Are you looking to reduce your AWS Lambda costs while improving performance? CloudFix is excited to announce our new Lambda Graviton Migration Finder/Fixer, designed to automatically identify and migrate eligible Lambda functions to AWS Graviton architecture while upgrading outdated runtimes. We are rolling out this feature over the next few weeks, so be sure to check your CloudFix dashboard!

Contents

The Graviton Success Story

The AWS Graviton journey has been remarkable to witness. Since the introduction of the first-generation Graviton processor in 2018, AWS and Annapurna Labs have maintained an impressive pace of innovation. The rapid evolution from Graviton2 to Graviton3, and now to the generally available Graviton4, demonstrates AWS’s commitment to ARM-based computing excellence.

Each new generation has delivered substantial improvements in price-performance ratio:

  • Graviton2 offered up to 20% cost savings over x86
  • Graviton3 brought 25% better compute performance than Graviton2
  • Graviton4, released less than two years after Graviton3, delivers up to 30% better performance than Graviton3

This rapid iteration – with Graviton4 arriving just 18 months after Graviton3 – shows AWS’s aggressive push to lead the ARM-based cloud computing revolution.

For a deep dive into the latest Graviton 4 features, check out this with CloudFix CTO Rahul Subramanian and CloudFix Chief Evangelist Stephen Barr, hosts of AWS Made Easy. 

YouTube player
AWS Made Easy Graviton 4 Deep Dive

The Power of Graviton for Lambda

AWS Graviton processors, built on 64-bit ARM architecture, deliver significant performance improvements and cost savings compared to x86-based instances. When you migrate your Lambda functions to Graviton, you can expect:

  • Up to 20% cost reduction
  • Improved performance and efficiency
  • Better price-to-performance ratio
  • Enhanced energy efficiency

Why Upgrade Now?

Many organizations are still running Lambda functions on older runtimes that are approaching their end-of-support dates:

  • Node.js 14.x (December 4, 2023)
  • Python 3.7 (December 4, 2023)
  • Java 8 (January 8, 2024)
  • Node.js 16.x (June 12, 2024)

Our new Finder/Fixer not only migrates your functions to Graviton but also automatically updates them to supported runtime versions, helping you stay ahead of deprecation deadlines.

The CloudFix Lambda Graviton Migration Advantage

Our solution offers several key benefits:

  1. Automated Analysis: We scan your AWS environment to identify Lambda functions that can benefit from Graviton migration and runtime updates.

  2. Intelligent Validation: Our system performs comprehensive checks to ensure your functions are compatible with Graviton, including:

    • Runtime compatibility verification
    • Architecture-specific dependency analysis
    • Current resource utilization assessment

  3. Safe Migration: The migration process is handled through AWS Systems Manager Change Manager, providing:

    • Complete audit trail
    • Rollback capabilities
    • Minimal risk to your applications

  4. Cost Optimization: We target functions with significant cost impact, focusing on those with annual costs of $10 or more to maximize your ROI.

How It Works

  1. Find: CloudFix scans your Lambda functions to identify candidates for Graviton migration and runtime updates. We use a detailed set of evaluators to determine eligibility.

  2. Analyze: We perform detailed compatibility checks and calculate potential savings.

  3. Validate: Our system verifies that your functions don’t use x86-specific libraries or binaries. This is similar to how the AWS Porting Advisor for Graviton works.

  4. Migrate: With your approval, we:

    • Update the runtime to the latest supported version
    • Switch the architecture to arm64 (Graviton)

  5. Monitor: Track the migration success and verify function performance.

Real-World Impact

Let’s look at a practical example:

A Lambda function running on x86 with Python 3.7 and costing $1,000 annually can be:

  • Upgraded to Python 3.11
  • Migrated to Graviton
  • Resulting in $200 annual savings

Have a look at this example in the CloudFix dashboard:

Lambda Graviton Finder/Fixer

As yoou can see, each individual function doesn’t save too much. But, there can be hundreds or thousands of these functions in a typical AWS account. In my personal AWS account, I have more than 50 that do various digital housekeeping tasks. Now multiply the potential savings across your entire Lambda function portfolio, and the savings become substantial! This is similar to unused elastic IP addresses – small individual savings but they add up fast!

Getting Started

To take advantage of the Lambda Graviton Migration feature:

  1. Log in to your CloudFix dashboard
  2. Navigate to the Finders section, and go to Advanced
  3. Look for the “Lambda Graviton Migration” Finder
  4. Review identified opportunities and potential savings
  5. Using our new Create Tickets button, you can create tickets for the migrations you want to implement. We will dive into the details of the Create Tickets button in a future blog post.

The Modernization Benefit

We are focused on the cost benefits of migrating to Gravton, but the modernization benefits are significant. With large AWS deployments, it is easy to have a Lambda function that just sits there and does its job, but has not been updated in years. By scanning all of your Lambda functions, you can identify these long-forgotten Lambda functions and make sure they are using the latest runtime version. Running a deprecated runtime may not be an issue in the short term, but if Murphy’s Law is any indicator, it will be an issue at the worst possible time.

Conclusion

The CloudFix Lambda Graviton Migration Finder/Fixer offers a safe, automated way to modernize your Lambda functions while reducing costs. By combining runtime updates with Graviton migration, you can ensure your serverless applications are both cost-effective and future-proof.

Ready to optimize your Lambda functions? Try CloudFix today and start saving with just one click!