# Serverless Computing: A Survey of Opportunities, Challenges and Applications

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.01296 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.01296/

## Key facts

- Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 4 Nov 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [AgentRAN: An Agentic AI Architecture for Autonomous Control of Open 6G Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.17778/) (2025)
- [A Deep Recurrent-Reinforcement Learning Method for Intelligent AutoScaling of Serverless Functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.05937/) (2023)
- [Exploring the Impact of Serverless Computing on Peer To Peer Training Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.14139/) (2023)
- [Laminar: A New Serverless Stream-based Framework with Semantic Code Search and Code Completion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.00584/) (2023)
- [FSD-Inference: Fully Serverless Distributed Inference with Scalable Cloud Communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.15195/) (2024)
- [Managing Cold-start in The Serverless Cloud with Temporal Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.00396/) (2023)
- [On-demand Cold Start Frequency Reduction with Off-Policy Reinforcement Learning in Serverless Computing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07541/) (2023)
- [High-Performance Serverless Computing: A Systematic Literature Review on Serverless for HPC, AI, and Big Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.09334/) (2026)
- [Serverless AI Security: Attack Surface Analysis and Runtime Protection Mechanisms for FaaS-Based Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.11664/) (2026)
- [Green or Fast? Learning to Balance Cold Starts and Idle Carbon in Serverless Computing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.23935/) (2026)
- [An Auto-Scaling Approach for Serverless Environments Based on a Multi-Expert Consensus Mechanism](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.15511/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The topic of serverless computing has proved to be a controversial subject both within academic and industrial communities. Many have praised the approach to be a platform for a new era of computing and some have argued that it is in fact a step backward. Though, both sides agree that there exist challenges that must be addressed in order to better utilize its potentials. This paper surveys existing challenges toward vast adoption of serverless services and also explores some of the challenges that have not been thoroughly discussed in the previous studies. Each challenge is discussed thoroughly and a number of possible directions for future studies is proposed. Moreover, the paper reviews some of the unique opportunities and potentials that the serverless computing presents.