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Apache OpenWhisk

60
149
+ 1
7
Knative

82
339
+ 1
21
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Apache OpenWhisk vs Knative: What are the differences?

  1. Cost model: One key difference between Apache OpenWhisk and Knative is their cost model. OpenWhisk follows a traditional pay-per-use model, where users are billed based on the actual usage of compute resources. On the other hand, Knative provides a more flexible pricing structure by allowing users to define their own custom metrics and thresholds for resource usage, thus enabling more granular and efficient cost management.

  2. Language Support: While both OpenWhisk and Knative support multiple programming languages, there is a difference in the level of language support. OpenWhisk has wider language support as it can execute code written in several languages, including Java, JavaScript, Python, Swift, and more. Knative, on the other hand, primarily focuses on supporting container-based workloads, which means it can work with any programming language as long as it can be packaged as a container.

  3. Eventing Model: Apache OpenWhisk and Knative have different eventing models. OpenWhisk uses a fully event-driven model, where actions are triggered by events and can perform a specific task in response to an event. Knative also has eventing capabilities but provides a more structured event-driven approach by allowing users to define sources, filters, and channels, enabling more sophisticated event management and routing.

  4. Scaling Technology: Another important difference lies in the scaling technology employed by OpenWhisk and Knative. OpenWhisk uses a technology called "scale-to-zero," where functions are automatically scaled down to zero when not in use, leading to efficient resource utilization. On the other hand, Knative utilizes a "scale-to-one" approach, where it keeps at least one instance of a service running at all times, reducing the cold start delay but potentially consuming more resources when idle.

  5. Deployment Flexibility: OpenWhisk and Knative also differ in terms of deployment flexibility. Apache OpenWhisk provides a fully managed serverless platform, where users do not need to worry about infrastructure management. Knative, on the other hand, can be deployed on any Kubernetes cluster, providing more flexibility and control over the underlying infrastructure.

  6. Community Support: The level of community support and adoption also differs between Apache OpenWhisk and Knative. OpenWhisk has been around for a longer time and has established a larger community with a broader range of contributors, resulting in a more extensive ecosystem of tools, plugins, and integrations. Knative, being a relatively newer project, has a smaller community but is rapidly gaining popularity, especially within the Kubernetes community.

In Summary, Apache OpenWhisk and Knative differ in their cost model, language support, eventing model, scaling technology, deployment flexibility, and community support.

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Pros of Apache OpenWhisk
Pros of Knative
  • 4
    You are not tied to a provider. IBM available however
  • 3
    Still exploring... its just intresting
  • 5
    Portability
  • 4
    Autoscaling
  • 3
    Open source
  • 3
    Eventing
  • 3
    Secure Eventing
  • 3
    On top of Kubernetes

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What is Apache OpenWhisk?

OpenWhisk is an open source serverless platform. It is enterprise grade and accessible to all developers thanks to its superior programming model and tooling. It powers IBM Cloud Functions, Adobe I/O Runtime, Naver, Nimbella among others.

What is Knative?

Knative provides a set of middleware components that are essential to build modern, source-centric, and container-based applications that can run anywhere: on premises, in the cloud, or even in a third-party data center

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What companies use Apache OpenWhisk?
What companies use Knative?
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What tools integrate with Apache OpenWhisk?
What tools integrate with Knative?

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What are some alternatives to Apache OpenWhisk and Knative?
AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda is a compute service that runs your code in response to events and automatically manages the underlying compute resources for you. You can use AWS Lambda to extend other AWS services with custom logic, or create your own back-end services that operate at AWS scale, performance, and security.
Kubeless
Kubeless is a Kubernetes native serverless Framework. Kubeless supports both HTTP and event based functions triggers. It has a serverless plugin, a graphical user interface and multiple runtimes, including Python and Node.js.
JavaScript
JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.
Git
Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.
GitHub
GitHub is the best place to share code with friends, co-workers, classmates, and complete strangers. Over three million people use GitHub to build amazing things together.
See all alternatives