A serverless architecture is a cloud computing model also known as serverless computing. This abstracts and makes it easier to manage the infrastructure needed to run applications. Developers in a serverless architecture can concentrate on writing the code for their applications without worrying about provisioning, scaling, or managing servers. This strategy has the following important qualities:
Event-Driven
In general, serverless applications are event-driven, meaning they react to particular triggers or events, such as HTTP requests, database changes, file uploads, or scheduled tasks. The serverless platform automatically runs the associated code, which is frequently in the form of functions, whenever an event takes place.
Stateless
Serverless operations are designed to be stateless. The execution of each function is independent, and the state is frequently kept outside in databases or storage services. Since there is no need to manage the state across different function instances, scaling is simpler.
Automatic Scaling
Serverless platforms take care of resource scalability on their own. By dynamically allocating resources based on the incoming workload, they make sure that applications can deal with traffic spikes without the need for manual intervention.
Pay-as-You-Go Pricing
Serverless computing is frequently billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, which entails that you only pay for the compute resources used when your functions are being executed. Cost savings may result from this, particularly for applications with variable workloads.
No Server Management
The management of servers, operating systems, or runtime environments is not required of developers. In serverless platforms, application code, also known as “function” or “lambda” code, can be written exclusively by them.
Vendor-Managed
Cloud service providers like AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions, and others typically offer serverless platforms. These service providers are in charge of the serverless environment’s foundational infrastructure, upkeep, and security.
Rapid Deployment
Serverless applications can be set up quickly, enabling programmers to release updates and iterate quickly. Agile development and continuous deployment techniques may benefit from this.
A wide variety of use cases, including web applications, microservices, data processing pipelines, and IoT applications, are well suited for serverless architecture. For many companies looking to develop scalable and affordable cloud-native applications, it is an appealing option because it can help streamline development, lower operational overhead, and optimize costs.
Here’s an example of building a simple serverless architecture for a web application:
Scenario
For ease of understanding let us take a scenario. Assume that you want to create a serverless architecture for a basic web application that allows users to upload and view images. The architecture will use AWS (Amazon Web Services) as the cloud provider.
Components
1. Frontend: To serve the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for your web application, you can use a static website hosted on Amazon S3. This application will only run on the client side.
2. User Authentication: Utilize Auth0 or Amazon Cognito to implement user authentication.
3. File Storage: Use Amazon S3 to keep images that users upload. When new images are uploaded for processing or validation, S3 can be set up to call AWS Lambda functions.
4. Image Processing: Make use of AWS Lambda to instantly edit and resize images as soon as they are uploaded to S3. To create thumbnails or carry out other types of image manipulation, use a Lambda function.
5. Backend API: Use AWS API Gateway and AWS Lambda to build a serverless API. This API manages front-end requests and interacts with S3 and DynamoDB, among other services. It can offer features like image uploading, image metadata retrieval, and user data management.
6. Database: Store image metadata, user data, and other application data in an Amazon DynamoDB NoSQL database. CRUD operations can be carried out in conjunction with DynamoDB by AWS Lambda functions.
7. Authentication and Authorization: Use Amazon Cognito or another identity provider to implement authentication and authorization. Authorize API Gateway endpoints so that only users who have been verified can access particular features.
8. Monitoring and recording: Set up Amazon CloudWatch to keep an eye on your API Gateway and Lambda functions. Set up logging so that it can record application logs and performance metrics.
Workflow
1. A user accesses the frontend code-containing static website hosted on Amazon S3.
2. Using the authentication service (such as Amazon Cognito), users can register and log in.
3. The frontend, which makes a request to the API Gateway endpoint, can be used by authenticated users to upload images.
4. The image is processed by an AWS Lambda function, saved in S3, and has its metadata stored in DynamoDB as a result of the API Gateway.
5. Users can view the images they have uploaded, and the frontend asks the API Gateway to retrieve the image data from DynamoDB and serve it from S3.
Benefits
– Scalability: Serverless services scale up and down based on demand automatically.
– More cost-effective than provisioning and maintaining traditional servers because you only pay for what you use.
– Lessened Operational Overhead: By abstracting infrastructure management with serverless services, you can concentrate on application logic.
This is a simplified illustration; actual applications might incorporate more intricate architectures and extra services. However, it provides a clear illustration of the fundamental ideas behind creating a serverless architecture with AWS as the cloud service provider. Similar serverless solutions are also provided by other cloud service providers like Azure and Google Cloud for creating scalable and affordable applications.