Serverless Computing

Serverless computing is a cloud computing execution model that lets software developers build and run applications and servers without having to provision or manage the back-end infrastructure. With serverless technologies, the cloud vendor takes care of all routine infrastructure management and maintenance, including updating the operating system (OS), applying patches, managing security, monitoring the system and planning capacity.

The main goal of serverless computing is to make it simpler for developers to write code designed to run on cloud platforms and perform a specific role.

Importance of Serverless Computing

Serverless computing plays an important part in digital transformation. First, it lets developers focus on writing and deploying code without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure that supports code execution. Regardless of the industry or company size, a serverless computing strategy eliminates management overhead to increase developer productivity.

This is especially useful for startups or small and midsize businesses that don't have the budget to implement and support physical infrastructure. With serverless, they only pay for the computing resources they use. They also can pick and choose services from providers that suit their needs. Application development teams can focus on user-facing applications rather than managing infrastructure.

Advantages of Serverless Computing

• Lower costs - Serverless computing is generally very cost-effective, as traditional cloud providers of backend services (server allocation) often result in the user paying for unused space or idle CPU time.
• Simplified scalability - Developers using serverless architecture don’t have to worry about policies to scale up their code. The serverless vendor handles all of the scaling on demand.
• Simplified backend code - With FaaS, developers can create simple functions that independently perform a single purpose, like making an API call.
• Quicker turnaround - Serverless architecture can significantly cut time to market. Instead of needing a complicated deploy process to roll out bug fixes and new features, developers can add and modify code on a piecemeal basis.

Disadvantages of Serverless Computing

• Less control: In a serverless setting, an organization hands server control over to a third-party CSP, thus relinquishing the management of hardware and execution environments.
• Vendor lock-in: Each service provider offers unique serverless capabilities and features that are incompatible with other vendors.
• Slow startup: Also known as "cold start," slow startup can affect the performance and responsiveness of serverless applications, particularly in real-time demand environments.
• Complex testing and debugging: Debugging can be more complicated with a serverless computing model as developers lack visibility into back-end processes.
• Higher cost for running long applications: Serverless execution models are not designed to execute code for extended periods. Therefore, long-running processes can cost more than traditional dedicated server or VM environments.

Best practices for securing serverless applications

• Using APIs. Requiring data from the client side to pass through an API means an extra layer of security, protecting the back-end serverless applications. This helps ensure malicious users don't succeed in conducting cyberattacks through data transfer.
• Optimizing security. Security measures such as encryption and multifactor authentication should be applied to various serverless application resources. Since serverless apps can contain many different microservices, each would have to be protected to reduce the number of attack surfaces bad actors could exploit.
• Setting permissions and privileges. Application users should only be granted the permissions and privileges needed to perform specific tasks. This is known as the principle of least privilege.
• Monitoring and logging use. User activity with a serverless function or microservice should be logged and monitored consistently to identify errors and stop suspicious activity before harm is done.
• Limit access using virtual private clouds. VPCs can be configured with their own security features, such as virtual firewalls, to protect resources.