As the demand for serverless computing continues to grow, the availability and choice of open source Function as a Service (FaaS) technologies are expanding rapidly. In this talk, we will present our experience in using some of the most popular open source FaaS platforms, compare them and discussing their features and characteristics. The session will begin with an introduction to serverless computing and the key concepts behind FaaS. Throughout the talk, we will analyze various aspects such as ease of deployment, architecture, specific features, etc. We will examine real-world use cases and share insights on the strengths and limitations of each platform, allowing attendees to make informed decisions when choosing the right FaaS technology for their projects. By the end of this session, attendees will have a better understanding of the open source FaaS landscape from our experience in production usage.

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empowering wellbeingoutdoors

2. A comparison of Open Source FaaS
technologies
Michele Santuari,ewo, 10/11/2023 Andrea Avancini,ewo, 10/11/2023

3. Master of Transformation

4. Our use cases
Central database
Product configuration
CLO
Cable specs
Driver data

5. Our use cases
Central database
Product configuration
CLO
Cable specs
Driver data
Project configuration
DXF Handler
Area Analyser

6. Our use cases
Central database
Product configuration
CLO
Cable specs
Driver data
Project configuration
Draw Handler
Area Analyser
Fast transformation via deployment of new APIs
Manage load requests by scaling
Reducing cost by using interruptibleworkflow

7. FaaS: OpenFaaS
• Easy to deploy thanks to great documentationandeasy cli to abstract deployment
• Few componentson top of Kubernetes
OpenFaaS
API
Gateway
REST
APIs
Prometheus AlertManager
Metrics
Scale
functions
OpenFaaS
Provider
OpenFaaS functions
FunA
Secret
Service
FunB
Secret
Service
driver-data docker
OpenFaaS watchdog
python main.py
Secret
Deployment
Service

8. Why migrating from OpenFaaS?
• Features which were availableas open-source moved to paid (e.g., multiple namespaces)1
• Deprecationof old releases to force upgrade2
1: https://docs.openfaas.com/reference/namespaces/ availablefor opensource version with 11.0.11
2: https://www.openfaas.com/blog/time-to-update/

9. FaaS: Knative
• Not only focused on FaaS, since it is a platform for serverless workloads
• (A lot of) componentson top of Kubernetes
• Extendablewith custom components/rules
Ingress
Gateway
REST
APIs
Queue proxy
Autoscaler Scale functions
Activator
Functions
FunA
Secret
Service
FunB
Secret
Service
driver-data docker
python main.py
Secret
Replicaset
Service
Domainmap
ping
Webhook Controller

10. Our migration journey (with our small team)
OpenFaaS
CLO
Cable specs
Driver data
Draw Handler
Area Analyser
Product
configuration Project
configuration
Project
configuration
Project
configuration

11. Our migration journey
OpenFaaS
Product
configuration Project
configuration
Project
configuration
Project
configuration
Knative
Cable specs Draw Handler
Area Analyser
CLO
Cable specs
Driver data
Draw Handler
Area Analyser

12. Our migration journey
Product
configuration Project
configuration
Project
configuration
Project
configuration
Knative
Cable specs Draw Handler
Area Analyser
CLO
Driver data

13. Our experience
• Change of licenses or business plan in Open Source tools force team to adapt quickly
• Open Source documentation isnot alwayscomplete
• Avoidtools that requires code to be linked to a specific FaaS technology

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