Cloud Computing Intermediate

What is Serverless Computing?

A cloud execution model where the provider manages servers and dynamically allocates resources, charging only for actual usage.

Serverless does not mean "no servers" — it means developers do not manage them. Code runs in stateless functions triggered by events (HTTP requests, file uploads, database changes). The cloud provider handles scaling, patching, and availability.

Services include AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions, and Cloudflare Workers. Benefits include zero server management, automatic scaling, and pay-per-invocation pricing. Limitations include cold starts, execution time limits, and vendor lock-in.

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Related Terms

An AWS service that provisions and manages cloud resources using declarative JSON or YAML templates.

Lambda Function (Cloud)

An AWS serverless compute service that runs code in response to events without provisioning or managing servers.

Cloud Monitoring

Services that collect, analyze, and alert on metrics, logs, and traces from cloud infrastructure and applications.

Discounted cloud compute instances that use spare capacity at significantly lower prices but can be interrupted with short notice.

Microsoft's cloud computing platform offering IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS services for building, deploying, and managing applications.

Region and Availability Zone

Geographic locations where cloud providers operate data centers, with zones providing redundancy within a region.

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