cloud-architecture


Cloud Architecture Decision Framework

Cloud Architecture Decision Framework

Find the best architecture for your next project.

This interactive tool will help you determine whether a Serverless, Containerized Microservices, or Distributed Data Processing architecture is the right fit for your needs. Answer the following questions about your project's characteristics, and we'll provide a tailored recommendation based on common industry best practices.

Architecture At-a-Glance

A general comparison of the three architectures.

Criterion Serverless Containers Distributed Data
Primary Use Case Event-driven tasks, APIs, background jobs Long-running services, web apps, complex APIs Large-scale batch/stream data processing
Scalability Model Automatic, per-request scaling to zero Cluster-based, requires configuration Scales data processing nodes, job-based
Cost Model Pay-per-execution, very cost-effective for sporadic traffic Pay for running instances/nodes (always on) Pay for cluster uptime during jobs
Operational Overhead Very Low (managed by cloud provider) Medium-High (manage containers, orchestrator) Medium (managed services like EMR help)
State Management Stateless by design; requires external DB/cache Can manage state within services or externally Inherently stateful for data processing jobs
Typical Latency Low, but can have cold start delays Consistently low latency for "warm" services High (minutes to hours), not for real-time APIs