Saving and Scaling
Is it possible to run an application without a server? This question may seem as strange as asking if you can cycle without a bike. The term ‘serverless’ can indeed create confusion within the IT world. However, this technology offers numerous advantages, especially for your budget.
What is Serverless?
Leading cloud providers like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft offer serverless solutions. Amazon provides AWS Lambda, Google has Google Cloud Functions, and Microsoft offers Azure Functions. The common feature among these services is that they all offer Function as a Service (FaaS). In this model, the application’s logic is executed on a server without storing the data. Costs are based on consumption, not on capacity.
The Advantages of Serverless
At first glance, working without a server is not the most appealing option. When compared to a virtual machine (VM) running on a server, serverless costs may appear twice as high. However, serverless is often significantly more cost-effective when you calculate the total fees.
Saving on Operational Costs
A significant benefit is that it eliminates all operational costs. You only need to maintain the logic and front end of your application. All backend-related aspects become the responsibility of the provider. For instance, the expenses for physical maintenance and server security vanish. This can result in substantial monthly savings.
Moreover, the ‘pay-per-use’ structure brings additional savings during quiet periods. If your servers perform a task every day for half an hour at a fixed time, the load is high during that period. However, when the servers are less burdened during the quieter times in between, the costs with serverless technology are significantly lower than with physical servers.
Flexibility and Limitless Scalability
Technology without a server also offers unlimited scalability. This means you can automatically scale up during busy periods and down during quieter times. Additionally, the serverless app development process can be faster as it leverages specific standards that simplify the development process.
Cost Savings through Economy of Scale
You can save significantly on costs thanks to the enormous scale of giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. The expenses of maintaining your server cannot compete with this. Each server requires someone for maintenance, but these costs are relatively lower with a mega-server.
Standardization
In 90 to 95 per cent of cases, serverless technology is an excellent choice. However, due to the providers’ standardization, this is not the case in 100 per cent of situations. The providers offer different ‘variants’ but may only cover some scenarios. So, if your app has specific requirements, going serverless could be a greater challenge—and consequently more expensive—to achieve.
Security Considerations and Control
From a security perspective, serverless may sometimes be unsuitable for financial institutions or governments that require complete internal control over sensitive data. This is different from serverless since it runs in the cloud. However, serverless is still secure. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon servers are among the safest in the world.
To summarize: serverless is an excellent alternative for almost all businesses or institutions. It is relatively inexpensive, offers great flexibility and scalability, and is secure. If you want to know more about serverless possibilities for your company, don’t hesitate to contact one of our experts for more information. Or read more information on this page.
