Serverless computing: why more and more companies are using it

How to get a secure, fault-tolerant, easily scalable environment for running code without large financial investments? One way is to create this environment on the basis of platform cloud services with serverless computing support. This way you don’t have to think about maintaining IT infrastructure and finding highly specialized employees. Computing resources will scale automatically as workloads increase or decrease. Let’s consider this model PaaS-services in detail.

What is serverless computing

Serverless computing or serverless computing is a method of server resource provisioning in which the user remotely receives a simplified programming environment. You can write and deploy code in it without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. The peculiarity of serverless computing is that computing resources in the cloud are provided automatically, in the amount needed to perform a particular task. Resources mean not only servers, but also storage systems, networks, software, and platform services.

Don’t let the word “serverless” confuse you, the scripts run on servers. The difference is that the developer has no control over the process. The administration and maintenance of the infrastructure is handled by the cloud provider. Its tasks include preparing, scaling, and administering the infrastructure necessary for code execution, as well as ensuring its security.

The cloud automatically distributes resources between customers, providing each with the right amount of capacity or services. This allows the developer to focus on business logic, accelerate time to market and increase profitability. And the company can optimize resources and allocate time for innovations.

Serverless computing is typically offered by cloud service providers. Major providers include Amazon AWS (AWS Lambda), Microsoft (Azure Functions), Google Cloud Platform (Cloud Functions), and IBM Cloud (Apache OpenWhisk).

What’s the difference between PaaS and serverless computing

. Serverless architecture is much like traditional PaaS, but there are important differences between the two.

• PaaS, or platform as a service, involves access to a cloud environment in which applications can be built and run. The IT infrastructure is maintained by the cloud provider, giving the developer more options. For example, you can create fully customizable applications without having to build an architecture, think about hardware and software compatibility, or obtain licenses. Less management responsibilities – more attention to development. Other advantages of PaaS include simple and cost-effective development, easy scalability, and a high degree of automation.
• Beserver computing is a type of PaaS. The main difference is that the capacity to process a request is allocated automatically, in response to an event. If PaaS allows you to control changes in applications that are created in this environment, then serverless computing practically deprives the developer of such an opportunity. Those for whom a high degree of control is fundamental should choose PaaS.

How serverless computing works

The cloud provider allocates computing resources and data storage to execute a specific piece of code. When there is a request from a user, containers with a ready-made environment are created on the server. A separate container is deployed for each event, their number grows and shrinks automatically.

Some time after the request is fulfilled, the container is destroyed. When it will be, is chosen by the cloud service provider. Thanks to this structure, computing resources are automatically increased or decreased depending on the user load. The flexible approach makes it easy to work in the cloud.

The serverless architecture includes FaaS and BaaS services:

• FaaS – Function or Framework as a Service. The provider provides everything needed to create and run the code, offering this as a single automated service.
• BaaS – Backend as a Service. This model allows developers to link applications to server-side cloud storage.

What tasks serverless computing

performs

The ease-of-use, economy, flexibility and scalability of serverless applications can solve the challenges of both an internal IT system and an application with a million users in the same way. That is, they are needed wherever it is necessary to optimize business processes, accelerate product launch, and quickly process data.

Serverless computing simplifies the cloud. Companies no longer need to hire specialized staff to manage cloud infrastructure. Time-to-market is shorter because the developer doesn’t have to worry about managing complex infrastructure.

What else can be done with serverless computing:

• Decrease resource downtime with intermittent workloads. Serverless computing provides as much computing power as you need at any given time.
• Save money. The user pays only for the time the infrastructure is in use.
• Save money.
• Ensure compliance with security standards. The cloud provider is responsible for the security of the infrastructure.

Where serverless computing is used

Serverless computing is suitable for most companies. Today they are used in many areas: retail, finance, media, medicine, social networks.

This model is chosen by such large digital companies as Facebook, Slack, Zoom, Netflix, Amazon. For example, Netflix uses AWS Lambda service, which breaks video into fragments and encodes them into 60 parallel streams. Thanks to this, Netflix can provide stable broadcasts to 167 million subscribers worldwide.

Serverless infrastructure is primarily used in software development, for analyzing big data or for projects involving artificial intelligence.