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New Runtimes Provided by Alert Logic Widen the Playing Field for AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is a serverless computing platform offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Not only does Lambda eliminate the need to install and manage a host operating system, it also cuts costs because customers are only billed when their code is running. Until now, the languages supported on AWS Lambda were Node.js, Python, Java, Go, .NET, and PowerShell. Today, Alert Logic is launching support for two new native runtimes for AWS Lambda functions, Erlang and Elixir.

AWS Lambda

Organizations and developers have migrated quickly from virtual servers, to cloud computing, to containers and microservices, and to the next logical step—serverless computing. Serverless computing eliminates the need to provision and manage servers or deal with the administrative overhead of the host operating system.

AWS Lambda offers a platform where developers can run code for various applications or backend services with zero administration. The code is uploaded and AWS Lambda takes care of the rest. The platform automatically manages everything necessary to run and scale code and ensure high availability. Code can be designed to automatically trigger from events in other AWS services, or it can be called directly from a web or mobile application.

Because there is no server and nothing is running until or unless the code is triggered, there is no default ongoing cost. Customers only pay for the compute time they consume—and they only consume compute time when their code is running.

Erlang and Elixir Support Provided by Alert Logic

Different programming languages have their own unique pros and cons, and developers often specialize or have a specific language they prefer to work in. Erlang and Elixir are languages that are popular with many developers, but were previously not supported within AWS Lambda. Alert Logic released support for AWS Lambda functions with an Erlang native runtime and integrated build and packaging support using Rebar3, and support for AWS Lambda functions with an Elixir native runtime and integrated build and packaging support using Mix.

Alert Logic Embraces Serverless Computing

The release of these native runtimes for AWS Lambda functions will enable Erlang and Elixir developers to deploy with AWS Lambda implementations as quickly and easily as other supported language runtimes, like Node.js or Java.

By using native AWS Lambda runtimes to build platform and products, Alert Logic was able to migrate the entire workload of our log search service from physical datacenters to be 100 percent serverless using AWS Lambda. As a result, we are improving service performance and scalability, and reducing our operational costs. Alert Logic is able to support over 4,000 customers who are operating at huge volumes of event and log data, gaining a competitive advantage as a result.

The support of these additional native runtimes for AWS Lambda fits into the Alert Logic strategic roadmap and will help us migrate more workloads onto the serverless environment of AWS Lambda in the future. In addition, we are excited that our innovations are also contributing to the larger developer community. Explore Alert Logic’s capabilities with regards to security in AWS.

About the Author

Tony Bradley

Tony Bradley is Senior Manager of Content Marketing for Alert Logic. Tony worked in the trenches as a network administrator and security consultant before shifting to the marketing and writing side of things. He is an 11-time Microsoft MVP in security and cloud and has been a CISSP-ISSAP since 2002. Tony has authored or co-authored a dozen books on IT and IT security topics, and is a prolific contributor to online media sites such as Forbes and DevOps.com. He has established a reputation for effective content marketing, and building and engaging a community and social media audience.

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*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Alert Logic - Blogs Feed authored by Tony Bradley. Read the original post at: https://blog.alertlogic.com/new-runtimes-provided-by-alert-logic-widen-the-playing-field-for-aws-lambda/