Your builds just got faster. Here’s how.

Netlify has revamped its entire build infrastructure by transitioning from a Kubernetes-based system to Firecracker MicroVMs, the same technology used in AWS Lambda, resulting in substantial performance improvements without requiring any configuration changes from users. This new architecture, which processes about 450,000 builds daily, features a pull-based distribution model and pre-warmed VMs that significantly reduce wait times, cache fetch durations, and dependency installation periods, enhancing overall build speed and efficiency. By employing a layered filesystem and leveraging both fast network storage and S3 for caching, the system optimizes resource usage while maintaining speed and reliability across all frameworks, ensuring compatibility with popular web development tools like Next.js, Astro, Gatsby, and more. The introduction of Firecracker MicroVMs not only accelerates build times but also offers increased security through hardware-level isolation, as each build operates within its own kernel, minimizing potential vulnerabilities. This infrastructure overhaul represents a scalable and secure foundation for the future of web development, accommodating traffic spikes with a custom autoscaler and maintaining seamless operation at existing customer pricing.