ABSTRACT
The ability to split applications across different locations in the continuum (edge/cloud) creates needs for application break down into smaller and more distributed chunks. In this realm the Function as a Service approach appears as a significant enabler in this process. The paper presents a visual function and workflow development environment for complex FaaS (Apache OpenwhisK) applications. The environment offers a library of pattern based and reusable nodes and flows while mitigating function orchestration limitations in the domain. Generation of the deployable artefacts, i.e. the functions, is performed through embedded DevOps pipelines. A range of annotations are available for dictating diverse options including QoS needs, function or data locality requirements, function affinity considerations etc. These are propagated to the deployment and operation stacks for supporting the cloud/edge interplay. The mechanism is evaluated functionally through creating, registering and executing functions and orchestrating workflows, adapting typical parallelization patterns and an edge data collection process.
You may follow the PHYSICS project activities on Twitter and LinkedIn.
