Serverless Computing or Just a Server with Extra Steps?
Description
This is a two-panel meme using the popular 'Well that just sounds like slavery with extra steps' format from the animated TV show Rick and Morty. The top panel has white text on a plain background that reads, '"I ping my lambda function every 15 minutes to make sure it's always warm"'. The bottom panel is a scene from the show where the character Rick, a mad scientist, is explaining something to his grandson Morty and a green alien. Rick is saying, 'Well that just sounds like a server with extra steps'. The meme humorously critiques a common practice in serverless computing, specifically with services like AWS Lambda. To avoid 'cold starts' - a delay that occurs when a function is invoked after a period of inactivity - developers often set up a scheduled task to ping the function, keeping its environment 'warm' and ready to execute. The joke points out the irony that this workaround essentially simulates an always-on server, defeating one of the core philosophical benefits of serverless architecture (not managing servers) and adding complexity
Comments
7Comment deleted
The three stages of serverless adoption: 1. Wow, no servers! 2. Wait, why is it so slow? 3. Ah, I'll just build a server to keep my serverless function ready
Nothing like a CloudWatch cron ping every 15 minutes to keep your “serverless” Lambda warm - congratulations, you’ve just rebuilt a t2.micro in denial, wrapped in 400 lines of YAML
Next you'll tell me you're using provisioned concurrency to "optimize costs" while running a cron job that hits it more often than your actual users do
Ah yes, the classic serverless paradox: spending engineering hours to keep ephemeral compute warm because provisioned concurrency costs more than your dignity. Nothing says 'cloud-native architecture' quite like a cron job pinging your FaaS every 15 minutes - it's basically a distributed space heater for your AWS bill. At least with EC2, the server had the decency to stay running without needing a wellness check
Serverless: where 'no ops' means you cron your own warm pool, proving EC2 nostalgia hits hardest during cold starts
Skipped Provisioned Concurrency to save $20/month, so a CloudWatch cron now pings Lambda every 15 minutes - congrats, we built EC2 with commitment issues
If your ‘serverless’ needs a CloudWatch cron, VPC warmups, and a runbook, congrats - you’ve rebuilt a tiny Auto Scaling Group with worse unit economics; use Provisioned Concurrency or admit it’s a t4g.nano