5 ms·

Show HN: OpenFaaS - Serverless on your terms

36 points by alexellisuk 9y ago

diminish 9y ago
Sorry for my ignorance - what does 'serverless' exactly mean?
- alexellisuk 9y ago
  Glad you asked, I wrote up about it here - Introducing Functions as a Service (OpenFaaS) - https://blog.alexellis.io/introducing-functions-as-a-service/ https://blog.alexellis.io/introducing-functions-as-a-service...
stephenr 9y ago
For certain values of "your terms"
- breakingcups 9y ago
  Care to expand?
  - stephenr 9y ago
    It relies on docker. So if you don't want a maintenance nightmare you're SOL. Something that works via libvirt to allow multiple backends would honestly be a much nicer option.
    - alexellisuk 9y ago
      If you want to use a completely unmanaged solution checkout the Hyper.sh integration - https://github.com/hyperhq/faas-hyper https://github.com/hyperhq/faas-hyper We're also looking at ACI integration and I believe GKE will work out the box with our native Kubernetes back-end
      - stephenr 9y ago
        I don't think you understood my issue at all. The things you mentioned are all just services providing hosted docker.
        alexellisuk 9y ago
        I should have explained that Hyper.sh gives a Docker interface but runs on VMs without Docker. What's the specific gripe with Docker or containers?
        stephenr 9y ago
        Not containers, docker. Libvirt would allow someone to run this with practically any "virtualisation-like" system.
        alexellisuk 9y ago
        You may have an opportunity there then - here is the CNCF's Serverless working group's paper - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UjW8bt5O8QBgQRILJVKZJej_IuNnxl20AJu9wA8wcdI/edit#heading=h.yiaul8is1ki https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UjW8bt5O8QBgQRILJVKZJej_... I believe all the Open Source projects are using Docker at some level via K8s or closer to the metal with runc.
superasn 9y ago
I've been trying to run PHP functions on Aws lambda for sometime. The solutions provided so far[1] are really complicated and serverless framework doesn't have amy inbuilt templates for PHP. Anyway though I totally don't get this (using a mobile phone will watch the video when I get home) but the thing that really got my eye was I can write in any programming language. So can this help me accomplish what I'm trying to do? [1] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/scripting-languages-for-aws-lambda-running-php-ruby-and-go/ https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/scripting-languages-for...
- alexellisuk 9y ago
  PHP is pretty easy to write with OpenFaaS. Here's an example of how the CLI works - https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ I can intro you to the guy who wrote the PHP template. If anyone would like to join our Slack Community - ping an email to me at alex@openfaas.com.
  - superasn 9y ago
    Thanks for the reply. It helped me to get a basic understanding of Openfaas. The only thing the article didn't mention is how to move the docker image to aws lambda and invoke it via aws. sorry I'm a total noob but i will try to find out more.
alexellisuk 9y ago
We actually have a serverless function running right now that takes GitHub Star events and posts your avatar as a Polaroid over here -> https://twitter.com/alexellisuk_bot https://twitter.com/alexellisuk_bot Here's the code including stack.yml that shows how the functions are built/deployed - https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub All the people who have been staring the openfaas/faas repo ove the last few days have triggered it and are on the feed.
tfjaeckel 9y ago
We're working mostly with the Serverless framework. Cool to see you're working on a plugin for that. Will give it a spin once that's ready. Any timeline for that?
- alexellisuk 9y ago
  We have a CLI [1] for OpenFaaS which gives a better experience than the Serverless Inc. Framework format along with more native integrations. Example stack.yml file [3]. The integration with serverless framework is functioning and if you'd like to be involved with testing ping me for a Slack invite. I'll connect you to the contributor who is leading it. [1] https://github.com/openfaas/faas-cli https://github.com/openfaas/faas-cli , https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ [2] https://github.com/openfaas/serverless-faas https://github.com/openfaas/serverless-faas [3] https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub/blob/master/stack.yml https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub/blob/maste...
  - tfjaeckel 9y ago
    Thanks! Let me check this out a little further.
    - alexellisuk 9y ago
      Also goes without saying - welcome to join us on Slack. Ping alex@openfaas.com

