Glossary

What is serverless?

Last updated June 15, 2026
Reviewed by Better-PaaS team

A managed compute model where infrastructure operations are abstracted away. Learn what serverless means in self-hosted deployment and Better-PaaS workflows.

Overview

A managed compute model where infrastructure operations are abstracted away.

Definition

A managed compute model where infrastructure operations are abstracted away.

Real-world example

AWS Lambda runs a function per request with millisecond billing; no server to patch, but cold starts and vendor limits apply.

Common mistake

Choosing serverless for long-running WebSocket servers or stateful background workers with strict latency needs.

Better-PaaS in practice

Better-PaaS is container-based, not serverless. Long-running processes, cron, and WebSockets fit naturally.

FAQ

Is serverless only relevant to Better-PaaS?

No. serverless appears across Docker, cloud platforms, and self-hosted tooling. Better-PaaS exposes the concept in deploy logs, dashboard fields, or docs when it affects your app.