What is FaaS and How does it Work?

Since the advent of virtual machines in 2001, running VM (Virtual Machine) instances can access resources specific to a given application on physical machines. As a result, there were fewer infrastructure issues with respect to specific applications running on physical servers. When Docker containers first appeared, they offered a lightweight substitute for virtual machines by encapsulating just the application and any specific dependencies within a container.

The process of the developer is even more autonomous thanks to functions. The container's internal code is broken down into functions. Execute them based on certain circumstances. As an illustration, a function that creates a database and fills it with values can be written. Without functions, programmers would have to wait for the creation of the database before manually updating it.

The market for FaaS is currently expanding quickly and provides a use that is more technologically practical. Allied Market Research estimates that the market had a value of $3.01 billion in 2017. This amount is anticipated to increase to $24 billion by 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.7% for the industry from 2020 to 2026.

Given that growth, it is obvious that FaaS is a significant issue.

What is FaaS, though, and how does it operate? This article will discuss the fundamentals of FaaS and the benefits and drawbacks of using it to help you find the answers to those questions.

You will find answers to the following questions about FaaS in this article.

• What do you mean by FaaS?

• What is the Difference Between FaaS and Serverless Computing?

• What is the importance of FaaS?

• What are the advantages of FaaS?

• What are the disadvantages of FaaS?

• How does FaaS work?

• Who uses FaaS?

• What are FaaS examples?

• What is the Difference Between FaaS and PaaS?

• How do I select FaaS?

• Does Azure have FaaS?

What do you mean by FaaS?

Function-as-a-Service, also known as FaaS, is a cloud computing service that enables users to run code in response to events without having to maintain the intricate infrastructure typically needed to develop and deploy microservices applications. Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) is a serverless technique for running modular code snippets on the edge. In response to an event, such as a user clicking on an element in a web application, FaaS enables developers to write and update a piece of code on the fly. This is a low-cost method of implementing microservices and makes scaling code simple.

A virtual or physical server, an operating system, and web server hosting procedures must typically be provisioned and managed in order to host software applications online. With FaaS, the cloud service provider automatically manages the web server software, virtual machine operating system, and physical hardware. This enables programmers to concentrate only on specific functions in their application code.

The function is made available to you by the cloud platform, which controls resource distribution. The system allocates 100 (or more) copies of your service if it must handle 100 simultaneous requests.

When there are only two requests running at once, the unnecessary ones are destroyed. you pay for them only when your functions actually use the resources.

What is the Difference Between FaaS and Serverless Computing?

FaaS and serverless computing initially had similar meanings, but serverless has come to refer to a broader range of architectural patterns and practices that heavily rely on common services in addition to the unique business logic that is encoded in FaaS.

Even though the model is typically a cloud computing platform using cloud computing services, it is increasingly being used for on-premise and hybrid deployments.

Developers create business logic that is then executed in Linux containers that are fully managed by a platform as part of a serverless computing implementation called FaaS.

Microservices and even conventional apps use serverless as long as they can be containerized and follow the rules for dynamic scale and state management.

In cases where a developer or administrator is not required to manage the system because it is being managed by a cloud provider or other third-party business, the term "serverless" is also used to describe managed services, such as databases and messaging systems.

Serverless frees up developers to concentrate on writing code and providing business value by abstracting infrastructure concerns like managing or provisioning servers and resource allocation to a platform, like Red Hat OpenShift.

On an operating system, a function is a piece of software that executes business logic. Applications can include a variety of functions. One approach to creating an app with a serverless architecture is to use a FaaS model.

The best advantages for serverless developers come from combining FaaS with typical back-end services, such as databases, messaging, and authentication, connected primarily through an event-driven architecture.

Any service category, such as compute, storage, databases, messaging, API gateways, etc., where server configuration, management, and billing are invisible to the end user, is the focus of serverless computing.

On the other hand, FaaS is centered on the event-driven computing paradigm, where application code, or containers, only run in response to events or requests, despite being perhaps the most important technology in serverless architectures.

