Serverless Series: Introduction to Serverless Technologies
In this article, you will learn:
Serverless is a cloud computing model that automatically manages resource allocation for applications. Developers upload their code to the cloud environment where it is automatically launched, scaled and optimized without the need for explicit server management. This model enables more efficient use of resources and cost optimization, as you only pay for what your applications actually consume.
Key benefits of using serverless computing
Efficiency and scalability
Serverless applications are automatically scaled according to demand at any time and without the need for manual intervention. This leaves you with peace of mind and means you don't have to spend your free time wondering if your application has leaked memory or hit your bare-metal limits. Serverless applications also require much less time to set up and manage than other self-scaling solutions exist.
Low costs
You only pay for the resources you use and when you use them. Yes, on paper, serverless solutions are more expensive. However, there are no costs for idle servers and you can calculate how much you can save on DevOps. The entry price for infrastructure also starts very low, unlike legacy solutions.where the initial costs are usually much higher. Additionally, if you have a well-set business model, your bills rise slowly with your earnings. The pricing model is mostly pay-as-you-go, which you may be familiar with from mobile operators. Today, you can even pre-pay for some services and thus save on additional costs. This model is ideal for cases where you cannot predict the load your application will face.
Speed up development
One of the other advantages that serverless technology brings is the acceleration of the development cycle. Without having to deal with server and infrastructure management, you only need to learn basic serverless principles and that’s it. Instead of dealing with additional server infrastructure, you set up and connect other services from the ecosystem, or create them yourself. But be careful, if you make it too complicated, you will end up where you were before.
The power of serverless technologies
In this series of articles, I would like to share my experience with developing applications that take advantage of the power and flexibility of serverless technologies. I’ve selected a set of common features inherent to a wide array of online applications into the following diagram. This diagram will serve as our foundation, where I'll walk you through one application component in each part to reveal the process of building serverless applications.
We will divide this diagram into several application components that we will work with:
- User authentication and proper security of user private data and identity.
- API interface used for communication between the frontend application and your backend services. In this case, there is one API for communicating with the front-end and another for receiving events from third-party services.
- Data storage and distribution so your data can travel quickly and securely all over the world.
- Serverless computing, the engine of every piece of the application.
- Fast and scalable database for application data in a serverless environment.
- Processing background tasks such as sending emails or running cron jobs.
And as a bonus, I cannot forget to mention the management and deployment of the entire serverless environment by using irreplaceable IaC tools such as CDK, Serverless Framework and Terraform. Those of you who have been in this sector for many years know what an invaluable tool it is in the field of DevOps.
Thank you, Serverless!
Serverless technologies open up new possibilities for application development, allowing developers to focus on innovation while the cloud automates the hassles of infrastructure management. With our upcoming series of articles, we will guide you through the basics of the world of serverless technologies in AWS so that you can start using them to their full potential.
