AWS Lambda provides serverless computing in the form of functions as a service (FaaS). This means you can leverage on-demand infrastructure without the need for provisioning and hardware maintenance. Overall, Lambda is a great service for real-time data processing and backends. However, to achieve optimal performance you need to do some troubleshooting. In this article, you will learn how to improve cold start performance, implement efficient monitoring and logging, debug functions, and avoid timeouts.

What Is AWS Lambda?

AWS Lambda is a service for serverless computing, also known as functions as a service (FaaS). It enables users to run functions on-demand and invoke those functions manually, via cloud service events or API. With Lambda, users can access infrastructure on-demand with no need to provision resources or maintain hardware. Additionally, Lambda charges users for the computation power used with no additional responsibilities.

Common use cases for Lambda include:

• Real-time data processing
• Extract, transform, load (ETL) processes
• Application, website, and Internet of Things (IoT) backends

How Does AWS Lambda Work?

In Lambda, you create functions in the language of your choice. The service natively supports the most common languages and supplies a Runtime API for integrating any non-native languages, frameworks, or libraries. Once your function is ready, it is packaged along with configuration and resource requirement information. This package is then triggered as needed.

When Lambda functions are called, each runs in an individual container that operates on a multi-tenant cluster of machines maintained by AWS. This enables you to run multiple instances of a single function concurrently. It also enables you to run several different functions at once.

When using Lambda functions you are not responsible for any infrastructure maintenance or management. You have control over your individual functions and triggers as well as allocated computational power, bandwidth, and I/O.

AWS Lambda Challenges and Solutions

Lambda can provide an excellent solution for your serverless needs but the service is not without its challenges. Below are some of the most common challenges you may face and some solutions you can apply.

IMPROVING COLD START PERFORMANCE

Cold starts are caused when a new container instance has to be created for a function to run. This happens when there are long weight periods between function executions, causing containers to be killed. Maintaining...