What is the Importance of FaaS?

When hosting a software application on the internet, provisioning and managing a virtual or physical server, as well as an operating system and web server hosting operations, are frequently needed. Your cloud service provider manages the actual hardware, virtual machine operating system, and web server software automatically using FaaS. This allows you the freedom to completely focus on specific application-code functions.

Function as a Service (FaaS) enables you to purchase backend services from a vendor for your cloud applications as opposed to deploying and managing your own servers. Your application is divided into "functions", or sections of it, each of which is activated by a different event. The event source can then be attached and the functions uploaded to the vendor's FaaS platform. The idea is based on architectures and technologies for serverless computing, which let programmers quickly deploy cloud applications without having to worry about managing servers.

In response to an event, such as a user clicking on an element in a web application, FaaS enables developers to write and update a piece of code on the fly. This is a low-cost method of implementing microservices and makes scaling code simple.

What are the Advantages of FaaS?

FaaS is a useful tool if you want to migrate applications to the cloud effectively and economically. You will gain the following advantages using FaaS:

• Concentrate more on the code than the infrastructure: With FaaS, you can segment the server into functions that can scale independently and automatically, freeing you from managing the infrastructure. This enables you to concentrate on the app code and significantly shorten the time to market.
• Increased developer speed: FaaS enables developers to focus more on writing application logic and less on managing servers and deployments. This typically results in a much quicker turnaround for development.
• Pay only for the resources you actually use as you go: You only pay with FaaS when an action is taken. Serverless FaaS providers, in contrast to traditional cloud service providers, don't bill their customers for unused computing time. Everything stops once the action is complete; no code is executed, no servers are idle, and no expenses are incurred. FaaS is therefore economical, particularly for cyclical workloads or planned tasks. Additionally, FaaS provides a better total cost of ownership in high-load scenarios.
• Integrated scalability: Developers don't have to worry about planning for heavy use or high traffic because FaaS code is inherently scalable. FaaS allows for instantaneous, automatic, and independent scaling of functions based on demand. All scaling issues will be taken care of by the serverless provider.
• Get every advantage of a strong cloud infrastructure: Because it can be deployed across any number of regions without incurring additional costs and is dispersed across multiple availability zones per geographic region, FaaS offers inherent high availability. FaaS abstracts the server platform away from your application by managing the servers for you. Your functions can be written in almost any language. Other cloud resources like databases and caches are accessible.

What are the Disadvantages of FaaS?

The FaaS model eliminates some of the biggest obstacles to program development, but it drastically reduces your level of control. There are a few choices you can make regarding the server, security, or database your code uses. It is up to your provider, not you. There could be a drawback to using functions as a service similar to this. Before committing fully to FaaS, there are a number of things to think about. The main drawbacks of FaaS are as follows:

• Less system control: It is more difficult to comprehend the entire system, and there are more debugging difficulties when a third party manages a portion of the infrastructure.
• More complex testing needs: Since you don't have complete control over your system, debugging is frequently a little more difficult. Thorough testing of an application becomes a more time-consuming task because it can be very challenging to integrate FaaS code into a local testing environment. You might run into difficulties setting up a test environment for your application depending on the vendor.
• Strict guidelines set forth by your FaaS provider: FaaS functions can only perform one action, and managing a large number of functions can be challenging if you're not used to it. As a result, you and your team will need to alter the way you both write code. FaaS is frequently more appropriate for new programs than existing ones because you may need to rewrite the code in existing apps to make it suitable for FaaS deployment.
• Cold starts: Functions can occasionally execute with a delay of up to 3 seconds, which can negatively affect some applications.
• Security: In terms of security, you are at the vendor's mercy and might not have the necessary visibility to make sure the vendor complies with the rules governing your use or storage of particular types of data.
• Cost: This item is repeated from the list of advantages, but depending on the processes you are running, using FaaS may occasionally be more expensive than using dedicated servers.

