Running code without servers.
WHAT IT MEANS
Code that runs in response to an event, with the provider handling everything underneath.
You do not provision or manage machines.
WHAT YOU PAY FOR
Execution, rather than capacity reserved.
WHEN NOTHING RUNS, YOU PAY NOTHING.
WHAT IT SUITS
Occasional tasks Event-driven processing Workloads with irregular demand
WHAT IT DOES NOT SUIT
Long-running processes Workloads with steady heavy demand Applications requiring persistent state
WHY
Cost and constraints both work against those.
WHAT TO BE AWARE OF
Execution time limits Delay when a function has not run recently Difficulty testing locally Provider-specific implementations
THAT LAST POINT
Serverless implementations differ substantially between providers.
WHAT SMALL BUSINESSES USE IT FOR
Small automations, scheduled tasks, and connecting services together.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Whether the complexity is justified by the benefit.
For simple needs, a scheduled task on existing hosting is frequently sufficient.
