Edge Compute vs Traditional Serverless: An In-Depth Look
V8 isolates versus micro-VMs in production workloads.
The word “serverless” has expanded from container-backed Lambdas to lightweight V8 isolates running on hundreds of worldwide points of presence.
Isolates vs Containers
| Metric | V8 Isolates (Edge) | Micro-VM (Lambda) |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Start | < 5ms | 200ms - 2s |
| Memory Footprint | ~few MBs | 128MB+ |
| Node.js APIs | Standard Web APIs | Full Node.js Runtime |
Choosing between the two depends heavily on your database proximity and runtime dependency requirements.