Everything You Need to Know About AWS Lambda Functions

Introduction

AWS Lambda is an Amazon web service; it also offers many other services like AWS EC2, AWS Ops works, and AWS Elastic Beanstalk, etc. In this AWS Lambda tutorial, we will discuss what is AWS Lambda, What are its uses, how to create an AWS Lambda function, and how does Lambda work? 

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What is AWS Lambda?

Amazon’s Lambda lets the user run the code in a serverless environment as stated by Amazon on its Lambda product page. Basically, Lambda can be thought of as an event-driven computing platform. It runs when an event triggers it by code execution that has been loaded into the system. Gain an in-depth understanding of Cloud Computing concepts and implement its various services. Stand out in the industry by signing up for our top Cloud Computing Training and Certification to boost your cloud career. 

Here, the image uploading case can be taken as an example, in which the image resizing can be performed easily by the Lambda function automatically. Some companies use this function for auto-resizing the images for various devices including mobile, tablet and desktop devices, here the file that is uploaded to S3 is used by the event that invokes the AWS Lambda function, after which the image resizing function gets executed.

Here, the customers only have to pay for using the function, when it gets executed, so the organizations only pay Amazon when the image resizing takes place. The AWS Lambda function can also be helpful at the time of online shopping. Here when an online order is placed an Amazon DynamoDB NoSQL entry is made, which can trigger the Lambda function that can load order detail to Amazon Redshift, which is a data warehouse of Amazon.

When the event-driven applications are written by AWS professionals then they want to do seamless integration between AWS applications and the services of Kinesis and DynamoDB may need processing. AWS Lambda can be configured with external events and along with a schedule. The logs created by the function can be dynamically audited and tracked.

Lambda function of AWS only works within the AWS ecosystem and can be configured with external event timers, so can be used for scheduling. They are scalable as they are stateless. To a single source, you can add more than one Lambda function.

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How to Implement Serverless Architecture with AWS Lambda?

Some organizations may think that it can be difficult to opt for serverless, but with the help of the right tools and practices, the applications can become fully functional even with only a few lines of code. Some of the serverless applications which can use a Lambda function are listed below:

• Virtual Assistants and Chatbots: Now you can interact in a server-less manner with your customers. Your chatbots and customer support assistants can remain engaged, including your social media pages. Here the most used kits are Amazon Alexa Skill Kit or Amazon Lex that can use natural language to understand voice and have freedom of using text input. You can intelligently interact with your customers through these functions.
• Mobile and Web Backends: In an S3 bucket, static web content or native mobile application content can be created in completely server-fewer manners for mobile applications and websites. Front-end content can also be integrated with Amazon API Gateway and it will work as a backend service, Lambda functions are responsible to execute business logic that is written for API Gateways.
• Internet of Things Backends: AWS IoT can be directly integrated into the device messages that can be routed to process Lambda functions. It means that server-less backend functions can be implemented easily which are supposed to be highly secure, scalable IoT applications.

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Unlike traditional server-based environments, AWS Lambda is a serverless platform that can provide faster development and greater experimentation in an innovative manner. Amazon Lambda is a serverless computing service, which means that the developers need not be worried about AWS resources and here resource management is linked with terminating, launching, auto-scaling, health checkups, patching, and updating.

How Does Lambda Work?

Developers can start using AWS Lambda services, either by downloading the code or by coding directly into the Lambda code editor. The code which is executed in Lambda’s runtime environment is called a Lambda Function. With this, any function can be prompted without worrying about handling the server. This saves your server costs, as businesses don’t need to pay when the code is not running. See the image below to understand how AWS Lambda works-

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Once an event is triggered, Lambda runs to execute an event by utilizing the best resources available in the infrastructure ecosystem. This enables businesses to have intelligent management of the I.T infrastructure. Every time a function is called to run a function, the data pane facilitates either a dedicated execution environment or the use of the assigned environment.

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How to Create a Lambda Function?

Lambda is a computation service that enables you to execute code without provisioning or server management. With Lambda, you can execute code for virtually any major application or service type. Here is the process for creating an AWS lambda Function-

Step 1- Login to your AWS account and click on “Sign in to the Console”.

Step 2- Enter your Login ID and password

Step 3- Select “Lambda” under AWS services

Step 4- Click on the “Create Function” option.

Step 5- Choose a way to create or upload code in the AWS Lambda Function.

Step 6- Now you can write the code in the editor.

Step 7- Click “Save”.

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Limitations of AWS Lambda

Some of the Lambda function limitations are hardware specific while others may be architecture related. Let's see all of them:

Hardware limitation can be understood as the disk size needed for AWS Lambda can range from 128MB to 1536MB and the request execution time can be just 5 minutes and request payload time cannot be more than 6MB. Actually, these limitations are the boundaries that should be set while designing the architecture of AWS Lambda function. You can use other AWS disposal services that can be used.

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Lambda Function Pricing

Like other AWS services, AWS Lambda is also a pay per use service, that means you will have to pay only for those services that are used by you. So as far as charges are concerned then you will be charged only for the following parameters:

• Total number of requests that are made for Lambda function
• Total duration for which the code gets executed

Both of these terms can be understood in the following paragraph:

If we talk about Requests then it means the total number of requests that are made for all of the lambda functions throughout the project. AWS Lambda function counts the requests when the function starts getting executed which can be a response of an invoke call or event source, it also includes the test that is invoked from the console.

The call prices are calculated as the first 1 million requests every month are free and thereafter 0.20$ is charged per million requests. For the duration, it is calculated from the moment when your code starts executing till the moment it gets terminated. The total time is rounded up to the nearest 100ms. The price or total memory cost that you allocate to your function, you may be charged $0.00001667 per GB-second that is used by you.

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Career Opportunities in AWS

Termed as the most-demanded I.T skill in 2022, cloud computing has registered 35% growth in 2022. According to an Economic Times report, the cloud computing market in India is at $2 billion. The industry is set to have an impressive CAGR of 24.1% by 2025. According to AmbitionBox, a cloud engineer’s salary in India ranges between  ⏭3 lacs to ⏭12.5 lacs with an average salary of ⏭5.4 lacs approximately. The top companies hiring cloud computing professionals are- Oracle, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Amazon and many more.

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Final Words:

Today, AWS Lambda has become one of the most used Lambda functions and provides you with plenty of benefits. This AWS Lambda tutorial has discussed the AWS Lambda function in detail and it has become one of the favorite functions of DevOps professionals today. You should use these functions as and when required and they can enhance the usability of the application when invoked correctly.

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