How does FaaS Work?

Developers are provided with an abstraction by FaaS to run web applications in response to events without having to manage servers. For instance, uploading a file may cause custom code to transcode it into different formats.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) infrastructure typically requires server processes to be running continuously in the background, whereas FaaS infrastructure is typically metered on-demand by the service provider, primarily through an event-driven execution model.

The distinction between PaaS and FaaS is becoming less and less clear as modern PaaS solutions integrate serverless capabilities into standard workflows for developers to deploy applications.

In practice, a combination of functions, microservices, and long-running services will make up entire applications.

In order to comprehend FaaS, you must be familiar with two key terms:

The term "monolithic architecture" refers to a standalone application that functions separately from other applications. These programs handle the data interface, business operations, and user interface internally. Code with a monolithic architecture depends on other programs.

A piece of code that manages a few small tasks is referred to as a "microservice architecture." Despite the fact that they combine to form an entire application, these microservices are distinct.

When you execute or modify a function, you can see the primary distinction between monolithic and microservice architectures in action. When a program has a monolithic architecture, its entire functionality is executed at once (for instance, when an app is updated). You can independently carry out a microservice function with a microservice architecture.

FaaS is what makes microservice architectures function. Each new microservice function only needs to be created once it is executed. Your FaaS provider will then take control of the function, run it, and manage it moving forward.

It's important to keep in mind that each FaaS function should only be in charge of one task because FaaS is a tool that relies on input from you to function. When its trigger is engaged, this task then begins to run. For instance, a feature that generates a copy of the user's receipt won't function unless the user clicks "download receipt".

Because FaaS employs the "event-driven execution model", your functions only run when they are called upon. They don't operate in the background.

Another crucial component of how FaaS functions is dynamic scaling. An application programming interface (API) provider makes your function accessible and controls resource distribution. Functions are easily scalable because they are event-driven rather than resource-driven, and this scalability enables increased efficiency and value.

Architectural restrictions, such as time limits on function execution, are necessary to enable some of these advantages, so a function must be something that can start up and run quickly.

Functions begin processing each request in milliseconds. The system will produce as many copies of your function as necessary to handle demand if there are multiple concurrent requests for it.

The application automatically scales down when demand decreases. Because service providers only charge for resources that are actually used and not for time spent idle, dynamic scaling is a benefit of FaaS and is cost-effective.

This dynamic nature can boost your platform density when running locally, enabling more workloads to run and optimizing resource usage and functionality.

Both RESTful applications and event-driven services that require horizontal scaling can function well as functions.

FaaS is effective for workloads with high volumes and irregular occurrences, such as report generation, image processing, or any scheduled tasks. Data processing, IoT services, and mobile or web apps are typical FaaS use cases.

Who Uses FaaS?

Processes involving extract, transform, and load (ETL) are well-suited for FaaS. A function that can be remotely activated or scheduled that retrieves data, processes it and stores the results in a database (or any other store) works well.

As many functions as your store can handle can be processed in parallel for these jobs using FaaS, and the functions are only charged for when they are used.

You have probably used serverless architectures, even if you are not aware of them.

Here are the top ten FaaS providers.

• Lambda by Amazon

• Cloud Functions by Google

• Office Azure Functions

• IBM Cloud Functions

• Cloudflare Workers

• Twilio Functions

• Iron.io

• Netlify Functions

• Alibaba Functions

• Oracle Functions

These top 10 FaaS providers are outlined below:

• Lambda by Amazon: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is providing serverless computing in this manner. This AWS offering will alter how application development and cloud hosting are carried out. You can run your code directly using Amazon Lambda without even having to manage the servers. For instance, if you upload an image to the server, the Lambda function will do the work for you by automatically resizing the image to fit the user's device, whether it be a tablet, laptop, desktop, or mobile phone. You must create a "pay as you use" plan in order to use Lambda services. This implies that you will only be charged for what you actually use. By executing the necessary code whenever a trigger is received, AWS Lambda aids developers in scaling their applications. How AWS Lamda functions:

  • In the code editor, type or paste some code.
  • Create the code that must be activated by other AWS services or in-app functions.
  • Your code won't run on Lambda until it is triggered.
  • Only pay for computing time.
  • Additionally, real-time data processing is offered.

