AWS Fargate: Complete Guide to Serverless Compute

Tired of managing underlying infrastructure for your containerized applications? AWS Fargate eliminates that burden entirely. As a serverless compute engine for containers, Fargate lets you run containers without provisioning or managing servers — ever.

Gone are the days of patching EC2 instances, scaling node groups, or worrying about idle compute capacity. With Fargate, you focus on writing and deploying code, while AWS handles every aspect of the underlying infrastructure.

What is AWS Fargate?

AWS Fargate is a serverless compute engine designed specifically for running containers. It works seamlessly with two of AWS’s most popular container orchestration services: Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).

Unlike traditional container deployments where you have to provision, patch, and scale EC2 instances to run your containers, Fargate removes all underlying infrastructure management. You simply package your application into a container image, define the CPU and memory requirements for your workload, and Fargate handles the rest.

As a serverless solution, you never interact with or manage servers, and you only pay for the exact compute resources your containers use while they are running.

How AWS Fargate Works

Integration with ECS and EKS

Fargate integrates natively with both ECS and EKS, so you can use the container orchestration tool you already know. For ECS users, Fargate runs as a launch type for your tasks: you create a task definition, specify Fargate as the launch type, and deploy. For EKS users, Fargate runs as a compute option alongside EC2 node groups: you create a Fargate profile to define which pods should run on Fargate, and the service automatically provisions the necessary compute.

Resource Allocation and Billing

With Fargate, you specify the exact amount of vCPU and memory your workload needs, down to the millicore for CPU and megabyte for memory. Billing is calculated per second, with a 1-minute minimum charge, so you never pay for idle EC2 capacity or overprovisioned resources.

You can adjust resource allocations at any time as your workload’s needs change, and Fargate automatically scales to meet demand without manual intervention.

Key Benefits of AWS Fargate

• No Server Management: Eliminate the time and cost spent patching, scaling, and securing EC2 instances. AWS handles all infrastructure maintenance, updates, and security patches for the Fargate environment.
• Automatic Scaling: Fargate scales your tasks or pods up or down based on traffic or workload demand, with no manual configuration required. You never have to worry about running out of capacity or paying for unused resources.
• Improved Security: Each Fargate task or pod runs in its own isolated kernel, with no shared infrastructure between AWS customers. This reduces the attack surface and helps meet strict compliance requirements.
• Cost Efficiency: Pay only for the vCPU and memory your containers use while running. There are no upfront costs, no long-term commitments, and no charges for idle infrastructure.
• Faster Time to Market: Spend less time managing infrastructure and more time writing code. Teams can deploy containerized applications in minutes instead of hours or days.

Common Use Cases for AWS Fargate

• Microservices: Run individual microservices as separate Fargate tasks or pods, with each service scaling independently based on its own traffic patterns.
• Batch Processing: Execute short-lived batch jobs that require variable compute resources, such as data processing, ETL tasks, or media transcoding.
• Web Applications: Host scalable web apps that need to handle fluctuating traffic, from small blogs to high-traffic e-commerce sites.
• Machine Learning Inference: Deploy pre-trained ML models as containers for low-latency inference, with support for GPU-enabled Fargate tasks for compute-heavy workloads.
• CI/CD Pipelines: Run build, test, and deployment jobs in isolated containers that spin up and down as needed, reducing CI/CD costs.

Getting Started with AWS Fargate

Deploying your first workload on Fargate takes just three simple steps, even if you’re new to serverless containers:

Step 1: Package Your Application

Containerize your application using Docker or any OCI-compliant container tool, then push your container image to Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR) or another container registry accessible to AWS.

Step 2: Configure Your Workload

For ECS: Create a task definition that specifies your container image, CPU/memory requirements, and Fargate as the launch type. For EKS: Create a Fargate profile that defines which namespaces or pods should run on Fargate.

Step 3: Deploy and Monitor

Deploy your task or pod using the ECS or EKS console, CLI, or infrastructure-as-code tools like CloudFormation or Terraform. Use Amazon CloudWatch to monitor logs, metrics, and performance, and let Fargate handle automatic scaling.

AWS Fargate vs. EC2 for Containers

Many teams wonder whether to use Fargate or EC2 instances to run their containers. Here’s a quick comparison:

• Infrastructure Management: EC2 requires you to manage instance patches, scaling, and security. Fargate eliminates all infrastructure management.
• Cost Model: EC2 bills you for instance uptime, even if your containers aren’t using all the resources. Fargate bills only for the resources your containers use while running.
• Control: EC2 gives you full control over the operating system and instance configuration. Fargate sacrifices that control for zero infrastructure overhead.
• Scaling: EC2 requires manual or scripted scaling of instance groups. Fargate scales tasks/pods automatically based on demand.

Choose Fargate if you want to minimize infrastructure work. Choose EC2 if you need deep OS-level control or have highly specialized workload requirements. Not sure which container orchestration tool to use? Check out our guide to AWS EKS vs ECS: Which to Choose?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is AWS Fargate only compatible with AWS container services?

Yes, Fargate integrates exclusively with Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS. However, both services support any OCI-compliant container image, so you can use the same images you use in other container environments.

How is AWS Fargate billed?

Fargate is billed per second for the vCPU and memory allocated to your tasks or pods, with a 1-minute minimum charge. You are not billed when your tasks or pods are stopped.

Can I migrate existing ECS or EKS workloads to Fargate?

Yes, you can migrate existing workloads by updating your ECS task definitions to use the Fargate launch type, or creating Fargate profiles for your EKS cluster to route existing pods to Fargate.

Does AWS Fargate support GPU workloads?

Yes, Fargate now supports GPU-enabled tasks for both ECS and EKS, making it a great fit for machine learning inference, 3D rendering, and other compute-heavy workloads.

Conclusion

AWS Fargate has transformed how teams run containerized workloads by removing the burden of infrastructure management entirely. It’s an ideal choice for teams that want to adopt serverless container patterns without sacrificing the flexibility of ECS or EKS.

Whether you’re running microservices, web apps, or batch jobs, Fargate lets you focus on building great applications instead of managing servers. Start small with a test workload, and scale up as you see the benefits of serverless compute for your containers.

Ready to simplify your container infrastructure? Start your first AWS Fargate deployment today, or check out our guide to containerizing applications for AWS ECS for step-by-step instructions. For official technical specifications and limits, refer to the AWS Fargate Documentation.