The term “serverless” has been going around the tech world like anything. It’s probably because all the experts in the field have been buzzing on about it and hyping it up. However, it isn’t hyped with nepotism and actually has some extraordinary features. Serverless is a cloud computing application used for model execution. This application runs through stateless compute containers. Serverless applications are event driven wherein the development lies solely on third-party alliances, client aid and procedure calls.
If you’re familiar with everything tech related today, we’re sure you’ve heard of Serverless. A lot of renowned cloud providers in the field currently are investing a lot of money on Serverless and are making it a household name. Everything from the promotion given to the service, to the usage, claims its title as the most used service there is today. However, like everything else invested in, Serverless too has some drawbacks.
So, let’s look at some advantages as well as disadvantages of using Serverless form of tech architecture.
Pros:
1. Price
The best noted advantage of Serverless applications is its pricing range. Before, companies broke their heads as well as their pockets maintaining server teams. You don’t have to do that anymore. Serverless Architecture provides easy server maintenance at a reduced cost. How does the charge work? Well, you will be paid according to how many executions you perform. A certain amount of time is allotted to you for the amount of memory you require. Therefore, the price per millisecond depends on how much memory you require. Overall, the cost is much less than that of server teams.
2. Buildable
Another advantage of Serverless Architecture is its scalability. Everyone wants to build a huge application with the biggest servers. However, you can’t possibly risk the provision of the infrastructure as a whole. Serverless allows you to stay put with your decision but allows the growth in case you change your mind later. Also, Serverless Security is something you should consider.
3. No Extra Cost
Traditional models of servers often come with the burden of employees. Factors like engineering helping-hands cannot be missed out and is a necessary step with traditional methods. However, it’s different with Serverless. It allows you to skip on human resources or a big team of people to handle the servers. Even two employees should be enough one to monitor and one to execute.
Cons:
1. Vendor’s Say
There might be some issue if you surrender all the control of your operations to the vendor responsible. What’s the big deal? Well it may not seem like one at the beginning but overtime you might bump into some lock ins. The thing is that you have to listen to their instructions even when it comes to shifting between softwares like Azure for example.
2. Tough Shift
The change from whatever you’re using currently to Serverless might not be as easy as it seems. Although Serverless has a lot of amazing features and benefits of course, like we’ve highlighted above. However, learning the curve behind the FaaS tools are pretty difficult. Also, suddenly shifting to Serverless might be a task. However, getting some professional help can be helpful as they are experienced in all things surrounding serverless.
3. Not A Long-Term Tool
Sadly, using serverless tools in your infrastructure in the long run might not be wise for your technical work. For example, an application called ‘Lambda’ functions in a way that it gives you only five minutes to execute a certain task. If you fail to do so, you will be requested to perform an alternate function. You see, serverless tools can be used effectively as short-term tools like using it to send mass emails for one. Long term projects like videos would require a better server tool or enhancements in the FaaS.
Overall, serverless is a huge jump in the technical mindset that we have currently. It is not only a technical advancement but also one that will probably change the way things are done. According to experts, in few years from now, serverless will probably reach its peak along with other hypes like VR.
