A survey on the cold start latency approaches in serverless computing: an optimization-based perspective

Abstract

Serverless computing is one of the latest technologies that has received much attention from researchers and companies in recent years since it provides dynamic scalability and a clear economic model. Serverless computing enables users to pay only for the time they use resources. This approach has several benefits, including optimizing costs and resource utilization; however, cold starts are a concern and challenge. Various studies have been conducted in the academic and industrial sectors to deal with this problem, which poses a significant research challenge. This paper comprehensively reviews recent cold start research in serverless computing. Hence, this paper presents a detailed taxonomy of several serverless computing strategies for dealing with cold start latency. We have considered two main approaches in the proposed classification: Optimizing Loading Times (OLT) and Optimizing Resource Usage (ORU), each including several subsets. The subsets of the primary approach OLT are divided into container-based and checkpoint-based. Also, the primary approach ORU is divided into machine learning (ML)-based, optimization-based, and heuristic-based approaches. After analyzing current methods, we have categorized and investigated them according to their characteristics and commonalities. Additionally, we examine potential challenges and directions for future research.