Provisioned Concurrency: Avoiding Cold Starts in AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda cold starts, which occur when a worker must be assigned to a request, present a significant challenge for latency-critical serverless applications. The introduction of Provisioned Concurrency at AWS re:Invent 2019 provides a solution by allowing users to maintain a specified number of always-warm workers dedicated to particular Lambda functions, thus mitigating cold start delays. Despite the benefits, Provisioned Concurrency introduces additional costs, as AWS charges per hour for provisioned capacity regardless of usage, and requires management to maintain optimal concurrency levels. Dynamic provisioning options, such as autoscaling based on scheduled profiles or utilization, offer flexibility but may face initial performance issues. While these methods help manage cold starts, they involve careful balancing between minimizing latency and controlling costs. The article emphasizes that high-load functions benefit from a stable level of provisioned concurrency, and latency-sensitive APIs, particularly with Java and .NET runtimes, require a strategic approach to concurrency management to balance performance and expenses effectively.

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