By Kireeti Gudipati
Serverless computing through the cloud has become increasingly popular as a method to use backend services as-used. As a user won’t need to worry about the underlying infrastructure, a serverless computing leads businesses to be charged based on their computation and data needs rather than paying a fixed rate and possibly paying for unused space. It’s important to clarify that while this type of computing is referred to as “serverless,” physical servers are often used by providers.
As we progress from the days of physical servers for processing to cloud computing, remote usage of servers became the clear advancement to pursue. As companies have started to utilize cloud-based tech more commonly, the concern has shifted to cutting costs and maintaining efficient use of data, being sure to avoid both purchasing unused space and surpassing their data limits. Vendors have since more commonly introduced auto-scaled payment models, however, spikes in traffic or server activity could cause costs to skyrocket.
Serverless systems variably give developers the chance to buy backend cloud services through a model that resembles a pay-as-you-go model, cutting costs and allowing businesses to only pay for the data they use. Serverless in this context refers to the server’s lack of integration into your own systems, as concerns related to infrastructure and server space are the responsibility of the vendor. Serverless is more referential to the concept of being outsourced.
As programs and applications are referred to as being on the front end or the back end, this refers to whether the process is one that is directly interacted with by the user or consumer. An example of a front-end application is a site’s visual layout. Data collection, especially gained through consumer insights, would be considered a backend process.
An example of each of these processes would be a retail website. When consumers visit the site on a browser, that sends a request to the backend server to generate the website page on the front end. As the consumer submits product items into the search bar, their location, and other consequential user data, when the consumer presses the enter key’, these backend requests go into a database to ensure the appropriate response to the query is displayed on the front end. Through this communication between processes, serverless computing allows them to not only run more efficiently but store massive stockpiles of data for analysis.
Serverless computing boasts many benefits, including but not limited to offering improvements in scalability and cost. As traditional cloud providers require developers and companies to estimate their data usage, serverless computing ensures a lack of idle CPU clocking or unused space. Naturally, outsourcing maintenance and upkeep for cloud services allows a business to scale itself more effectively both through saving on time and labor by outsourcing the processes entirely. These systems also enable developers to change code piece by piece instead of taking more time to introduce fixes to glitches or improve existing features.
ABOUT: Serving in a leading and critical role, Kireeti Gudipati is responsible for designing and architecting innovative and transformative Cloud-based technology solutions that address the next generational needs. Creating effective IT visions, strategies, and roadmaps, he works in direct alignment and support of business and technology objectives. Kireeti Gudipati deploys end-to-end journeys from on-premise to cloud operations, performing design and development within the Cloud messaging, ground-to-Cloud connectivity, Cloud Strategy, Cloud Development, Cloud Integration & APIs, Cloud Migration, Cloud Infrastructure & Engineering, and Cloud Managed Services. He manages the design and implementation of large-scale data ecosystems including data management, governance, and the integration of structured and unstructured data to generate insights leveraging Cloud-based platforms. Kireeti Gudipati currently works as a manager for Deloitte Consulting, a subsidiary of Deloitte, the largest professional services network in the world.
