AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda introduced serverless cloud computing to the masses as early as 2014. Being the first with a massive user-base, has set up Amazon Web Services for great success. It took a few years for competitors to offer similar functionality and to actually acknowledge the FaaS space as a new chapter in cloud compute.

Use Cases

• Serverless Functions
• Real-time Stream Processing
• Automated Tasks
• Data Transformation
• IoT Backends
• API Gateway Integration

Focus

AWS Lambda is the OG FaaS platform. It does not focus heavily on solving specific problems, but rather providing a platform to use for whatever event-driven workflows you might have. Because of Amazon’s extensive service catalog, Lambda does have heavy emphasis on compatibility and integration with other AWS services.

Key Features

• Deploy .zip file archives known as Lambda Layers that can contain library dependencies, a custom runtime, or configuration files. Reduce the size of your deployment packages, separate core function logic from dependencies, share dependencies across multiple functions, or use the Lambda console code editor.
• Integration for deploying functions packaged as Docker container images through Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR). Build and deploy containerized applications to Lambda with the extra functionality of Docker images stored in ECR.

With Amazon’s gigantic scale, a shift has started with companies that are on the AWS platform to move more and more of their infrastructure to serverless. AWS Lambda’s integration with other AWS services makes it an obvious choice for those already living in Amazon’s ecosystem. Unfortunately, it also inherits the cost prediction difficulties that AWS services are often criticized for.