Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Supercharge your business applications with Amazon ECS (CON205)

Summary

• Nick Colt, GM of Amazon ECS, discusses the benefits of serverless computing and how ECS and Fargate fit into the serverless landscape.
• Serverless computing is presented as a way to help businesses move faster and respond to changes more effectively, emphasizing faster time to market.
• Colt defines serverless as an operational model that removes undifferentiated heavy lifting, allowing businesses to focus on APIs and business logic.
• AWS's commitment to serverless began with Lambda and has expanded to include other services like Fargate, EFS, and integrations for observability.
• Modern applications are described as loosely coupled components communicating through asynchronous messaging, with serverless being ideal for such architectures.
• ECS is explained as a managed container orchestrator that handles the lifecycle of containers, with Fargate providing security, savings, and a serverless operational model.
• The popularity of ECS and Fargate is highlighted, with statistics showing a majority of new AWS container service users choosing ECS, and most ECS users opting for Fargate.
• Jeremiah Dooley, developer advocate for ECS, demonstrates the Seekable OCI feature, which significantly reduces container startup times by downloading only the necessary parts of an image.
• Grant Milstead from United Airlines shares how ECS and serverless technologies have enabled the airline to respond quickly to customer needs, especially during unpredictable events like weather disruptions.
• United's journey from on-prem monolithic applications to serverless on ECS is discussed, highlighting the benefits of independent service deployment and embedded security and resilience patterns.
• The session concludes with a Q&A, discussing United's decision-making process for going serverless, the organizational challenges faced, and the future of United's digital innovation with AWS.

Insights

• Serverless computing is increasingly being adopted across various industries due to its ability to reduce operational overhead and accelerate deployment times.
• AWS's serverless offerings have evolved to support not only new, modern applications but also existing legacy applications, allowing for a smoother transition to the cloud.
• The Seekable OCI feature represents a significant innovation in container technology, potentially transforming the developer experience by enabling faster iteration and deployment.
• United Airlines' case study illustrates the real-world impact of serverless computing, showcasing how it can provide resilience and agility in high-stakes, customer-facing environments.
• The transition to serverless requires not only technological changes but also cultural and process shifts within organizations, emphasizing the importance of learning and adaptability.
• AWS's strategy of using its own services (eating its own dog food) for critical applications like Amazon.com and Prime Video provides confidence to customers about the scalability and reliability of ECS and Fargate.
• The discussion on United Airlines' future plans indicates that serverless computing will continue to play a crucial role in supporting business growth and innovation in the coming years.