• Cloud Functions by Google: A serverless computing service called Google Cloud Functions was introduced by Google in 2018. Developers can use Google Cloud functions to create code that extends and connects to cloud services, such as Google's public cloud. Website developers can use Google Cloud functions to call specific functions that can carry out specific tasks and, when triggered, provide a specific response. The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) automatically initiates these responses. Google is renowned for offering a straightforward user experience across all of its platforms.

  With the help of Google Cloud Functions, developers can now code for the application more easily and concentrate more on that aspect of the process than creating the application's infrastructure. One of the main drawbacks of this service is its scalability. When resources are required, this service automatically scales them, and when they are not, it puts them aside. It is simpler for developers to create the codes and upload them in accordance with the functions thanks to the presence of traditional programming languages like JavaScript and Python.

• Office Azure Functions: The function as a service (FaaS) introduced by Microsoft is called Azure Functions. The developers were taken into consideration when designing Microsoft Azure functions. The process of designing and developing applications is sped up with the aid of this service for the developers. The purpose of this FaaS, according to Microsoft, is to reduce the amount of time required for application infrastructure development.

  Once this is eliminated, the user can now easily create the software application and upload its code. The code starts to run when it is triggered, just like all other FaaS. The trigger functions need to be set for this by the developers. Triggers can originate from any source, including hosted cloud services or the application itself. Every time it is triggered, this cloud service executes the code. Users now only have to pay for the time that the function takes to run. Additionally, Microsoft's Public Cloud is where this service is housed.

• IBM Cloud Functions: Based on Apache OpenWhisk, IBM Cloud Functions is a serverless computing service. The IBM service sped up the development of applications. Lightweight codes that are executed when needed can be created with the aid of FaaS. The service is very comparable to Google Cloud Functions and AWS Lambda. Without even entering their credit card information, developers are permitted to use this service for free for 30 days. The actions can be performed by a developer in milliseconds. This speed is excellent for both functionality and user experience.

• Cloudflare Workers: Another of the most reputable providers of function as a service, Cloudflare Workers, was established in 2017. With the aid of this platform, you can script and configure your code without having to deal with management or server-related duties. You can effectively write your code using this helpful FaaS platform and deploy it. Support for multiple languages is one of the core features. You can write your APIs or functions in different languages. As well as supporting JS, Rust, C, C++, and Cloudflare workers.

  You can quickly and easily deploy your code using the CLI or Web Interface. The server does not require configuration or upkeep from you.Because Cloudflare's network is practically milliseconds away from every internet user, performance cannot be compromised.

• Twilio Functions: The serverless environment known as Twilio Function allows you to write and deploy code while handling the intricate functionalities of a server or infrastructure. Another extremely effective and practical function as a service provider to aid in the execution and deployment of your code is this one.

  Core Functions Security is maintained by default with Twilio. Utilizing Twilio requests, it assists you in running your code so that only you have access to your functions. The feature of scalability is very helpful in ensuring the effectiveness of your application. Twilio adds the capacity that is required to deliver the best performance automatically.

• Iron.io: Another user-friendly provider of "Function as a Service" is Iron.io. To execute and deploy your code in a serverless environment, this platform offers straightforward, adaptable, and dependable serverless tools. Using Iron.io, you can deploy and run your code with ease.

  Iron.io offers quick and scalable cache services. It provides a cache store that is Memcache compatible. The performance might be greatly improved by using this store. Iron.io offers the Iron Worker feature. You don't need to worry about that because IronWorker manages all server-related tasks and functionalities.

