7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

DevOps

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

Serverless Computing: Its Architecture and

Considerations

Category
There is a shift towards a next-generation cloud solution beyond
traditional cloud services. Instead of logging into servers, serverless allows Agriculture
businesses to run complete functional applications through APIs. This
approach empowers companies to focus on developing value-added Application
Modernization
functions and features, eliminating cost and effort barriers often
associated with IT transformations. AR/VR
By adopting serverless architecture, organizations can shift their IT
spending from capital expenses to operating expenses throughout the Artificial Intelligence
entire application development process. This transition can result in a
significant cost reduction of approximately 60%. Blockchain

Additionally, serverless architecture offers substantial benefits for Cloud

companies aiming to scale and support digital transformations, building
upon the advantages of traditional cloud services while providing CMS
additional functionalities.
According to Verified market research, the Serverless Architecture Market Customer Experience
was valued at USD 8.93 Billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 55.24
Other Blogs
Billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 22.45% from 2023 to 2030. The market is
experiencing significant growth due to the adoption of serverless

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

architecture, which offers scalability, cost efficiency, and reduced A brief

operational overheads. introduction to
Generative AI…
Despite serverless architecture being around for more than a decade, it
was Amazon that revolutionized the concept with the introduction of AWS Data
Lambda in 2014, which quickly gained widespread adoption among Modernization:
developers. Today, AWS Lambda remains the top choice for most A…
developers when it comes to building serverless applications. Other
leading cloud service providers, such as Google and Microsoft, also offer Top 6 Customer
their own Function as a Service (FaaS) solutions, known as Google Cloud Experience (CX)
Strategy Best…
Functions (GCF) and Azure Functions respectively.

What is Serverless Computing? How can Drone

Technology
Improve Field…
Serverless computing is an evolution of cloud-computing execution
models from Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to Platform-as-a-Service
What are the
(PaaS) to Function-as-a-Service (FaaS). In the realm of cloud services, there Benefits of
are different levels of abstraction. IaaS abstracts the underlying Adopting…
infrastructure to offer readily available virtual machines. PaaS takes it a
step further by abstracting the operating system and middleware layer,
providing an application development platform. However, FaaS goes
beyond that. It abstracts the entire programming runtime, allowing
developers to effortlessly deploy and execute code without the burden of
deployment considerations. FaaS simplifies the process of code
deployment and execution within a serverless architecture, offering a
convenient and hassle-free approach.

Benefits of Serverless Computing

Serverless-based application deployment brings many benefits for DevOps
engineers and organizations by fostering greater scalability, flexibility, and

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

quicker time to release. There are several other benefits of serverless

computing, such as:
Reduced Operational Costs: Serverless architecture eliminates the
need for server provisioning, maintenance, and management tasks. You
only have to pay for the execution time of your functions. This means
you’re not paying for idle server time, which can lead to significant cost
savings.
Scalability: Serverless applications have the ability to scale
automatically. The cloud service provider runs the code in response to
each individual trigger and will independently scale the application
based on the number of triggers. This makes serverless ideal for
applications that experience unpredictable spikes in traffic or have
varying workloads.
Developer Productivity: By abstracting away the infrastructure
management complexities, the serverless architecture allows
developers to focus on writing the code for individual functions, which
can increase productivity. This also streamlines the development and
deployment process and results in faster time to market as well.
Automatic Backups and Security Updates: Serverless platforms
include an automated backup policy and handle security and
compliance updates at the infrastructure level. This reduces the burden
on developers to implement and maintain backup and security systems.
Built-in Availability and Fault Tolerance: Serverless platforms handle
the underlying infrastructure and provide built-in mechanisms for fault
tolerance and high availability. Functions are automatically distributed
across multiple servers and regions, which ensures business resilience
when an outage occurs.
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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

