Introduction to V8 Isolates and Firecracker MicroVMs

Abstract

In the past, it was usually the case that serverless computing compromised either security or overhead for the other, as it was challenging to balance both when using containers or traditional virtual machines. However, companies such as Cloudflare and AWS (Amazon Web Service), which provide serverless computing services, strived to advance their services further by addressing this limitation.

Many technologies have been developed to serve this purpose, with two of the most notable being the V8 Isolates in Cloudflare Workers and Firecracker microVMs in AWS Lambda. For V8 Isolates, the ability to produce unparalleled performance without sacrificing too many features is what makes them stand out. Firecracker microVMs, on the other hand, are designed as a more well-rounded solution, offering slightly lower performance but with other advantages such as strong security and great flexibility.

In this thesis, I study V8 Isolates and Firecracker in detail as I explore their benefits and drawbacks for web development. I perform this comparison through a literature review and an evaluation of community responses to the technologies.

I found out that V8 Isolates and Firecracker microVMs are nascent technologies that need further development to gain marketshare. This is evident from the limited number of studies conducted on these technologies, mainly from their creators, Google and AWS, as well as a few other companies. Significant community support is crucial for any technologies to thrive, and that is exactly what V8 Isolates and Firecracker microVMs need at the moment.