Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

FaaS

5
28
+ 1
1
Kubernetes

59.9K
51.8K
+ 1
681
Add tool

FaaS vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?

Introduction

In the realm of cloud computing, there are two popular options for managing containerized applications: FaaS (Function as a Service) and Kubernetes. Both offer unique advantages and choosing between them depends on specific needs and requirements. Below are the key differences between FaaS and Kubernetes.

  1. Scalability: FaaS platforms like AWS Lambda automatically scale based on incoming requests, allowing for efficient resource utilization and cost-effectiveness. On the other hand, Kubernetes provides more control over scalability as it allows users to manually scale deployments based on specific resource requirements and application demands.

  2. Resource Allocation: FaaS abstracts infrastructure management, making it easier for developers to focus solely on code without worrying about underlying resources. In contrast, Kubernetes requires users to manage resource allocation, including CPU, memory, and storage, giving them more control over the infrastructure configuration.

  3. Deployment Complexity: FaaS simplifies deployment by providing a serverless environment where developers can upload their functions for execution without having to manage servers. Kubernetes, while offering flexibility, requires users to set up and maintain a cluster, which can be more complex and time-consuming.

  4. Scheduled Tasks: Kubernetes supports cron jobs for executing periodic tasks, making it suitable for applications that require scheduled operations. FaaS platforms may not have built-in support for scheduled tasks, requiring developers to implement workarounds or integrate with external services for such functionality.

  5. State Management: Kubernetes can manage stateful applications effectively through persistent volumes and stateful sets, allowing for data persistence and storage. FaaS functions are stateless by design, making them more suitable for event-driven, ephemeral tasks that do not require persistent data storage.

  6. Cost Structure: FaaS platforms often follow a pay-as-you-go pricing model, where users are charged based on the number of function executions and resource consumption. In contrast, Kubernetes deployments may involve fixed costs for maintaining cluster infrastructure, which can vary depending on the chosen cloud provider or hosting environment.

In Summary, while FaaS offers serverless simplicity and automatic scaling, Kubernetes provides more control over resource allocation, deployment complexity, scheduled tasks, state management, and cost structure, making it a versatile choice for containerized applications.

Decisions about FaaS and Kubernetes
Simon Reymann
Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH · | 30 upvotes · 11.2M views

Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:

  • GitHub (incl. GitHub Pages/Markdown for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
  • Respectively Git as revision control system
  • SourceTree as Git GUI
  • Visual Studio Code as IDE
  • CircleCI for continuous integration (automatize development process)
  • Prettier / TSLint / ESLint as code linter
  • SonarQube as quality gate
  • Docker as container management (incl. Docker Compose for multi-container application management)
  • VirtualBox for operating system simulation tests
  • Kubernetes as cluster management for docker containers
  • Heroku for deploying in test environments
  • nginx as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
  • SSLMate (using OpenSSL) for certificate management
  • Amazon EC2 (incl. Amazon S3) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
  • PostgreSQL as preferred database system
  • Redis as preferred in-memory database/store (great for caching)

The main reason we have chosen Kubernetes over Docker Swarm is related to the following artifacts:

  • Key features: Easy and flexible installation, Clear dashboard, Great scaling operations, Monitoring is an integral part, Great load balancing concepts, Monitors the condition and ensures compensation in the event of failure.
  • Applications: An application can be deployed using a combination of pods, deployments, and services (or micro-services).
  • Functionality: Kubernetes as a complex installation and setup process, but it not as limited as Docker Swarm.
  • Monitoring: It supports multiple versions of logging and monitoring when the services are deployed within the cluster (Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), Heapster/Grafana, Sysdig cloud integration).
  • Scalability: All-in-one framework for distributed systems.
  • Other Benefits: Kubernetes is backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), huge community among container orchestration tools, it is an open source and modular tool that works with any OS.
See more
Manage your open source components, licenses, and vulnerabilities
Learn More
Pros of FaaS
Pros of Kubernetes
  • 1
    Simple way to build serverless applications
  • 166
    Leading docker container management solution
  • 129
    Simple and powerful
  • 107
    Open source
  • 76
    Backed by google
  • 58
    The right abstractions
  • 25
    Scale services
  • 20
    Replication controller
  • 11
    Permission managment
  • 9
    Supports autoscaling
  • 8
    Simple
  • 8
    Cheap
  • 6
    Self-healing
  • 5
    Open, powerful, stable
  • 5
    Reliable
  • 5
    No cloud platform lock-in
  • 5
    Promotes modern/good infrascture practice
  • 4
    Scalable
  • 4
    Quick cloud setup
  • 3
    Custom and extensibility
  • 3
    Captain of Container Ship
  • 3
    Cloud Agnostic
  • 3
    Backed by Red Hat
  • 3
    Runs on azure
  • 3
    A self healing environment with rich metadata
  • 2
    Everything of CaaS
  • 2
    Gke
  • 2
    Golang
  • 2
    Easy setup
  • 2
    Expandable
  • 2
    Sfg

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of FaaS
Cons of Kubernetes
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 16
      Steep learning curve
    • 15
      Poor workflow for development
    • 8
      Orchestrates only infrastructure
    • 4
      High resource requirements for on-prem clusters
    • 2
      Too heavy for simple systems
    • 1
      Additional vendor lock-in (Docker)
    • 1
      More moving parts to secure
    • 1
      Additional Technology Overhead

    Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

    What is FaaS?

    FaaS is a platform for building serverless functions on Docker Swarm Mode with first class metrics. Any UNIX process can be packaged as a function in FaaS enabling you to consume a range of web events without repetitive boiler-plate coding.

    What is Kubernetes?

    Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.

    Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

    What companies use FaaS?
    What companies use Kubernetes?
    Manage your open source components, licenses, and vulnerabilities
    Learn More

    Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

    What tools integrate with FaaS?
    What tools integrate with Kubernetes?

    Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

    Blog Posts

    Kubernetesetcd+2
    2
    1195
    Dec 8 2020 at 5:50PM

    DigitalOcean

    GitHubMySQLPostgreSQL+11
    2
    2448
    PythonDockerKubernetes+7
    3
    1159
    May 21 2020 at 12:02AM

    Rancher Labs

    KubernetesAmazon EC2Grafana+12
    5
    1535
    Apr 16 2020 at 5:34AM

    Rancher Labs

    KubernetesRancher+2
    2
    974
    What are some alternatives to FaaS and Kubernetes?
    Serverless
    Build applications comprised of microservices that run in response to events, auto-scale for you, and only charge you when they run. This lowers the total cost of maintaining your apps, enabling you to build more logic, faster. The Framework uses new event-driven compute services, like AWS Lambda, Google CloudFunctions, and more.
    NGINX
    nginx [engine x] is an HTTP and reverse proxy server, as well as a mail proxy server, written by Igor Sysoev. According to Netcraft nginx served or proxied 30.46% of the top million busiest sites in Jan 2018.
    Apache HTTP Server
    The Apache HTTP Server is a powerful and flexible HTTP/1.1 compliant web server. Originally designed as a replacement for the NCSA HTTP Server, it has grown to be the most popular web server on the Internet.
    Amazon EC2
    It is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers.
    Firebase
    Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications. Simply add the Firebase library to your application to gain access to a shared data structure; any changes you make to that data are automatically synchronized with the Firebase cloud and with other clients within milliseconds.
    See all alternatives