Serverless computing has become an integral part of enterprise culture today. With each passing year, serverless technologies are maturing further and expanding their impact on the world. Serverless has changed how we build and deploy applications and how teams function, breaking down the silos between teams, especially the development and operation teams. Serverless uses many tools and platforms to improve efficiency, lower failure rates, improve recovery time, ensure continuous delivery of online or software-based services, and so much more.
Two of the most important tools used in serverless container orchestration are AWS Fargate and EKS Anywhere. In this blog, we will talk about what serverless containers are, what AWS Fargate does, what EKS Anywhere is, how they are useful, and how they fit into the DevOps ecosystem.
What are Serverless Containers?
According to AWS, “Serverless containers allow you to run containers without having to manage the underlying infrastructure.”
Serverless containers are the industry’s answer to the complexity of container management. They have been designed with scalability and flexibility at their core. They play a critical role in ensuring that container deployment and scaling won’t adversely affect an organization’s business processes. They provide an enterprise with a clear path to containerized applications without the burden of managing the underlying infrastructure. They enable enterprises to deploy and scale containers as well as mitigate future capacity issues before they hit customers and end-users.
Serverless containers were originally conceived to combine the benefits of containerization with the simplicity of serverless computing. Developed by cloud providers and then refined by multiple contributors & developers, serverless containers have become immensely popular and mostly the first choice for users when it comes to modern application deployment.
What is AWS Fargate?
AWS Fargate is a serverless compute engine for containers that work with both Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS). Using Fargate, you can:
- Run containers without managing servers or clusters
- Pay only for the resources required to run your containers
- Automatically scale your application based on demand
- Respond to issues that are in the offing and maybe about to hit
- Ensure compliance with enterprise SLAs
- Ensure that any outages or unforeseen events have as minimal as possible impact on the enterprise’s bottom line and operations
- Monitor all the enterprise container infrastructure and business processes
AWS Fargate is a powerful serverless container service that enables organizations to identify and resolve IT infrastructure problems before affecting critical business processes.
Like some of the most popular and useful platforms & tools in the DevOps ecosystem, Fargate integrates seamlessly with existing AWS services. It was originally designed to work with Amazon ECS but now functions with both ECS and EKS, giving you flexibility in your container orchestration choice.
One of the most important things Fargate does is that it runs periodic health checks on your containers. Fargate will monitor important parameters and functions like memory usage, CPU utilization, and container health. It will also monitor important services, including common networking capabilities required by your containers. Fargate will initiate active checks regularly. The passive checks would be done by the external applications that are connected to Fargate through AWS CloudWatch.
What is the AWS Fargate Structure?
A Fargate user can choose to work with the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or infrastructure as code tools like AWS CloudFormation or Terraform. On the Fargate dashboard, you will find all the important information about the critical parameters of your containers that Fargate is managing. These parameters and thresholds can be defined by the users and alerts can be configured for sending out when any of the parameters or thresholds reach a critical level. Fargate also offers integration with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) using which the system administrator can restrict access to users.
One major advantage of Fargate is that it is entirely serverless. When using Fargate, you don’t need to provision, configure, or scale clusters of virtual machines to run containers. You don’t need to worry about choosing server types, deciding when to scale your clusters, or optimizing cluster packing. You can simply define your application needs, and Fargate takes care of the rest.
What is EKS Anywhere?
EKS Anywhere is an extension of Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) that allows you to create and operate Kubernetes clusters on-premises. Using EKS Anywhere, you can:
- Create and operate Kubernetes clusters on your infrastructure
- Use the same Kubernetes distribution that powers Amazon EKS in the cloud
- Leverage AWS’s operational tooling and expertise
- Maintain consistent tooling and processes across on-premises and cloud environments
- Reduce operational overhead with automation and simplified cluster lifecycle management
- Ensure compliance with industry regulations that require on-premises data processing
- Operate in environments with limited or no internet connectivity
EKS Anywhere is a powerful tool that enables organizations to extend their container orchestration capabilities beyond the cloud and into their data centers.
