Differences Between Serverless and Containers

Cloud Computing is an emerging topic in the field of technology. Two main methods are mostly used in Cloud Computing for application deployment. These two methods are Serverless and Containers. Both these approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages. So it becomes difficult for us, to decide which approach to be chosen for application deployment. In this article, we will look into the information on Serverless and Containers and also, and we will explore the difference between these approaches with some unique parameters. 

Serverless 

Serverless computing in Cloud Computing technology is the concept where the computing resources are completely handled in BTS (Behind the Scenes), where the programmer or developer mainly focuses on writing the code logic to handle specific events. This code is wrapped as a serverless function or method and invoked or triggered by the serverless runtime as many times as necessary to fulfill the incoming requests. Serverless works on the architecture of Function as a Service (FaaS). The deployment model used in Serverless is small, stateless functions that are executed in response to specific events. Resource Management is completely managed by the cloud provider dynamically. The pay-as-you-go cost model is adapted to Serverless computing. 

Some of the companies that use Serverless are:

1. Netflix
2. Codepen
3. PhotoVogue
4. AutoDesk
5. AbstractAI 
6. SQUID
7. Droplr

Containers

Containers in Cloud Computing are the lightweight and portable units of software that wrap the applications and their associated dependencies together. Containers allow the software to run efficiently and consistently across various computing platforms and environments, like development, staging, testing, building, and production. Containers are purely based on the technology of containerization, with Docker being one of the most used containerization platforms. Containers provide a fixed amount of resources to the application with the container. Developers need to externally specify these resource limits during containerization. Docker is the best tool for containers.

Some of the companies that use Docker Container are:

1. PayPal
2. Visa
3. Shopify
4. Tigera
5. Twitter

Best Practices for Choosing Between Serverless and Containers

Choosing between Serverless and Containers relies on different constraints and factors like Application requirements, development team expertise, scalability needs and many more. Below are some of the best practices that can help to choose between Serverless and Containers:

Understand the application’s architecture, its associated and expected workload, and the resources needed for the functioning. Serverless is mostly consistent for event-driven, short-time tasks, whereas Containers are better for long-term running and complex-based applications.

1. Evaluate Cold Start Latency Tolerance

Considering the significance of low latency in our application for deployment. Serverless functions may have cold start delays, while Containers typically consist of faster startup times.

2. Examine Development Team Skills

Measuring the team’s experiences in managing the infrastructure and containerization. Serveless also needs less operational overhead, by making it more visible for teams with limited DevOps experience and knowledge.

3. Analyze Resource Utilization

Knowing the application’s resource utilization patterns. Serverless can automatically scale up and scale down the demand, which makes it cost-effective for sporadic workloads. Containers are to be more cost-efficient for steady workloads.

4. Measuring Ecosystem and Tooling

Considering the existing development tools and ecosystem for both Serverless and Containers that align the application development and deployment requirements.

Serverless vs Containers

Parameter	Serverless	Containers
Architecture	Follows Function as a Service (FaaS)	Application and Dependencies are packaged together
Cold Start	Slight latency is seen during the first execution.	Faster startup times is been seen as compared to Serverless.
Cost Model	The Pay-as-you-go Cost model is been adapted.	Constant cost is been adopted in Containers.
Scaling	Automatic Scaling is used based on demand.	Manual or Automatic scaling of containers has been used.
Portability	Limited, potential Vendor Lock-in.	High Portability across container platforms and runtimes.
Use Cases	Small Tasks, Microservices, Event-driven apps.	Complex workload applications, steady workloads.
DevOps Overhead	Minimal management and infrastructure concerns are seen in Serverless.	Additional Management complexity is needed in Containers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, choosing and using between Serverless and Containers can be a critical decision that is dependable on various factors. For making the right choice between these two technologies, it is important to initially understand the application requirements, ita cost requirements, and many other factors. By analyzing all these aspects and aligning them with our development goals, we can determine whether the requirement is fulfilled by Serverless or Containers.

FAQs

1. How are Containers Different From Virtual Machines (VMs)?

Containers share the host OS kernel, by making them faster and lighter to boot as compared to VMs, which require a separate OS for each of the instances.

2. What are The Drawbacks Of Serverless Computing?

Some of the drawbacks introduced in Serverless Computing are the “Cold Start” latency, vendor lock-in due to different platform configs, and runtime environments into isolated units.

3. Can We Use Serverless And Container Together?

Yes, Serverless and Contianer can be ued toghet. Developers can use Serverless for event-specific driven tasks with a larger containerized application.

4. How Can I Monitor Serverless Functions And Containers?

Both Serverless and Containers can be monitored using various tools and services that provide insights into performance, resource usage, and other metrics.

5. What Are The Famous Container Runtimes?

Docker is the most popular container runtime, but there are some other runtimes like containerd, rkt, and others.