Hosting a content-driven web application must account for the location of your users, how quickly you need to update content, scaling for throughput, and securing against abuse. Consider the requirements and tradeoffs and how they impact the available technologies suitable for hosting your application.
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Serverless | Serverless technology eliminates the need for dedicated servers. The application is hosted on a cloud-based platform, such as Cloud Run or Cloud Functions for Firebase, and automatically assigns resources based on the demand. The application can scale up or down without manual intervention. This option is efficient and cost-effective and is a good choice for businesses of any size that want to deploy applications quickly and efficiently. |
| Containers | Containers provide a portable and isolated environment that packages all necessary dependencies, libraries, and configuration files together. This option ensures consistent and reliable application performance across any platform that supports container technology, such as Cloud Run or Google Kubernetes Engine. Container technology offers numerous benefits, including improved resource utilization, lower overhead costs, and faster deployment times. These advantages make it an excellent choice for hosting highly scalable, available, and portable applications. |
| Virtual Machines | Using a virtual machine (VM), the application runs on a simulated operating system within a host operating system, which allows for compatibility with different operating systems and hardware configurations. They can be hosted in the cloud, for example on Compute Engine. VMs can be more resource-intensive and less portable than other options. |
| Edge | Edge involves placing computing resources closer to the location where the application is used. Managed edge services are available on platforms such as Google Distributed Cloud. Benefits include faster response times and improved performance, especially for applications that require low latency. When utilizing Edge technology, you must consider the challenges of managing and securing distributed computing resources. |