• Netlify Functions: Due to its exceptional features, Netlify Functions is regarded as one of the most trustworthy and user-friendly providers of functions as a service. You could, for instance, deploy and run your server-side code as API endpoints or carry out intricate functionalities silently.

  Using the Command Line Interface, Netlify assists you in building and testing your code locally. A local development server that you run can be shared with others. Programmers can easily view all code commits using the deploy preview feature. By selecting a previous deployment, users can undo any unintended deployment.

• Alibaba Functions: Alibaba offers a powerful platform for serverless computing. You can deploy and run your code using Alibaba Functions without having to handle the infrastructure or servers. To run your code, compute resources are distributed flexibly and dependably. Dispersed clusters are situated in various places. Therefore, Alibaba's Function Compute will use other instances automatically if one zone becomes unavailable. By utilizing distributed clusters, any user from any part of the world can execute your code more quickly. It raises productivity.

• Oracle Functions: Oracle Functions is another excellent choice for serverless computing. In fact, it is the ideal option for developers due to its simple integration, scalability, and availability of different programming languages. Multiple programming languages are supported by Oracle Cloud Functions. Any language can be used to create code that is then deployed and run as a function or API. The REST API makes it simple to integrate your code. Triggers are another tool that programmers can use to process code using events.

What are FaaS Examples?

FaaS is suitable for high-volume and embarrassingly parallel workloads because it makes it possible for transactions to be isolated and scaled easily. Additionally, it can be applied to the development of backend systems or to tasks like data processing, format conversion, encoding, and data aggregation.

FaaS is a useful tool for building Web apps, backends, data/stream processing, online chatbots, and IoT device backends. You can use and manage third-party services with the aid of FaaS. If you're thinking about developing Android apps.

FaaS can significantly improve computer performance. For instance, two students and IBM engineers recently investigated how to use IBM Cloud Functions for Monte Carlo simulations, mathematical techniques for predicting the outcomes of specific, difficult-to-predict events, to calculate stock prices.

The additional function-as-a-service use cases are listed and described below:

• On-Demand Capabilities: The ability of FaaS to offer "on-demand" functionality would be one of its most efficient use cases. The "on-demand" functionality allows any infrastructure to be powered down, which lowers costs and dramatically lowers billing.
• Integrated Quality: These cloud provider servers are useful for availability, security, and maintenance-related tasks; otherwise, manual management is required.
• Developer Logistics Made Simple: The development team adores the FaaS service because it makes it easier to develop applications and send updates to users. Software development teams and server infrastructure can concentrate more on their areas of expertise when the infrastructure is fully optimized. As a result, updates, development, and customer service happen more quickly.
• Services for authentication: These take care of the login and authentication procedures for users of your program.
• Database management: These assist you in entering data into databases that your program can use. FaaS providers handle some database upkeep on your behalf.
• Filing cabinets: You don't need to host your app on your own server because FaaS providers can store the data and files for it.
• Reporting: FaaS providers can keep an eye out for bugs or security threats in your program and notify you when they do.

In general, these services enable more intelligent development.

What is the Difference Between FaaS and PaaS?

Platforms for cloud computing that can be used to create, host, and run applications include PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and FaaS. While FaaS offers on-demand services to support the execution of functions, PaaS is a platform that supports the creation and deployment of applications.

The following are the main distinctions between PaaS and FaaS:

• Scaling is the primary operational difference between PaaS and FaaS. You still need to consider scale when using the majority of PaaS, for example, how many Dynos you want to run on Heroku. An application that uses FaaS makes this completely transparent. A FaaS application is far more cost-effective because even if your PaaS application is configured to auto-scale, you won't be doing this at the level of individual requests (unless you have a very specifically shaped traffic profile).
• A platform for building, deploying, and managing applications is known as PaaS. It can be used to create applications, which you can then run in the cloud. FaaS, on the other hand, is a framework that enables you to build serverless applications by combining various functions. When system events occur, such as when an HTTP request is made, or in response to an action taken by another function, functions are executed. (for example, if there is an error in the first function).
• While FaaS platforms do exactly this, the majority of PaaS applications are not designed to bring entire applications up and down for every request. Explaining the differences between various PaaS offerings by abstracting the back-end.
• When using PaaS, you don't need to worry about how many resources your application will require because the PaaS service provider will handle this for you. In contrast, with FaaS, you must decide how many resources your application requires and then allocate them.
• While FaaS functions are not an option, 12-Factor Apps implemented in a PaaS may use an in-app read-only cache for optimization.
• While with FaaS you might need to write your own code for these functionalities, with PaaS you can use pre-made tools like databases or storage systems.

