Serverless MicroVMs for Containerized Applications - DevConf.CZ 2025

Speaker(s): Nikita Sanjay Patwa, Neeraj Bhatt As cloud-native technology keeps evolving, developers are always looking for smarter ways to boost performance, tighten security, and make better use of resources. Serverless computing has become a go-to model for building event-driven apps thanks to its auto-scaling and ease of use. But let’s face it—traditional serverless platforms often fall short when it comes to strong isolation or multi-tenant security. That’s where Serverless MicroVMs come in. In this talk, we’ll explore a modern approach that combines the speed and flexibility of containers with the security and isolation of virtual machines. It’s built on Firecracker, a lightweight VMM designed by AWS for fast, secure microVMs, and managed using Ignite, which lets you spin up microVMs with Docker-like simplicity. We’ll show you how to: - Run OCI container images inside microVMs in just seconds - Use Ignite to launch and manage secure, short-lived workloads - Orchestrate microVMs in Kubernetes just like regular pods—using the Kata Containers runtime - Deploy serverless functions with stronger isolation and tighter control We’ll also walk through a live demo: provisioning Firecracker microVMs with Ignite, integrating them into a Kubernetes cluster, and running real serverless functions inside these lightweight VMs. We'll cover use cases, architecture patterns, and how microVMs are redefining secure, scalable infrastructure in the cloud-native world. If you're curious about how to get the best of both VMs and containers—or want a more secure way to run serverless workloads—this session is for you. --- Full schedule, including slides and other resources: https://pretalx.devconf.info/devconf-cz-2025/schedule/