Serverless architecture uses the cloud to act as a server, allowing developers to just pay for the code cost, or the cost of resources actually used, as opposed to preemptively paying for storage and space. The term, “serverless” can be a bit misleading, considering that serverless computing still requires the use of a server somewhere. The term is actually derived from the developer’s shift in responsibility. He or she is no longer responsible for managing hardware and computing resources.
Public cloud serverless computing service providers like Amazon’s AWS Lambda, Azure Function, Google Function and IBM’s OpenWhisk work by allowing developers to put up their codes, create back-end applications, develop various event handling routines and process data without having to worry about the foundational compute resources that are required to sustain large chunks of data. These new ideas and serverless architectures that streamline applications are blazing a new trail in the technology world today.
Advantages And Risks
The benefits for serverless technology are immense. Advantages include, but are not limited to, reduced time to market, superior scalability, lowered cost, higher time for better user experience and superior latency and geo-location factors.
As opposed to the traditional weeks or even months involved in making apps before, serverless tech now allows developers to create their new apps in just hours or days. The scalable nature of serverless means capacity can be increased or lowered as needed. As a developer, there is no longer a huge need to maintain physical software systems and infrastructure. Serverless technologies allow organizations to cut costs, paying for only the resources used. With an emerging global audience, going serverless allows for apps to use presence points particular to each user, creating lower latency and real-time messaging.
Given the relatively new nature of this current innovation, serverless architectures also pose some risks. These may include long batch operations, cold start issues, vendor control and monolithic applications.
One key risk of using serverless tech is it doesn’t work with long batch operations, so, essentially anything that takes longer than minutes to run a logic on should not use serverless. Also, the process of managing the connection from Lambda to the database could present some cold start issues. This is because when no one requests the logic for a while, serverless will go to sleep, sometimes taking one to two seconds to reboot. Another drawback of cloud computing could be vendor lock-in, meaning the application is totally dependent upon whatever third-party serverless software is hosting it. This means an organization cannot easily change their provider without making noticeable and substantial changes to the site. As serverless technology continues to develop, these risks will be addressed.
Successful Serverless Implementations
The Amazon Web Service (AWS) introduction of Lambda is a remarkable example of serverless success because in the starting stages they were able to run code and manage it from the back end, meaning others only had to pay for execution and actual storage used. Netflix, for example, was able to use AWS Lambda to enact rule-based self-managing systems that significantly reduced errors and load time. Similarly, the Seattle Times uses Amazon Lambda to resize images so they can be viewed at high qualities on varying sizes of devices. This serverless computation for the Seattle Times has also shown success in the way it embeds photos, stores and retrieves data and consistently improves the Times’ reader experience with quick loading times. Much like Netflix and the Seattle Times use Amazon’s AWS cloud technology, companies like Carmax and FUJIFILM use Microsoft’s Azure PaaS serverless system to achieve success. Carmax uses Azure to provide a rich online shopping experience. Its serverless capabilities increased the number of photos and videos hosted on the site for virtual car tours and information on online financing.
Evaluating Serverless Architecture for Your Organization
A good indication that it may be time to implement serverless technology in an organization is that the company is already migrating to the latest technology or digital transformation initiatives. Other indications are when the company is looking at ways to streamline costs, condense maintenance or have an improved digital performance.
If a company or organization’s digital performance is dragging and falling behind, serverless may be a top consideration for improving speed. Its millisecond performance allows for much quicker processes. A key thing to discuss with company leaders when evaluating the need for serverless technology is which team members to involve. The team that will be incorporating serverless needs to be familiar with cloud computing and its processes.
The best uses for serverless may be involved when migrating to a microservice platform or strategy. In this case, there are two considerations: monolithic bundles of code and separating out each functionality. Some common uses for serverless may be building minimum viable products and internet of things applications, creating webhooks, enabling multimedia processing and chatbots and more. If an organization is seeking a software to meet these needs, serverless computing should be considered.
Serverless technology is paving the way for the next generation of mobile back end, web applications, hosting, real-time processing and so much more, and it will undoubtedly take over as the next key platform as time goes on.