How do I Select FaaS?

It used to be much more complicated to decide between using a FaaS approach and maintaining a dedicated execution environment. Today, the FaaS ecosystem's developments can meet the vast majority of all requirements for cloud execution. However, selecting a provider has merely adopted the prior nuances. Workload and latency-related questions should be addressed when selecting a FaaS provider:

• Criteria that depend on workload: While all of the major FaaS providers can manage straightforward workloads, not all of them can provide the same range of services. Robust service providers are required to meet the demands of computationally intensive tasks like machine learning or resource-intensive tasks like rendering. Some features, like machine learning (ML) processing, are initially only supported by a smaller number of service providers.
• Lock-in of vendors: Application migration can be difficult when it is done through providers. It is simpler to move computing operations from one provider to another when using open-source cloud solutions.
• Criteria that depend on latency: The number of FaaS providers has grown, and so has how distinctively they offer solutions to everyday issues. Where the code actually runs -in the center or at the edge- is one area of differentiation. A developing trend that will be investigated in the next few years is edge computing. 10% of corporate data is currently created or stored outside of a typical cloud facility. That is anticipated to rise to 75% by 2025. The time, network resources, and energy needed to execute code are all drastically reduced thanks to edge computing, which replicates the code to be executed on smaller servers closer to the individual customers. Of course, this is a challenging issue to resolve, so not all providers are able to provide these advantages. The first to adopt these patterns are CDN providers because they have overcome many of these issues in various settings.
• Control: One of the most abstract cloud services is FaaS. Think about how much knowledge and control you want over your infrastructure and configurations. Try a PaaS solution if you want a little bit more control than FaaS offers while still maintaining similar ease of use. Consider using an IaaS solution if your team wants total control over your production environment, infrastructure design, and behavior.
• Other standards: Price, prototype speed, and working with what you have are additional factors to take into account when selecting a FaaS provider. If you are operating serverless workloads with extremely stringent cost constraints, you might find that your options are naturally constrained to a particular group of vendors.

You won't have time to sign up with a high-quality, account manager FaaS provider if you are working on setting up "quick and dirty" prototypes; there are plenty of those. Last, but not least, it's usually best practice to keep serverless services within a single chain of command for both credentialed access, unified billing, and observability tooling if you already have existing GCP or AWS infrastructure with billing accounts in place and stakeholder approval.

Does Azure have FaaS?

Yes. Azure offers a FaaS. These Azure serverless applications are being used. Code can be written in any language the user is familiar with using Azure Functions, and Azure Functions will provide a runtime to execute it. An appropriate platform is offered for users to bring their own code, depending on the language they have chosen. A deployment unit that can automatically scale up and down are functions. Users cannot see the underlying virtual machines and platform when working with functions, but Azure Functions offers a tiny window through the Kudu Console to view them.

Azure offers the Consumption Plan, Premium Plan, and Dedicated Plan as its three different FaaS plans. Some attempt to meet various needs by being basic and straightforward while others have cutting-edge features. Users can select the Premium or Dedicated plans instead of the Consumption plan, for instance, to address the cold start.

Both strategies have advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, giving users too many options to choose from may result in confusion and occasionally annoyance. For instance, the annoyance brought on by the message "This feature is not supported for your current plan" in the Azure Functions plan you have chosen. Although switching between plans is not particularly difficult to do with Azure, it still takes time and effort.