Cloud computing changed the use and accessibility to the computing resource base, and with cloud computing, companies can scale faster with lesser cost, thereby raising overall efficiency. However, with more evolution in the cloud, new models emerge such as serverless computing, which offers even greater flexibility and ease of use.
If you think, like many others, that serverless computing is, in fact, cloud computing, this might interest you. This paper will explore in detail the relationship between these two concepts, describing how they interrelate and still remain independent of each other.
The Cloud Computing Concept
We must understand cloud computing before coming to serverless computing. Cloud computing, in a nutshell, is the delivery of certain computing services, such as servers, storage, databases, networking, and software, over the internet. This enables users to access and manage such resources remotely without the need for local servers or personal devices.
Key Characteristics of Cloud Computing:
- Scalability: Cloud services can easily scale up or down depending on demand.
- Cost Efficiency: Users only pay for the resources they use, hence minimizing the need to invest much money upfront.
- Remote Access: The resources can be accessed from anywhere across the world as long as there is internet; therefore, the business and individuals will enjoy flexibility.
Cloud computing is usually categorized into three main models, including:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Virtualized computing resources are provided via the internet.
- PaaS – Provides a platform from which the customer can develop, run and manage applications themselves without the need for interaction with the underlying infrastructure.
- SaaS – Provides commercially available software applications over the Internet on a subscription basis.
What is Serverless Computing?
As we once discussed in an earlier article, serverless computing is an execution model of cloud computing where the cloud provider manages the actual allocation and scaling of machine resources dynamically. Therefore, the developer focuses only on writing code without trouble about the underlying infrastructure, as all server management will be left to the cloud provider.
It is particularly suited for event-driven architectures, which include microservices, API backends, and other applications in which real-time data processing is handled.
How Serverless Computing Fits into Cloud Computing
In other simple terms, serverless computing is a certain model within cloud computing. As much as cloud computing itself encompasses a wide array of services and models, serverless computing takes this cloud concept further, whereby even the servers are abstracted.
- Traditional Cloud Infrastructure/IaaS: Users manage virtual machines and resources of storage and networking. It allows for greater flexibility and control while introducing greater responsibility as well.
- Serverless Computing: In this model, everything at an infrastructure level, such as servers, scaling, and maintenance, is to be cared for by the cloud provider. All one needs to do as a developer is deploy code, and the rest is taken care of by the platform.
Benefits of Serverless:
- No Management of Servers: No need to manage any server. A developer can literally focus on writing code and deploying it.
- Automatic Scaling: Resources will automatically scale with demand to deliver top performance.
- Cost Efficiency: Users pay for execution time; for some applications, that is cheaper. For instance, paying by the hour compared to paying per second or millisecond may be much better.
Key Differences Between Serverless and Traditional Cloud Computing
Although serverless computing is a form of cloud computing, there is a marked difference between the two in several ways.
Resource Management:
- Serverless Computing: Resources will be managed by the provider automatically. This relieves developers from thinking about server configurations and scaling or performing maintenance on the servers.
- The user has more control in traditional cloud computing over their instances of virtual machines, storage, and networking but has to manage these resources themselves.
Cost Structure:
- Serverless Computing: It only charges for the actual execution time of code. This model is able to achieve huge cost-saving especially in applications where the workload varies.
- Traditional Cloud Computing: In traditional cloud computing, users pay for the resources assigned to them, whether used or not.
Use Cases:
- Serverless Computing: It is ideal for event-driven applications, microservices, APIs, and jobs that require dynamic scaling.
- Traditional Cloud Computing: Ideal for applications requiring permanent resources, personalized configuration, or enterprise-level solutions.
When to Utilize Serverless Computing
Serverless computing does indeed unlock a powerful tool; it may not be an ideal fit for each and every use case. Ideal use cases would include the following:
- Event-Driven Applications: Their ideal use cases would include applications that respond to events, such as user requests, data uploads, or sensor inputs.
- Microservices Architectures: Each microservice could scale independently with serverless computing, hence utilizing resources efficiently.
- APIs and Backends: Scalings and resources behind API requests can solely be handled and managed by serverless platforms.
On the other hand, following are some of the limitations that are expected in the context of serverless cloud computing: - Cold Start Issues: Functions take extra time to execute for the first time in a serverless environment. This can affect applications that need time-critical executions.
- Limited Control: There is less control over infrastructure provided to the developers; this might be an issue in the case of applications having special hardware or network requirements.
When Traditional Cloud Computing Might Be Better:
- Long-Running Applications: When an application needs to continue running or to keep the resources allocated for a long period, then classic cloud computing will be more suitable.
- Custom Configurations: Sometimes an application requires specific server configuration or software environments; in those cases, traditional cloud solutions are better.
Final Thoughts
In the end, serverless computing may be part of cloud computing, but it is not precisely the same thing. It was a niche model in the cloud computing ecosystem in which abstraction of the server management was provided by the cloud service provider, offering flexibility and cost efficiency. In any case, it is very important to understand the differences and choose the right model based on your needs.
Be it microservices, API management, or event-driven applications that are scalable, serverless computing is the game changer. Applications that demand persistence in resources, custom configurations, or more control over infrastructure might find traditional cloud computing better suited.