The Three Key Core Technologies

of Serverless Computing
Serverless computing is built around three core technologies: API Gateway,
Function as a Service (FaaS), and Backend as a Service (BaaS).
1. API Gateway: An API Gateway acts as a network or communication
layer between the front end and the FaaS layer. Here, Rest API
endpoints are mapped with the functions responsible for running
business logic. In this model, there is no need to deploy and manage
load balancers.
2. Function as a Service (FaaS): This layer allows developers to execute
the specific business logic (or code) in response to events. With FaaS, the
cloud service provider automatically manages the physical hardware,
VMs, OS, and web server software. It helps developers to focus solely on
individual functions in application code.
3. Backend as a Service (BaaS): Cloud service providers offer a range of
pre-built software solutions that streamline server-based tasks,
including user authentication, database management, remote updates,
push notifications for mobile apps, as well as cloud storage and hosting
capabilities.

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

Let’s explore the steps provided by McKinsey regarding the adoption

of serverless architecture:
Considering BaaS and FaaS, companies are adopting serverless
architecture in three stages. First, they should lay the foundation for
integrating FaaS and BaaS. Second, they should move the more significant
parts of the architecture to the cloud-based FaaS and BaaS as per the
targeted architecture. Last, they should adopt the new architecture with
advanced technologies and functionalities.

How does Serverless Architecture

Work?
Managing servers can be a time-consuming and resource-intensive task
when it comes to enabling communication with applications and accessing

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

their business logic. It involves maintaining server hardware, handling

software updates and security, and implementing backups for potential
failures. However, developers can shift these responsibilities to a third-
party provider by adopting a serverless architecture, allowing them to
concentrate on writing application code.
For instance, you can build a serverless web application along with other
AWS services. As each service is fully managed, it does not require you to
look after the provisoning or managing them. Just configure all the services
together and upload your application code to AWS Lambda – a serverless
compute service, and it will run your web application. A basic serveless
application architecture often look like this with AWS services.

Source: AWS
One of the most popular forms of serverless architecture is Function as a
Service (FaaS). With FaaS, developers write their application code as
discrete functions that perform specific tasks triggered by events like

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

incoming emails or HTTP requests. After completing testing, developers

deploy their functions and associated triggers to a cloud service provider
account, and the function is invoked. Hence, the cloud service provider
executes it on a running server.
If there is no active server, the provider automatically spins up a new
server to handle the function. This execution process is abstracted away
from developers, allowing them to focus solely on writing and deploying
their application code.

Key Architectural Considerations

When designing a serverless application, there are several important
considerations which needs to be put while adopting, designing, and
implementing serverless computing solutions:
Functions are Stateless: Each function is independent. The output of
one function does not affect the others. This stateless nature allows for
scalability and flexibility, but it also means that data persistence must be
handled externally.

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

Functions are Ephemeral: Functions may only last for one invocation,
and developers cannot rely on the local state. This means that any long-
term state must be stored in a database or other persistent storage
system.
Language Support: Different serverless providers support different
languages, so you must choose a provider that supports your preferred
language.
Cold Start: The first time a function is invoked, it may take longer to
start up – a phenomenon known as a “cold start”. This can impact
performance, but subsequent invocations are typically faster.
Functions Don’t Allow File Systems Level Access: Functions have
certain security restrictions, including not allowing file system access.
This means that any file system operations need to be handled
externally.
Functions Provide Ability to Configure Database: Functions can be
set up to interact with a database, but this may require additional
configuration.
Built-in Logging & Monitoring: Serverless providers include built-in
logging and monitoring, which can be used to track function
performance and usage.

Conclusion
Serverless computing represents a significant shift in how we think about
application development and infrastructure management. While it’s not a
suitable solution to address all computing scenarios, it help companies
leverage compelling benefits that make it an attractive option for many

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7/30/24, 5:40 AM What is Serverless Computing: Architecture and Considerations

applications. As we continue to move towards a more distributed world,

the importance of understanding and leveraging serverless computing will
only grow.

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