FaaS or Not to FaaS - Visible and Invisible Benefits of the Serverless Paradigm

Explore the visible and invisible benefits of serverless computing in this comprehensive conference talk from NDC Sydney 2020. Delve into the total cost of ownership for serverless applications, examining not only Lambda costs but also the pricing models of other AWS services like API Gateway, SNS, SQS, Kinesis, S3, DynamoDB, and Aurora Serverless. Gain insights into decision-making criteria for adopting serverless architecture, considering factors such as application lifecycle, software architecture, platform limitations, organizational knowledge, and tooling maturity. Learn about the advantages of serverless, including reduced infrastructure maintenance, built-in auto-scaling and fault tolerance, and lower technical debt. Explore current challenges in serverless adoption, such as high-latency ephemeral storage, durable storage limitations, network performance issues, and security concerns. Discover strategies like the Strangler Pattern, Lambda Layers, and Lambda Runtime API. Understand the state of serverless computing, including Provisioned Concurrency for Lambda Functions, VPC integration, and cold start mitigation. Examine platform limitations, API Gateway considerations, and the importance of organizational structure and culture in serverless adoption. Utilize Wardley Maps to visualize serverless evolution and explore the Berkeley View on Serverless Computing. Conclude with a discussion on further improvement areas for the AWS Serverless Ecosystem.