One of the most important things EKS Anywhere does is that it provides a consistent Kubernetes experience across cloud and on-premises environments. EKS Anywhere will allow you to use the same APIs, tools, and configurations regardless of where your clusters are running. It will also enable you to implement a hybrid cloud strategy that can leverage the best of both worlds – the flexibility and scale of the cloud with the control and security of on-premises infrastructure.
What is the EKS Anywhere Structure?
EKS Anywhere is built around the concept of a production-ready Kubernetes distribution that can be deployed in your data center. It includes the following components:
- The EKS Distro – the same Kubernetes distribution that powers Amazon EKS in the cloud
- The EKS Anywhere Installer – a tool that automates the deployment and configuration of Kubernetes clusters
- Management components – tools for cluster lifecycle management, backup, and restore
- Integration with AWS services – enables hybrid cloud scenarios
EKS Anywhere supports multiple infrastructure providers, including VMware vSphere, bare metal, and Nutanix. This flexibility allows you to use EKS Anywhere in various on-premises environments, tailoring it to your specific needs and existing infrastructure investments.
Comparing AWS Fargate and EKS Anywhere
When comparing AWS Fargate and EKS Anywhere, it’s important to understand that they serve different purposes and are designed for different use cases. Fargate is a serverless compute engine for containers that run in the AWS cloud, while EKS Anywhere is a deployment option for Kubernetes that runs on your infrastructure.
Fargate offers a completely serverless experience, where you don’t need to manage any underlying infrastructure. You simply define your container requirements, and AWS takes care of the rest. This makes it ideal for organizations that want to focus solely on their applications and not worry about infrastructure management.
EKS Anywhere, on the other hand, gives you the ability to run Kubernetes on your own infrastructure using the same distribution that powers Amazon EKS in the cloud. This is particularly valuable for organizations that need to keep certain workloads on-premises due to regulatory requirements, data sovereignty concerns, or existing infrastructure investments.
Strengths and Weaknesses of AWS Fargate
AWS Fargate has several strengths that make it an attractive option for many organizations:
Fargate eliminates the need to provision and manage servers, allowing you to focus on designing and building your applications instead of managing the infrastructure that runs them. This can lead to significant time savings and operational efficiencies.
With Fargate, you only pay for the resources you use, down to the second. There are no upfront costs or minimum fees, making it a cost-effective option for many workloads.
Fargate automatically scales your application based on demand, ensuring that you always have the right amount of capacity without manual intervention.
However, Fargate also has some limitations:
As a fully managed service, Fargate gives you less control over the underlying infrastructure compared to traditional EC2 instances or self-managed Kubernetes clusters. This can be a drawback for organizations that need fine-grained control over their infrastructure.
Fargate currently has some limitations in terms of customization options, maximum resource limits, and supported features compared to self-managed alternatives.
Because Fargate runs in the AWS cloud, it may not be suitable for workloads that need to run on-premises due to regulatory requirements or data sovereignty concerns.
Strengths and Weaknesses of EKS Anywhere
EKS Anywhere offers several advantages that make it a compelling option for certain use cases.
EKS Anywhere allows you to run Kubernetes on your infrastructure, giving you more control over your environment and enabling you to meet regulatory requirements that mandate on-premises data processing. With EKS Anywhere, you can use the same Kubernetes distribution and tooling across both cloud and on-premises environments, simplifying operations and enabling consistent processes. EKS Anywhere can be particularly valuable for organizations that have already invested in on-premises infrastructure and want to leverage that investment while still benefiting from modern container orchestration.
However, EKS Anywhere also has some limitations.
Running Kubernetes on your infrastructure means that you are responsible for managing and maintaining that infrastructure, which can require significant expertise and resources. While EKS Anywhere simplifies many aspects of running Kubernetes on-premises, it still requires more operational overhead compared to fully managed services like Fargate. Scaling on-premises infrastructure can be more challenging and less flexible compared to cloud-based alternatives, potentially leading to either over-provisioning (and wasted resources) or under-provisioning (and capacity constraints).
