What is Serverless Computing technology and its Benefits

Technology has brought a very drastic change in our lives today and it has influenced everything present in this world whether directly or indirectly. There are an ocean of such things and this serverless computing technology is just one of them. So, today we will be discussing in detail regarding it. First of all, let us understand what does this technology mean? Well do not go by its name, it does not mean that there is some sort of termination of servers from their respective applications, you can also consider it as a kind of illusion. It is very helpful for all the coders out there though.

What is Serverless computing technology?

In simple words Serverless is a cloud computing model, it is a process of delivering backend services dynamically to the users whenever they need them. The serverless architecture provider permits customers to write and prepare code without the need of worrying about the infrastructure. The company or the customer that takes such services from a serverless vendor is charged based on the basis of services taken and not on the basis of a fixed rate.

This allows the customers to purchase the backend services at a flexible rate, which means that you have to pay only for the services you use. But wait, let me clear one of the most important things which might be misleading all of you that there are no servers at all, yes you read it correctly, there are servers present in it, but all of those servers and the infrastructure stuff is handled by none other than the serverless vendors, and you can do all your important work without worrying about the servers and infrastructures at all as they are almost absent for you and so is their name serverless.

Now, as we have understood the meaning of serverless computing, let us have an idea about the backend services and also know the differences between backend and frontend services.

Frontend Services  Backend Services 
These are the services which you can see and interact with. These are the services which you cannot see or interact with.
The request website data. They respond with website data.
They display websites. They check the database and also display the list of tickets and dates.
They forward the request of website data and also displays them. They modify databases of tickets, update payments, and also forward information regarding confirmation.

 

Furthermore, just imagine a website which offers movie tickets. As soon as you request for a ticket in the browser window, the request is sent to the backend server by the browser, and then the backend server responds with specific data. Then you will see the frontend of the website, which includes pictures, simple texts, and various other fields for the users to fill.

You can now interact with one of the fields and search for your favourite movie’s ticket and then finally click on the submit button, which will in turn trigger another request to the backend. The backend will now carefully inspect its database to check whether a movie with the same name exists or not, and if it exists then backend will pass the data back to the frontend and then it will display you the accurate results. 

As we have understood about the backend services and also the difference between it and the frontend services, now let us know about the various kinds of backend services which are provided by this technology:

Most of the serverless providers provide database and storage services to us and there are many other serverless providers who also have FaaS (Function-as-a-Service) platforms, like the Cloudflare Workers. All of these platforms can perform pieces of code without even storing any data.

Tradational vs Serverless Architecture
Image Source: https://www.gocd.org/2017/06/26/serverless-architecture-continuous-delivery/

Serverless architectures are internet-based systems where the application development does not use the usual server process. Instead, they rely solely on a combination of third-party services, client-side logic and service-hosted remote procedure calls (Functions as a Service).


Now, as we have got a very clear idea regarding this serverless computing technology and its sub-parts, let us now discuss its applications:

  • Lower Costs:

This technology is no doubt very cost-effective, as you have to pay only for the services you use and it is not at all like the traditional cloud providers of backend services which usually result in the customer paying for all the unused or idle CPU usage.

  • Simplified scalability:

This is just one of the most astonishing features of this technology, as it implies that you do not have to think about the different types of policies to raise your code, because, the serverless vendor manages all of the scalings alone.

  • Simplified backend code:

This is one more advantage which you get from this beautiful technology, you can create simple yet amazing functions which can single-handedly carry out tasks like making an API call. This task is made possible with the help of FaaS.

  • Quick turnaround:

This implies that with the help of this technology, you can reduce time to the market. You do not need to employ a complicated deployment process for carrying out bug fixes and adding new features, rather you can add and modify code on one at a time basis.

Thus, as of now, we have clearly understood the meaning and advantages of serverless computing technology, but now let us try to understand what is the need for us to use this technology?

We have already discussed the various awesome benefits that this technology offers and no doubt they are enough for us to use it, but still there are many other things which would be only adding fuel to the fire. It offers more flexibility, scalability, and so on and all these at a very less cost. You also do not need to care about purchasing, updating, managing, or modifying backend servers. And believe me, all these features make this super technology very dominant over traditional cloud-based or seven centric infrastructure.

Therefore, this was all about serverless computing technology. We have understood about this technology and also about its various applications and advantages. I hope you have found this article useful, feel free to share any comments.

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