Serverless computing appeared as a way out of a highly expensive and effort-consuming hardware management that was required to launch a service or product. Indeed, the term of serverless computing is misleading as the servers are still involved, but their management is a concern of somebody else, not the consumer. With serverless consulting for your business, development teams do not distract on running the environments and managing the Infrastructure.
Serverless computing includes several different solutions, such as SaaS, PaaS, FaaS, and IaaS. Scroll down to see their differences and business benefits.
Consider serverless consulting services by our team of Solution Architects to boost automation for your business.
To reduce infrastructure costs, we extend the customer's DevOps experience to the serverless concept. By leveraging such technologies as AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Functions, and Kubeless, we help to keep your code event-driven and infrastructure-agnostic, allowing you to focus on your application, not the infrastructure.
Cloud solutions for data storage have been around since the 2000s. With the launch of AWS Lambda in 2014, the cloud platform extended its services to Serverless infrastructure services (FaaS, PaaS, IaaS, SaaS). Not only is serverless computing a part of the cloud solution, but it also includes a 'pay as you go' model of the use of computing power.
Since holding in-house server rooms is quite expensive and time-consuming in terms of scaling (either way, you will have to maintain an in-case server active and pay for), cloud providers created several models for the computing power delivery.
BaaS, FaaS, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS — Differences and Similarities
Several business models can drastically boost the profit of your business. By defining your aim, you can come to the right choice and become a front-runner at the market. So, what is a software as a service and other serverless business models?
Let’s have a closer look at the serverless computing service models
Since holding in-house server rooms is quite expensive and time-consuming in terms of scaling (either way, you will have to maintain an in-case server active and pay for), cloud providers created several models for the computing power delivery.
BaaS, FaaS, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS — Differences and Similarities
Several business models can drastically boost the profit of your business. By defining your aim, you can come to the right choice and become a front-runner at the market. So, what is a software as a service and other serverless business models?
- FaaS (Function as a Service) runs only the backend part of an application. Initially, you don’t need to create the whole environment for an application, FaaS providers offer you an already configured environment for your code. The only thing you need is the client’s side — user interface.
There are several platforms that provide FaaS environment: AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions. These platforms allow developers to write functions that will be available to the client while developers create the code for functions that user triggers, third-parties host servers, and run the code on them.
FaaS can become a perfect business solution for microservice infrastructures and applications that are built as isolated functions.
- BaaS (Backend as a Service) platforms provide ready-to-go functions for social media integration, location tracking, push-messages, files up- and downloading, and user support. Therefore, a developer doesn’t have to write certain functions but call them with an API using Backend as a Service. Google Firebase, AWS DynamoDB, AWS Aurora Serverless are some of the BaaS platforms.
- IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is a type of cloud service that operates models for accessing, monitoring, storing, networking, and managing data centers remotely. The IaaS solution offers computing resources where you can deploy and run the software. Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure are the Infrastructure as a Service example.
- PaaS (Platform as a Service) helps to focus on writing code rather than on managing the underlying Infrastructure. PaaS doesn’t discharge you from thinking about scaling while FaaS does — this is the main difference between the two services. Google Kubernetes Engine and Azure Container Service provide platform management as a service.
- SaaS (Software as a Service) is a delivery model that offers to host an app and gives access to it on a subscription basis. This type of application can be managed directly from the web. AWS VPC and AWS EC2 are Amazon services used to build SaaS applications, such as Google Docs or CRM systems.
SaaS business model offers flexibility and cost-efficiency that is essential for new products on the market.
From the user’s side, they get access to the application on a subscription basis. For businesses, SaaS offers hosting, monitoring, no idle-fees, and vertical auto-scaling. This is why web services are now exceeding 34% of annual growth at one of the top cloud provider, Microsoft Azure.
PaaS vs. FaaS
So closely related but still different solutions — Platform and Function as a Service — are often confused. Let’s have a look at their differences and similarities.
Hardware and software requirements, scalability, and high availability — these factors characterize both PaaS and FaaS business models.
Regarding the differences, there are several: costs and scaling. Unlike FaaS, in PaaS, you pay for a whole platform while FaaS offers you an opportunity to pay only for those functions that were awoken and only for the time they were active.
Also, scalability in the two models works differently. FaaS model covers all scalability needs; it is done automatically when required, unlike PaaS; you still need to think about how to structure and scale your platform.
In case you still haven’t defined the best solution for your business, apply for a consultation with our specialist to determine Platform vs. Infrastructure vs. Function vs. Software as a Service and recommend the model that will solve and boost your business goals.
Serverless infrastructure is when a company can develop its software and applications without the need for physical servers. The management of the servers will be done by serverless service providers such as OpsWorks Co. This allows developers to build and run their software and applications without having to worry about underlying physical servers. Serverless infrastructure empowers the company to worry about its core business only.
Company operations become more agile, and there is a reduction in operating costs as a result of the elimination of maintenance and servicing required. Therefore, resources can then be channeled to other value-adding services. By using OpsWorks Co. serverless services, developers can capitalize and maximize their time on improving the existing product instead of worrying about the maintenance of the servers.
There is no particular situation or time that is said to be most appropriate for the company to go serverless. Whether it’s a newly emerging company or already a multinational corporation, it can become serverless. One common time to opt for a serverless infrastructure is when the current infrastructure can no longer support the increased loads and remain stable. Usually, this requires acquiring more servers and overpaying for infrastructure maintenance. By going serverless you eliminate the burden of trying to stay up to date.
Yes, it is possible. Although it will be best if they are isolated so that the company can focus on its core work at the premises. Having physical servers in your premises defeats the whole purpose of being serverless. If the company wants to be serverless, all it needs is to acquire the services from a company which specializes in serverless infrastructures and provides excellent packages from start-ups to corporations.
First, you don’t have control over the underlying infrastructure. For this reason, the customization of the infrastructure to perform specific functions to optimize your operations is limited to the providers. Also, switching from one service provider to another requires time, and that will disrupt the operations of the company. Therefore, before you choose your providers, consult the experts at OpsWorks Co. to help you determine what is best for your business.
