Best Serverless Platforms

Guide to Serverless Platforms

Serverless platforms are a new and exciting technology that is transforming the way businesses handle their computing needs. A serverless platform makes it possible to quickly deploy, manage, and scale applications without having to provision or manage any servers.

At the core of a serverless platform is a cloud computing model in which resources are delivered over the internet as needed, rather than being stored on a physical server. It takes advantage of an extensive range of services from leading cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure. These providers offer cloud-based services that can be plugged together in order to create, deploy and run applications from anywhere with minimal effort.

The benefits of serverless platforms include cost savings since there is no need to purchase servers and maintain them; scalability since resources can be scaled up or down on demand; agility since development cycles are much faster; reliability since there’s no single point of failure; security since systems are maintained by experienced teams at leading providers; and flexibility because users have access to multiple languages, frameworks, databases and other tools that make development easier.

However, there are also some drawbacks associated with using these platforms including lack of control over infrastructure; lack of visibility into performance metrics; increased complexity when dealing with legacy systems; higher startup costs due to licensing fees; vendor lock-in issues due to proprietary technologies used by different providers; difficulty debugging errors due to limited logging capabilities; potential latency issues due to the remote nature of the platform; and difficulty porting existing applications over due to incompatibilities between different cloud-based services.

Despite these challenges, serverless platforms present an exciting opportunity for businesses looking for faster application deployment times, greater scalability and lower total cost of ownership compared with traditional hosting solutions. By taking advantage of advanced cloud computing options such as AWS Lambda or GCP Cloud Functions, organizations can drastically reduce their time-to-market while still maintaining high levels of reliability, security and flexibility.

Features Provided by Serverless Platforms

Serverless platforms provide a wide range of features to help with the development and deployment of applications. Some of these features include:

• Scalability: Serverless platforms are able to scale automatically, ensuring that applications can handle large traffic loads without needing manual intervention. This helps reduce overall costs, as developers don’t need to manage the infrastructure associated with scaling.
• Cost Efficiency: Serverless platforms are billed based on usage rather than allocated resources, making them much cheaper for low traffic applications. Additionally, developers do not need to pay for unused resources such as idle time or extra server capacity when traffic is lower.
• Event-Driven Computing: Serverless platforms make it easy to set up complex workflows and automate tasks by using event triggers. These events can be either internal or external, including API requests and database changes, allowing developers to focus more on creating applications instead of worrying about setting up event monitoring systems.
• Dependency Management: Serverless platforms make it easier for developers to manage their application’s dependencies by providing a standard way of installing and updating libraries without having to manually install each one separately. This makes sure that all dependencies are kept up-to-date while removing the burden from the developer managing them manually.
• Compliance: Serverless platforms help secure applications using built-in security best practices such as user authentication, encryption, role-based access control (RBAC), and other methods that ensure compliance with industry standards like GDPR or HIPAA.

What Are the Different Types of Serverless Platforms?

• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): A cloud computing platform that provides users with an infrastructure, middleware, and development environment needed to develop, run, and manage web applications without having to build and maintain the underlying server infrastructure.
• Function-as-a-Service (FaaS): An on-demand service that allows developers to deploy individual functions or pieces of code without having to worry about setting up servers or managing any other infrastructure.
• Backend as a Service (BaaS): A platform that provides developers with a set of prebuilt back end services such as databases, storage services, and user authentication which can be integrated into their applications quickly and easily.
• Event Driven Services: A service that allows users to create loosely coupled systems where events trigger off tasks within the system in order for them to be processed in an asynchronous manner.
• Serverless Computing: A cloud computing model in which the cloud provider is responsible for managing all server related aspects such as capacity planning, auto scaling, security patches and optimizations so that developers can focus on writing code.
• Webhooks: A way for web applications to detect changes from external sources such as other websites or services and respond accordingly by running custom code triggered by those events.

Benefits Provided by Serverless Platforms

1. Cost-efficiency: Serverless platforms help organizations optimize their computing costs by eliminating overhead costs like maintenance, scaling, and provisioning. By running code on demand, organizations are only charged for what they use and don’t need to worry about investing in additional data center resources.
2. Scalability: Serverless platforms automatically scale up or down based on the incoming traffic without any manual intervention. With no servers to manage, businesses can quickly respond to customer requests and deliver high performance applications where it matters most.
3. Faster Development Time: Developers can quickly deploy code without having to provision or configure server resources. This helps speed up development cycles and allows developers to focus more on creating features that add value for customers.
4. Improved Security: Serverless architectures offer built-in security measures that can help protect an organization’s sensitive data. Additionally, serverless platforms provide robust authentication mechanisms that ensure only authorized users can access the APIs or functions exposed by the platform.
5. Reliability: The platform is designed with redundancy and fault tolerance in mind which ensures that applications stay online even during unexpected failures and system outages. This helps organizations maintain a reliable customer experience while reducing downtime costs.

