The Advantages of Serverless Computing
Serverless architecture is increasingly becoming a mainstay in cloud computing. In fact, according to one 2019 survey, 49% of companies are using or are intending to switch to serverless computing in the next 12 months. There’s a good reason for this shift; with serverless computing your developers can focus more on the applications they are designing and less on infrastructure maintenance and other sysadmin tasks. Additionally, serverless computing enables companies to reduce costs by only paying for the resources they use. Major cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are increasingly moving companies towards serverless architecture and away from Platform as a Service (PaaS) environments.
By nature, serverless computing offers companies greater scalability and adaptability. As user demand increases serverless computing automatically adapts, whereas a traditional application would be more likely to not be able to handle an uptick in demand outside of its allotted amount of space. However, there are some disadvantages to going serverless such as the risk of vendor lock-in and security challenges. In this ThorTech article, we will explore the pros and cons of serverless architecture, both from a business and a development perspective.
What is Serverless Computing?
Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is serverless computing? When cloud platforms initially began, providers were typically selling PaaS or IaaS environments. These allowed companies to dispense with the burden of maintaining physical IT infrastructure on-premise, and utilize the economies of scale that AWS and Azure were able to provide by effectively renting servers. For many businesses, it was far cheaper to pay Amazon a monthly fee to host its data and IT infrastructure than it was to pay for server maintenance, upkeep, physical security, and IT admins onsite. Over the past decade, cloud providers have become increasingly sophisticated which has enabled them to add additional functionality and eventually lead to the advent of serverless computing.
Serverless computing (like many new cloud computing terms) is somewhat nebulous but can either refer to (FaaS) architecture or other Amazon Services that abstract computing away from servers. Function as a service essentially means that your application is abstracted away from servers and into individual functions, each of which automatically scales up or down based on demand. There are numerous benefits to serverless computing but also a few drawbacks.
What are the Advantages of Serverless Computing?
Serverless computing is taking the SaaS market by storm and for good reason. The benefits of serverless architecture vary but include scalability, faster time to market, and improved developer productivity. Companies are increasingly moving legacy cloud applications to become serverless in order to take advantage of the massive cost savings associated with going serverless. Here are the main benefits we see with serverless architecture:
Scalability
If you had to pick one benefit of serverless architecture, it would be scalability. FaaS allows your microservices to scale up and down in a fully automated fashion based on resource demand. The benefits of this cannot be overstated. Rather than having to spend the time anticipating server load and demand, and adjusting your infrastructure accordingly, you can instead focus your attention and time on software development. The ability of serverless architecture to effortlessly and automatically scale also substantially reduces the risk you will run into self-imposed bottlenecks that could derail your customers’ experience.
Cost-Efficiency
Serverless architecture can provide companies with an enormous amount of cost-efficiency that they lack with more traditional approaches such as PaaS. Since your application cost will be principally dependent on the number of requests for processing, it will be directly tied to events processed, and indirectly tied to customer usage. Rather than having to pay for extra, unused processing power to ensure that your application isn’t bottlenecked, your application will instead automatically scale up or down based on demand. The number of cost savings this can provide is enormous.
In addition, your company will be able to dispense with the burden and cost of maintaining and continually updating servers. In many cases, companies may no longer need a dedicated sysadmin to perform server maintenance.
Improved Developer Productivity
Removing the need to actively manage, plan, and administer servers can dramatically reduce the complexity that your software developers face. Without the need to plan for spikes, or perform basic sysadmin duties, developers have far more time to focus on improving the application resulting in better user experience. In many cases, developers find that they have far more time to focus on product enhancements and bug fixes.
Simplified Security
Another major and often overlooked benefit is the improved security of serverless environments. Basic server security becomes the responsibility of the vendor rather than the customer which can further free up company resources. That being said, choosing the right vendor is critical. They will be responsible in large part for the security of your application. It is important to conduct a detailed review of the security measures they take prior to engaging them. Please also note that this does not entirely solve your security problem, there are still steps you need to be taking to protect your cloud environment from outside threats.
Are there any Disadvantages to Serverless Computing?
While Serverless computing has the potentially to radically transform your business operations, reduce costs, and improve scalability it isn’t perfect. We see two major pitfalls that some companies encounter when moving to a serverless computing environment. When properly addressed these shouldn’t pose a challenge, but are worth considering.
Vendor Lock-in
Out of all of the disadvantages, vendor lock-in is probably the most damaging. Each cloud provider (AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud) operates its serverless computing offering slightly differently. This can make changing cloud providers cumbersome. If your cloud provider isn’t living up to your expectations, or if another one offers you a better deal later on, you may be stuck or at least cost prohibited from easily moving over. That being said, developing serverless architecture can be many times faster than traditional approaches which can mitigate the downsides that vendor-lock in brings.
Security
Just as security can be a windfall of serverless computing, it can also be a detriment if you don’t pick the right provider. When choosing your cloud provider, make sure to spend the time to evaluate their security posture, available security documentation, and any compliance requirements you may face based on the type of data you handle. Choosing the wrong provider, or failing to take security seriously can cost your organization both reputation and money down the line.
Considering moving to Serverless Architecture? Thortech can help.
Thortech Solutions was founded 19 years ago to build and optimize IT infrastructure for mid-sized and large businesses. Our team has experience helping clients migrate to the cloud, building and maintaining high-performance and scalable infrastructure, and reducing IT costs for our customers. If you are interested in switching to serverless architecture or exploring the possibility, we’d love to set up a call with you. Fill out the form below and we will be in touch shortly.