Tag: AWS LAMBDA

Serverless Computing in Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Posted on by Idexcel Technologies

Serverless Computing in Amazon Web Services
Serverless computing is the talk of the town these days as different server modes are taking over technical architecture. As the name suggests, serverless architecture is all about enabling developers to write codes without having to bother about server configurations and platforms.

Serverless computing is mainly driven with a single aim: to assist developers in writing code, without incurring too many distractions regarding server configurations and different platform variations. Additionally, the user pays for the compute time consumed so that the idle time is deducted from the usage period. At the same time, code processing can easily be scaled during high load periods.

Today, a lot of companies begin to venture out into the world of serverless computing: AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud have become the top names in the industry.

Does Serverless Mean “No Servers”?

Technically speaking, this is not a possibility. Serverless computing is a segment within the Cloud wherein applications are enabled to run in a stateless form within computing containers, which are further driven by an event triggered. One such service by AWS, Lambda, is designed to run snippets of the code which are directed at carrying out single, yet short tasks.

More often than not, these functions are self-contained blocks of code, which are independent and can be deployed and executed from any platform. Functionally, we would realize that in the absence of such facilities, the life of a developer would be very tedious and cumbersome. In an ideal world, where serverless facilities are not available, developers would have to set up a web server before uploading code.

In an alternate technical universe with AWS Lambda, the developer needs only to upload a piece of code which will then be run regularly. Further with the launch of the AWS Lambda, developers don’t need to worry about provision capacity, scaling resources, maintaining security patches, and facilitating updates to the underlying servers. As discussed above, the user is only charged for the compute time they consume.

Managing an Environment Where Serverless is the New Keyword

There are benefits worth noting in a serverless environment. Here’s a list which can help some users decide in favor of AWS Lambda:

Save Time and Ride the Wave with Efficiency: Companies like to save the time of their employees and bring about efficiency in their daily processes. A serverless environment facilitates the use of efficiency, as developers can produce apps without bothering about server configurations.

Function as a Service (FaaS): With the launch of the AWS Lambda, Amazon introduced a whole new level of architecture for different applications within the Cloud. With the use of AWS Lambda, developers can run any application without provisioning servers. All you need to do is upload the code; Lambda would perform the rest of the functionality.

The World of Nanoservices: The serverless environment paves the way for Nanoservices, which help to structure serverless computing applications. Through the use of nanoservices, serverless computing can assist immensely in auto-scaling and load balancing.

The Workload Decides the Scaling Experience: How does the idea of auto-scaling according to your workload sound? What if your application was enabled to scale up automatically? With AWS Lambda, all these features are no longer a myth, but actual reality. As the workload increases, a serverless environment will always allow auto-scaling for best results.

Third Parties Manage the Servers: What can be better than having third-party providers worry about providing server management services? No matter the situation, everything will be taken care of by the third-party service provider. Developers don’t have to worry about these things at the time of developing their applications.

Upload the code, and you are set to go: Bid farewell to complex server configurations and coding issues. Everything else will be taken care of by Lambda services. Such is the working of the serverless space, which benefits small, medium, and large-sized organizations.

Also Read

Journey to the Cloud with AWS Managed Service Providers
Hybrid Cloud: Defining The Face of Futuristic Cloud Architecture
Cloud Computing in the Healthcare Industry
Four Key Steps That Can Enhance and Endure Cloud Migration

AWS Lambda Serverless Computing

Posted on by Idexcel Technologies

aws-lambda

Imagine a world where there are no servers, yet data management is also being performed with ease. This is the future of Cloud Computing, all thanks to AWS’s Lambda Serverless computing. With AWS Lambda, you can run your code without having to bother about servers. In simple terms, Lambda is an event driven computing platform which runs through event triggers and further runs the code to provide the output. In other words, instead of putting your code into a container or a virtual machine, you just load it into Lambda, sit back and let Lambda do the work for you. Just specify the triggers and you are set.

For example, an image which is uploaded into Amazon’s Simple Storage Service can be resized automatically through the Lambda feature. The Seattle Time uses this service extensively to resize mobile based images. Once companies create apps, they deploy them on services in order to run them extensively. However, for purposes of app deployment, it’s necessary to figure out the server space, database power needed and the storage space.

With Lambda in place, you can get rid of the possibilities of employing massive large applications and deploy an application with single action triggers. Fortunately, you only pay for the database computing power you use, which is priced at 100 millisecond increments of usage. Being the user, you have the power to choose the triggers you would like to employ, and how you would like to run them as well. As soon as the conditions are met, the triggers are deployed and the programs are executed.

When Does Lambda Come into Force?

Lambda works best in two situations. One situation involves the use of infrequent actions whereas the other situation comes into play when you want to build something efficiently and scale it quickly in terms of deployment. In both the cases, Lambda will provide a serverless approach, making it convenient for users to scale up, as and when required.

With Lambda, developers can concentrate on developing applications which involve heavy lifting in terms of application building.

At the same time, AWS has its own set of competitors, who have their own version of Lambda. For example, Google has Functions; IBM has an open sourced platform by the name of OpenWhisk, while Microsoft has invested in Azure recently. Being a trendy new platform technology, there is a lot of innovation which has gone into building the concept of serverless application deployment, making it the future of technology.

Technological Advancements

Lambda features can be used extensively with Amazon’s mobile based applications, commonly known as Amazon Mobile Hub. While this application is not being used to connect to the existing Lambda functions, it nevertheless is being used to create functions to equip them with API Gateway endpoints, which form an integral part of mobile apps.

However, there is one major drawback of serverless application deployment. With third parties in place, there are ways to free AWS Lambda workloads from lock in problems. Nevertheless, with the features’ in place, there is a lot of good technology and innovation which has gone to make this dream a true reality.

The Benefits of Serverless Applications in a Data-Rich World

Posted on by Idexcel Technologies

Serverless applications are the source of much confusion of late. For one thing, they’re not “serverless” at all. In fact, it’s more accurate to refer to them as “multiserver apps” — their components are distributed among cloud servers far and wide and assembled on demand.

This begs the question, “Do you know where your app is?” In today’s microservices-based computing environments, the question becomes meaningless. Exactly where particular pieces of a full-blown application live matters much less than the network’s ability to retrieve and assemble the required components accurately, and in a timely manner, when and where they’re needed.

Such widely distributed applications demand a new approach to development, deployment, maintenance, and updates. Forbes’ Janakiram wrote in a March 22, 2016, article that the growing interest in serverless apps is driven by two trends: mobility and the Internet of Things. In both cases, applications need to follow the IFTTT model: respond in an instant as current circumstances dictate in terms of location, time, input, and context. Read more..