Types of Users that Use Serverless Platforms

• Developers: Developers use serverless platforms to quickly deploy and manage applications in the cloud. They can easily scale up or down their resources, spin up applications faster than ever before with less effort and cost, and have access to a wide range of services that were previously unavailable.
• Data Scientists: Serverless platforms are perfect for data scientists who need to process large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. With readily available tools like machine learning and analytics, they can analyze the data quickly while leveraging the scalability of the platform to handle additional requests as needed.
• System Administrators: System administrators use serverless platforms for automation tasks such as backup, patching, upgrading systems, rolling out changes, etc. This helps them save time from manually doing these tasks and ensures that all changes are monitored properly.
• SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises): SMEs benefit from reduced costs associated with managing infrastructure as well as fast deployment of new applications without needing any specialized knowledge or skills. Furthermore, there is no need for upfront investments or long term commitments which makes it ideal for businesses on a budget.
• DevOps Teams: DevOps teams use serverless platforms to automate their development processes such as building CI/CD pipelines, testing deployments in production before rollout etc., making them more efficient and agile in releasing new features and products (at lower costs).
• Product Managers: Product managers leverage serverless platforms to test product ideas rapidly without worrying about infrastructure setup or maintenance costs. This allows them to quickly validate an idea and iterate on it if required without much overhead costs associated with it.

How Much Do Serverless Platforms Cost?

Serverless platforms can vary widely in cost, depending on the platform you choose and your specific usage requirements. Generally speaking, serverless platforms offer pay-as-you-go pricing models with no upfront costs or long-term commitments; instead, you pay only for what you use.

For example, services like AWS Lambda charge based on the amount of compute time used and Amazon API Gateway charges based on requests processed and data transferred out. Depending on your requirements, running a basic application can be relatively inexpensive; however more complex applications will require additional services and features which could result in higher overall costs.

Additionally some serverless platforms may have free tiers that allow users to get started quickly without having to pay anything up front. For instance AWS offers up to 1 million free requests per month with Lambda and up to 12 months (or 400K GBs) of free usage for Azure Functions.

No matter what platform you choose, it's important to understand your usage patterns so that you can make sure that your costs remain within budget over time. With the right planning and an understanding of how much resources are required for each component of your application, serverless platforms can be a great way to save money while getting the most from your infrastructure.

What Software Do Serverless Platforms Integrate With?

Serverless platforms can integrate with many types of software. This includes development tools like IDEs, source control systems like Git, and CI/CD pipelines and services, such as Jenkins or CircleCI. Additionally, there are a variety of other applications that can be integrated into serverless platforms, including monitoring and logging services such as Splunk and Logdna; databases like MongoDB or DynamoDB; authentication tools such as Auth0; real-time communication frameworks like Socket.io; serverless event triggers from cloud providers such as AWS SNS or Google Cloud Pub/Subging; payment processing services like Stripe and Braintree, and more. Integration capabilities vary by platform but generally speaking serverless architectures support integrations with a wide range of software types to help you build powerful applications quickly.

Recent Trends Related to Serverless Platforms

1. Increased Adoption: Serverless platforms are becoming increasingly popular as businesses of all sizes look to reduce costs and complexity related to traditional hosting solutions.
2. Lower TCO: Serverless solutions offer a drastically lower total cost of ownership than traditional hosting solutions by reducing infrastructure and operational costs.
3. Improved Scalability: Serverless solutions can easily scale up or down depending on an application’s needs, eliminating the need for pre-provisioning or manual scaling operations.
4. Faster Deployment: With serverless platforms, there is no need to provision or configure your own server, so deployments can be done in minutes instead of hours or days.
5. Improved Security: Serverless architectures have built-in security measures that protect against common threats such as DDoS attacks and other malicious activities.
6. Reduced Maintenance: With serverless architectures, there is no need to manage the underlying hardware or virtual machines, leading to reduced downtime and maintenance costs.
7. Increased Flexibility: By leveraging cloud resources, serverless platforms can dynamically allocate resources when needed, allowing businesses to remain agile and responsive in today's fast-paced digital landscape.

How to Pick the Right Serverless Platform

Selecting the right serverless platform for your project can be challenging. There are many factors to consider when making this decision, including cost, scalability, security, and flexibility.

1. Cost: When selecting a serverless platform, it's important to think about both the short-term and long-term associated costs of using that particular solution. Consider the pricing structures of each option and determine which model works best for your budget. Additionally, some platforms may offer features or services that you don't need but must pay for regardless - be sure to read the fine print.
2. Scalability: When selecting a serverless platform, you should also consider how much potential it has to scale up as needed in order to meet changing demands on your application. Some platforms offer more flexibility than others in allowing you to automatically scale depending on usage trends or provide advanced traffic monitoring capabilities that allow you to anticipate performance issues before they arise.
3. Security: Security is another major factor when it comes to choosing a serverless platform. Make sure that the system you choose includes reliable authentication methods as well as other security measures such as encryption of data in transit and at rest. Additionally, check if there are any third party auditing tools available from the vendor which can verify their security protocols are up-to-date and effective against current threats and vulnerabilities.
4. Flexibility: Finally, make sure that your chosen serverless platform offers enough flexibility for your use case — whether it’s compatibility with existing frameworks or customizability options for tailoring features specific to your application's needs — so that you can get the maximum benefit from it over time without needing frequent updates or rewrites of code due to incompatibility with new versions or changes in technology stack over time.

Make use of the comparison tools above to organize and sort all of the serverless platforms products available.