36 points by alexellisuk 9y ago

diminish 9y ago

Sorry for my ignorance - what does 'serverless' exactly mean?

alexellisuk 9y ago
Glad you asked, I wrote up about it here - Introducing Functions as a Service (OpenFaaS) - https://blog.alexellis.io/introducing-functions-as-a-service/ https://blog.alexellis.io/introducing-functions-as-a-service...

stephenr 9y ago

For certain values of "your terms"

breakingcups 9y ago
Care to expand?
- stephenr 9y ago
  It relies on docker. So if you don't want a maintenance nightmare you're SOL. Something that works via libvirt to allow multiple backends would honestly be a much nicer option.
  - alexellisuk 9y ago
    If you want to use a completely unmanaged solution checkout the Hyper.sh integration - https://github.com/hyperhq/faas-hyper https://github.com/hyperhq/faas-hyper We're also looking at ACI integration and I believe GKE will work out the box with our native Kubernetes back-end
    - stephenr 9y ago
      I don't think you understood my issue at all. The things you mentioned are all just services providing hosted docker.
      - alexellisuk 9y ago
        I should have explained that Hyper.sh gives a Docker interface but runs on VMs without Docker. What's the specific gripe with Docker or containers?
        stephenr 9y ago
        Not containers, docker. Libvirt would allow someone to run this with practically any "virtualisation-like" system.
        alexellisuk 9y ago
        You may have an opportunity there then - here is the CNCF's Serverless working group's paper - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UjW8bt5O8QBgQRILJVKZJej_IuNnxl20AJu9wA8wcdI/edit#heading=h.yiaul8is1ki https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UjW8bt5O8QBgQRILJVKZJej_... I believe all the Open Source projects are using Docker at some level via K8s or closer to the metal with runc.

superasn 9y ago

I've been trying to run PHP functions on Aws lambda for sometime. The solutions provided so far[1] are really complicated and serverless framework doesn't have amy inbuilt templates for PHP. Anyway though I totally don't get this (using a mobile phone will watch the video when I get home) but the thing that really got my eye was I can write in any programming language. So can this help me accomplish what I'm trying to do? [1] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/scripting-languages-for-aws-lambda-running-php-ruby-and-go/ https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/scripting-languages-for...

alexellisuk 9y ago
PHP is pretty easy to write with OpenFaaS. Here's an example of how the CLI works - https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ I can intro you to the guy who wrote the PHP template. If anyone would like to join our Slack Community - ping an email to me at alex@openfaas.com.
- superasn 9y ago
  Thanks for the reply. It helped me to get a basic understanding of Openfaas. The only thing the article didn't mention is how to move the docker image to aws lambda and invoke it via aws. sorry I'm a total noob but i will try to find out more.

alexellisuk 9y ago

We actually have a serverless function running right now that takes GitHub Star events and posts your avatar as a Polaroid over here -> https://twitter.com/alexellisuk_bot https://twitter.com/alexellisuk_bot Here's the code including stack.yml that shows how the functions are built/deployed - https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub All the people who have been staring the openfaas/faas repo ove the last few days have triggered it and are on the feed.

tfjaeckel 9y ago

We're working mostly with the Serverless framework. Cool to see you're working on a plugin for that. Will give it a spin once that's ready. Any timeline for that?

alexellisuk 9y ago
We have a CLI [1] for OpenFaaS which gives a better experience than the Serverless Inc. Framework format along with more native integrations. Example stack.yml file [3]. The integration with serverless framework is functioning and if you'd like to be involved with testing ping me for a Slack invite. I'll connect you to the contributor who is leading it. [1] https://github.com/openfaas/faas-cli https://github.com/openfaas/faas-cli , https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ https://blog.alexellis.io/quickstart-openfaas-cli/ [2] https://github.com/openfaas/serverless-faas https://github.com/openfaas/serverless-faas [3] https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub/blob/master/stack.yml https://github.com/alexellis/faas-twitter-fanclub/blob/maste...
- tfjaeckel 9y ago
  Thanks! Let me check this out a little further.
  - alexellisuk 9y ago
    Also goes without saying - welcome to join us on Slack. Ping alex@openfaas.com