Introduction
Jason and Ivan, two software developers who work at different companies, often share their experiences with new technologies.
In this conversation, they discuss how Ivan’s project is benefiting from using AWS Lambda, a serverless computing service.
They touch on key features such as event-driven architecture, automatic scaling, and handling security, while comparing it to traditional server provisioning.
Conversation
Dialog
Jason: Hey Ivan, how’s your project going? I heard you're using AWS Lambda now.
Ivan: Yeah, it’s going well! Lambda’s event-driven nature is a game-changer
for us. It triggers functions automatically based on the event source
.
Jason: That's awesome. So no need to provision servers
anymore, right?
Ivan: Exactly! Plus, it scales automatically during traffic spikes
, which helps with cost management
.
Jason: Do you offload
long-running tasks
to other services?
Ivan: We do! For anything that might keep Lambda idle
too long, we use SQS to handle the workload
.
Jason: Nice! How’s the security boundary
with Lambda?
Ivan: Pretty solid. Each function runs in its own environment, and IAM handles access. Feels secure.
Jason: Sounds like you're avoiding a lot of hassle
. I might give it a try!
Vocabulary
Hassle: A hassle is a situation that causes difficulty or trouble, often requiring extra effort to resolve. It's something that's inconvenient and time-consuming.
Examples:
Setting up the servers manually was such a hassle; now we use cloud automation tools to save time.
Traffic jams are a hassle, but I avoid them by leaving early in the morning.
Translation: incômodo, problema, aborrecimento.
Security Boundary: A security boundary is a defined separation between different security domains or layers, ensuring that certain data or processes are kept isolated from others to prevent unauthorized access.
Examples:
In AWS Lambda, each function runs within its own security boundary, ensuring isolation between functions.
Establishing a strong security boundary between internal and external systems is critical for data protection.
Translation: limite de segurança, fronteira de segurança.
Idle: Idle refers to a state of inactivity or not being in use. In computing, it often means a system is waiting for a task to perform.
Examples:
The server was idle for hours before the next request came through.
During the night, many machines remain idle due to low traffic.
Translation: ocioso, inativo.
Offload: To offload means to transfer work or responsibility from one system or person to another to balance or reduce the burden.
Examples:
We offload the heavy processing tasks to a separate server to keep the main system running smoothly.
By using cloud storage, we can offload data backups and reduce the load on our local servers.
Translation: descarregar, transferir.
Traffic Spikes: Traffic spikes refer to sudden, significant increases in web traffic or requests to a system, often temporary and caused by an event like a sale or a viral post.
Examples:
We saw major traffic spikes during our product launch, but the servers handled it well.
Black Friday always causes traffic spikes for e-commerce sites, so they need to prepare accordingly.
Translation: picos de tráfego, aumento repentino de tráfego.
Game-changer: A game-changer is something that significantly alters a situation or creates a major shift in how things are done, often leading to positive results or innovations.
Examples:
The introduction of cloud computing was a game-changer for small businesses needing affordable IT infrastructure.
Switching to a microservices architecture was a game-changer for our system's scalability.
Translation: divisor de águas, inovação.
Event Source: An event source is any system, service, or action that generates events or triggers functions in an event-driven architecture.
Examples:
In AWS Lambda, S3 can act as an event source, triggering functions when a file is uploaded.
Our application uses a database as the event source to trigger updates when new records are added.
Translation: fonte de eventos, origem de eventos.
Long-running Tasks: Long-running tasks refer to processes or jobs that take a significant amount of time to complete, often needing specialized handling to avoid blocking other operations.
Examples:
We offload long-running tasks like data analysis to a background queue to prevent delays in our main application.
Backup jobs are typically long-running tasks that need to be carefully scheduled to avoid performance issues.
Translation: tarefas de longa duração, processos demorados.
Provision Servers: To provision servers means to set up, configure, and allocate resources to servers, typically for hosting applications or services.
Examples:
With AWS, you no longer need to manually provision servers; everything is automated.
It used to take days to provision servers for a new application, but now we can do it in minutes.
Translation: provisionar servidores, configurar servidores.
Cost Management: Cost management involves controlling and optimizing expenses, especially in IT, to ensure resources are used efficiently and spending stays within budget.
Examples:
Cloud services have great tools for cost management, so you can avoid overspending on unused resources.
Effective cost management helped the company stay profitable during a period of rapid growth.
Translation: gestão de custos, controle de gastos.
Workload: A workload is the total amount of work, tasks, or processing that a system, team, or individual is required to handle. In computing, it refers to the tasks executed by a server or system.
Examples:
Our database is handling a large workload due to the high number of queries from the application.
We balanced the workload across multiple servers to ensure no single machine was overwhelmed.
Translation: carga de trabalho, volume de trabalho.
Exercises
Initial role play
hassle | security boundary | idle |
game-changer | traffic spikes | offload |
event source | long-running tasks | provision servers |
cost management | workload |
Final role play
hassle | security boundary | idle |
offload | traffic spikes | game-changer |
event source | long-running tasks | provision servers |
cost management | workload |
Personal experience
Homework
Reading comprehension
What does Ivan mean when he says AWS Lambda is "event-driven"?
How does AWS Lambda help with cost management, according to Ivan?
What does Jason ask about offloading tasks, and how does Ivan respond?
How does Ivan describe the security boundary of AWS Lambda?
What is Jason's final reaction to learning about Ivan's experience with AWS Lambda?
Fill-in-the-blanks
fill-in-the-blanks exercise using the vocabulary words
Setting up physical servers used to be a huge ________, but cloud computing has made it much easier.
AWS Lambda runs each function within a secure and isolated ________, ensuring that functions don't interfere with each other.
The system remained ________ overnight because there were no incoming requests.
To handle heavy data processing, we ________ the tasks to a different service to avoid overloading the main system.
During our flash sale, we experienced ________, but our server infrastructure scaled automatically to handle the load.
Implementing serverless architecture was a real ________ for our development team, as it allowed us to focus on writing code rather than managing servers.
When a file is uploaded to S3, it acts as an ________, triggering a Lambda function to process the file.
________ such as backups or data migrations are typically scheduled during off-hours to minimize the impact on system performance.
With AWS, you no longer need to manually ________ ________ every time you launch a new service.
We’ve improved our ________ ________ by monitoring usage and only paying for the resources we actually need.
The system's ________ was evenly distributed across several servers to ensure no one server was overwhelmed.
Produce
Produce a new dialog using the vocabulary words.