When to Use AWS Fargate vs. EKS Anywhere
The choice between AWS Fargate and EKS Anywhere depends on your specific requirements and constraints. Here are some guidelines to help you decide:
Consider using AWS Fargate when:
- You want to focus on your applications and not worry about managing infrastructure.
- You need the ability to quickly scale your applications up and down based on demand.
- You want to optimize costs by only paying for the exact resources you use.
- Your workloads can run in the AWS cloud without any regulatory or technical constraints.
Consider using EKS Anywhere when:
- You need to run workloads on-premises due to regulatory requirements, data sovereignty concerns, or existing infrastructure investments.
- You want a consistent Kubernetes experience across both cloud and on-premises environments.
- You need more control over your infrastructure than what Fargate provides.
- You have specific hardware or networking requirements that can only be met with on-premises infrastructure.
Autoscaling Capabilities
Both AWS Fargate and EKS Anywhere offer autoscaling capabilities, but they work differently due to their fundamental differences in architecture.
AWS Fargate provides seamless autoscaling through integration with Amazon ECS Service Auto Scaling or Amazon EKS Cluster Autoscaler. With Fargate, you can scale your containers based on metrics like CPU utilization, memory usage, or custom metrics. The scaling is handled automatically by AWS, with no need for you to manage any underlying infrastructure.
EKS Anywhere, being an on-premises solution, requires more planning and configuration for autoscaling. You need to ensure that you have sufficient physical resources available to handle the scaling requirements of your applications. EKS Anywhere supports the Kubernetes Cluster Autoscaler, which can automatically adjust the size of your Kubernetes cluster based on resource utilization. However, the ultimate scaling capacity is limited by your physical infrastructure.
Cost Optimization Strategies
Cost optimization looks quite different between AWS Fargate and EKS Anywhere due to their different deployment models. With AWS Fargate, cost optimization primarily revolves around right-sizing your containers and leveraging AWS’s pricing models. You can optimize costs by:
- Accurately specify the CPU and memory requirements for your containers to avoid over-provisioning.
- Using Fargate Spot for non-critical workloads to save up to 70% compared to regular Fargate pricing.
- Implementing appropriate autoscaling policies to ensure you’re only running the containers you need.
- Leveraging AWS Savings Plans or Reserved Instances for predictable workloads.
For EKS Anywhere, cost optimization is more focused on maximizing the utilization of your existing infrastructure. Strategies include:
- Efficiently packing containers onto your physical nodes to maximize resource utilization.
- Implementing proper capacity planning to avoid over-provisioning your on-premises infrastructure.
- Using node affinity and anti-affinity rules to optimize workload placement.
- Leveraging tools like Kubernetes resource quotas and limits to prevent resource hogging.
Observability and Monitoring
Observability is crucial for both AWS Fargate and EKS Anywhere, but the tools and approaches differ based on their deployment models.
For AWS Fargate, observability is typically achieved through AWS’s native monitoring services:
- Amazon CloudWatch provides metrics, logs, and alarms for your Fargate containers.
- AWS X-Ray enables distributed tracing to analyze and debug your applications.
- Amazon CloudWatch Container Insights offers detailed performance metrics for your containerized applications.
- AWS Container Lens provides recommendations for optimizing your container deployments.
For EKS Anywhere, observability often involves a combination of AWS services and third-party tools:
- The EKS Anywhere platform includes basic monitoring capabilities through the Kubernetes API.
- You can deploy tools like Prometheus and Grafana for more advanced monitoring and alerting.
- Integration with AWS services like CloudWatch is possible but requires additional configuration.
- Third-party observability platforms like Datadog, New Relic, or Dynatrace can be deployed to provide comprehensive monitoring.
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