AWS Fargate
Serverless compute engine for containers that eliminates server management, allowing Docker container execution paying only for consumed resources.
seed#aws#fargate#serverless#containers#docker#ecs
What it is
AWS Fargate is a serverless compute engine for containers. It works with ECS and EKS, eliminating the need to provision and manage EC2 instances. You define CPU and memory for your container, and Fargate handles the rest.
Fargate vs EC2 Launch Type
| Aspect | Fargate | EC2 |
|---|---|---|
| Server management | None | You manage |
| Scaling | Per task | Per instance |
| Cost | Higher per unit | Lower with reservations |
| Ideal for | Variable loads, small teams | Predictable loads, cost optimization |
When to use Fargate
- Teams that don't want to manage infrastructure
- Workloads with variable demand
- Microservices with different resource requirements
- Batch jobs needing more than 15 min (Lambda limit)
Features
- Spot: up to 70% discount for interruption-tolerant workloads
- Ephemeral storage: up to 200 GB per task
- GPU support: for ML/AI workloads
Why it matters
Fargate eliminates server management for containers. There are no instances to patch, scale, or monitor — you just define CPU, memory, and your container image. It is the default choice for containerized workloads that don't require host access.
References
- Fargate Documentation — Official documentation.
- Fargate Task Definitions — AWS, 2024. Task configuration in Fargate.
- Fargate Pricing — AWS, 2024. Per-vCPU and memory pricing model.