrent API calls by efficiently handling traffic.
Application Integration
AWS provides users with services such as Amazon SNS, Amazon SQS, AWS AppSync, and Amazon EventBridge to facilitate the integration of applications. Amazon SNS is a pub or sub messaging service, Amazon SQS is a message queuing service, AWS AppSync is used to securely access, manipulate, and combine data, and Amazon EventBridge is used to transfer application data from different sources to the AWS environment.
Orchestration
AWS Step Functions is a service that allows users to orchestrate the components of distributed applications and microservices.
Analytics
AWS provides services such as Amazon Kinesis (for streaming data on AWS) and Amazon Athena (an interactive query service to analyze data) to help users deal with data analytics.
Tools for Serverless Application Development on AWS
AWS provides a wide array of tools for the serverless application development process. These tools include continuous integration and testing tools, deployment tools, monitoring and diagnostics tools, frameworks, and IDE plugins. These tools help users efficiently and quickly develop and deploy their serverless applications on AWS.
why we used Serverless Computing
Serverless computing is a cloud computing execution model in which the cloud provider runs the server, and dynamically manages the allocation of machine resources. Serverless computing allows developers to build and run applications and services without thinking about servers. It eliminates infrastructure management tasks such as server or cluster provisioning, patching, operating system maintenance, and capacity provisioning. This makes it easier for developers to build and deploy applications quickly and cost-effectively. Serverless computing also allows for more rapid scaling than traditional cloud services, as all of the server resources can be allocated and managed on demand. This makes it ideal for applications that experience sudden spikes in usage or require frequent updates.