Demystifying Serverless Computing: Unveiling its Benefits and Significance
What is Serverless
What is serverless? Does serverless means running applications without server? Well, people without much technical knowledge may misunderstand like that, since the term “serverless” is a bit of a misnomer. In simple words, serverless is a cloud computing model that doesn’t require developers to manage servers and its infrastructures, whereas the cloud provider take cares of the provisioning, maintenance, and scaling of the servers.
Hope that gives you a basic understanding about what serverless is. For deeper understanding, let’s jump deeper into the topic, Serverless computing is a cloud computing execution model where the cloud provider dynamically allocates the required resources (e.g., CPU, memory, storage) for an application, and charges only for the resources that are actually used. In a serverless model, developers write code that is packaged into functions. These functions are then triggered by events, such as when a file is uploaded to a cloud storage bucket or when a user clicks a button on a website. The cloud provider then executes the function and scales the resources up or down as needed.
Why Serverless
Now let’s have a look into “why serverless?” I hope that you may have got ideas about why serverless, based on what is serverless, anyway let me explain the major benefits of using serverless.
- Cost savings: Serverless computing can help you save money by only paying for the resources you use. This is especially beneficial for applications with fluctuating traffic or unpredictable workloads.
- Scalability: Serverless computing can automatically scale your applications up or down based on demand, so you don’t have to worry about provisioning or managing servers. This can help you improve the performance and reliability of your applications.
- Reliability: Serverless computing is highly reliable, as the cloud provider takes care of all the underlying infrastructure. This means that you can focus on building your application without worrying about downtime or outages.
- Developer productivity: Serverless computing can help you improve developer productivity by freeing them from the need to manage servers. This can allow them to focus on building innovative and creative applications.
Challenges in Serverless
Even though we get the above benefits with serverless, it comes along with some challenges too, including;
- Learning curve: Serverless computing can be a steep learning curve for developers who are not familiar with it.
- Vendor lock-in: You may be locked into a particular cloud provider if you choose to use serverless computing.
- Lack of control: You have less control over the underlying infrastructure when you use serverless computing.
Overall, serverless is a futuristic technology which helps you build and run application efficiently and cost effectively. Here are some examples of applications that are well-suited for serverless computing:
- Event-driven applications: Serverless computing is ideal for event-driven applications, which are triggered by events such as file uploads, database changes, or user actions.
- Microservices: Serverless computing can be used to build microservices, which are small, independent services that can be easily scaled and managed.
- Real-time applications: Serverless computing can be used to build real-time applications, which require fast and reliable responses.
- Batch processing: Serverless computing can be used to perform batch processing tasks, such as data analysis or machine learning.
Serverless application development platforms
- AWS Lambda
- Azure Functions
- Google Cloud Functions
- IBM Cloud Functions
- Alibaba Cloud Functions
- Serverless Framework
- OpenWhisk
- Fission
- Fn Project
- Knative
As you can see, a wide variety of server computing and serverless platforms are available. Your unique demands and requirements will determine which platform is ideal for you.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing a server computing platform or serverless platform:
- The type of application you are building
- The amount of traffic your application will receive
- The budget you have available
- Your level of technical expertise
I hope that this blog gives you deeper understanding about what serverless is and the benefits of using serverless. Talk to us if you have any idea of building serverless application, we fulfil your dreams and bring life to your ideas.
Share your opinion about serverless in the comments!
Author — Vijithan Sivamohan
