10 Things Serverless Architects Should Know

10 Things Serverless Architects Should Know

Cloud Computing / By

As there is an expeditious increase in the number of start-up companies and enhanced operations of larger enterprises, serverless architecture is the new normal. It offers a significant approach to the entire software development solutions. Moreover, software engineers and developers are preferring to use serverless architecture to put up the prime focus on implementing the business logic.

Without serverless architecture, the developers had to put emphasis on the entire software infrastructure, which was deviating the focus from prime consideration of enhancing business outcomes. Therefore, the developers have now been groomed to be serverless architects for all proficient reasons.

But, are the serverless architects well versed with some of the important associated factors? If not, then this article is all about highlighting the core things or factors that serverless architects must know on priority.

What Is Serverless Architecture?

Before you can go ahead and check on the considerable things associated with Serverless architecture, you must get an idea of the definition of it. Serverless architecture is taking up virtual servers from diverse cloud providers such as Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure to host the software application without the involvement of physical server infrastructure.

Even though the serverless architecture is a convenient implementation, it still needs some subtle management for web server processes of the software and the Operating System. The cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, or others take care of the virtual machine OS, web server software management, physical hardware, and other such requirements. At the same time, you are requested to focus on the application function codes.

10 Things Serverless Architects Should Know

To help developers get clarity upon the detailed attributes of Serverless Architecture, here are the ten important things for them to understand and adapt.

  1. Presence Of A Server Cannot Be Omitted

Running your application code over serverless architecture doesn’t signify that the code is running without a server. Instead, it means that the cloud providers are putting up the hosting machines back in their facilities to run your application code.

The perks of taking help from serverless architects are that you won’t have to worry about managing that hosting machine. The providers are responsible for taking care of software updates, hardware failures, security, reboots, and other such solutions.

  1. Using All Languages Is Prohibited

The serverless architects need to know that serverless architecture doesn’t allow the usability of all the languages. The general developers do have the flexibility to work with any specific language, but the serverless architects need to check which languages are supported by the cloud functions.

Some of the supportive languages for AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure are JavaScript, TypeScript, PowerShell, C#, F#, Python, and Java. Different languages have different run times, while some of the services will allow customizing the runtimes as well, such as AWS Lambda.

It is important for serverless architects to plan out the languages and runtime aspects before moving the app hosting solution to the cloud.

Read more on Deploying a Portfolio Site with AWS Serverless – Whizlabs Webinar

  1. Specified Timeout Is Set

The serverless functions are not destined to operate for long-term tasks. It means that after a specified amount of time, the provider functions will kill the running instance. It is important for serverless architects to take note of it right from the development phase.

At the time you create a code to crunch a 2 MB log file, you might also encounter implementation of timeouts during production, where you might find the log file like 200 MB. Therefore, it is necessary for you to know the data size that is to be ingested, without which you would surely experience timeout hassles.

  1. Limited Amount Of Resources

The serverless functions that are being implemented within the architecture are served upon Nano-containers, and the number of resources is somehow limited. It means that if some of the application tasks demand more memory or CPU usage, then serverless architectures might not be able to fulfill that resource requirement.

The serverless architects need to understand the resource limits within this architecture or implementation. For instance, AWS Lambdas have only 128 MB of memory, which can be increased to some extent on deployment. By considering the resource limits, you can optimize the app code and reduce dependencies and optimize configuration to utilize the serverless architecture without much hassle.

  1. High-Security Aspects

In the era of serverless computing, the necessity of security is so far the most important consideration. Serverless architects must learn to focus upon identity authorization, accessibility authentication, and many other important aspects of security.

The serverless developers are expected to add input & request validation and put up elements for storage and retrieval necessities. Apart from the security of the serverless functions, the architects should also focus on the regulatory compliance considerations, invocation policies, and execution roles.

  1. Presence Of No State

Serverless architecture is unique with its functionality! Under which, the functions are decorated by the variables within the environment, called by the users. It is done while creating a resource, but at the time of such implementation, the environment remains stateless.

If the users wish to keep track of the state, the function should call cache service or external storage for holding on to the data.

  1. Serverless Architecture Doesn’t Charge You For ‘No-Traffic Hours’

Renting a Virtual Private Server is quite easy for almost all cloud providers. But, the disadvantage is that you will have to pay for the services, even when those servers are idle or at rest. Suppose your business is active in different time zones and is experiencing no traffic during the night hours; in that case, you will still be billed for those hours.

The serverless architects should know that this is not the case with their mode of approach. Serverless architecture allows you to pay only for the execution that happens. So, if the function or instance is not called, then you won’t have to pay a penny. But, if you have high traffic upon your application or software, then your bill might increase.

  1. Different Architectures For Different Needs

The serverless architects need to know that switching on this architecture is not the end of all problems associated with the projects. There are specific needs within projects that you need to bring out and analyze. It is very difficult for architects to cope up with the latest trends if they are not carrying on with the proper scope of their needs from the serverless architecture.

For instance, serverless cloud functions are not suitable for running a stateful application. Along with that, If one intends to avoid vendor lock-in situations, then serverless architecture is not the right option. For adding real-time data processing attributes to serverless architecture, one needs to consider picking up dedicated services associated with serving the purpose.

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  1. Crafting The Well-Architected Application

One of the major roles of serverless architects is to look after implementing the perfect architecture for the applications within a serverless computing environment. All the important consideration factors within the respective frameworks must be implemented to make the architecture feasible for the application.

All of the well-architected frameworks offered by different cloud providers must include operational excellence, efficient performance, cost control, reliability, and security aspects considered for the application.

  1. Utilization Of Logs

Monitoring the functions within serverless architecture is quite tough for complex systems. Even though you have a dashboard and provider console to track all information related to the functions, it is still difficult to monitor a pipeline. The serverless architects will have to put in more effort and use tracing services to maintain the logs.

Logging everything is not advised! Storing large workloads within the log storage might increase the processing cost beyond the function execution cost. The serverless architects need to decide upon what is important to be preserved and logged. You can also use a cloud function for parsing the logs and creating reports.

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Bottom Line

These are the 10 important things that are important for a serverless architect to know and implement. There is a lot of processing that is being handled by the cloud service providers for hosting the application. By adopting this mode of approach, users eliminate the cost and necessity of handling physical hardware, but the architects need to remember some conditions and implementations for the same.

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Therefore, if you are a new serverless architect who is willing to utilize the functionality of this architecture, then it is important for you to understand and keep in mind these important clarity prospects.

About Pavan Gumaste

Pavan Rao is a programmer / Developer by Profession and Cloud Computing Professional by choice with in-depth knowledge in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform. He helps the organisation figure out what to build, ensure successful delivery, and incorporate user learning to improve the strategy and product further.

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