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SE-EL3Semester 74 (3-0-2)Elective

Serverless Architecture

Serverless definition and characteristics (no server management, auto-scaling, pay-per-use), Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) architecture, Cold start problem and mitigation strategies, Event-driven execution model, AWS L...

Syllabus

01

Unit 1: Serverless Fundamentals and FaaS

Serverless definition and characteristics (no server management, auto-scaling, pay-per-use), Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) architecture, Cold start problem and mitigation strategies, Event-driven execution model, AWS Lambda vs. Azure Functions vs. Google Cloud Functions comparison, Stateless function design principles, Execution environment lifecycle.

02

Unit 2: Serverless Event Sources and Integration

Event triggers (HTTP API Gateway, S3 events, DynamoDB streams, Kinesis, SQS), Asynchronous invocation patterns (event sources, polling), Synchronous vs. asynchronous execution modes, Dead Letter Queues (DLQ) and retry policies, Destination configurations, Provisioned concurrency, Function versioning and aliases.

03

Unit 3: Serverless Data Services

DynamoDB design patterns (single-table design, GSI/GSI2, LSI), DAX caching layer, Step Functions workflow orchestration (state machines, choice states, parallel), EventBridge event bus (rules, targets, schema registry), AppSync GraphQL APIs (resolvers, data sources), BaaS services integration patterns.

04

Unit 4: Advanced Serverless Patterns

Backend-for-Frontend (BFF) pattern, Multi-tenancy strategies, CQRS/Event Sourcing in serverless, Fan-out/fan-in patterns, Saga pattern for distributed transactions, State machines for long-running workflows, Cross-account resource sharing, VPC integration and private endpoints.

05

Unit 5: Serverless Observability, Security, and Cost

CloudWatch Insights and X-Ray tracing for serverless, Lambda Power Tuning, Distributed tracing across FaaS + BaaS, IAM roles and least privilege for functions, Secrets management integration, WAF and DDoS protection, Cost optimization (provisioned concurrency vs. reserved, architectural patterns), Vendor lock-in mitigation strategies.