https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/news/366616278/WasmCloud-makes-strides-with-Wasm-component-model Search ITOperations Search the TechTarget Network [ ] Login Register Explore the Network * TechTarget Network * Software Quality * App Architecture * Cloud Computing * AWS * TheServerSide * Data Center * Search ITOperations * + Automation & Orchestration + Careers & Skills + Containers & Virtualization + DevOps Tech & Culture + IT Systems Management Other Content + News + Features + Tips + Webinars + 2024 IT Salary Survey Results + Sponsored Sites + More o Answers o Conference Guides o Definitions o Opinions o Podcasts o Quizzes o Tech Accelerators o Tutorials o Videos * Follow: * * * * * * Home * Systems automation and orchestration [cloud_g1135435124_searchsitetablet_520X173] Getty Images/iStockphoto News WasmCloud makes strides with Wasm component model After a stall in 2023, this year's WASI Preview 2 pushed server-side WebAssembly forward, turning heads at companies such as American Express -- but it's far from mainstream use. * Share this item with your network: * * * * * * * * + + + + Beth Pariseau By * Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer Published: 21 Nov 2024 A milestone update for server-side WebAssembly earlier this year has broadened its adoption among enterprises and advanced related open source projects, though it remains a bleeding-edge technology for most companies. WebAssembly (Wasm) was originally used in web browsers to run applications on local machines, but a group within W3C five years ago put together the WebAssembly System Interface (WASI) to be used in server-side applications. Server-side WebAssembly requires special code compilation, and support for this in popular programming languages is still evolving. Once compiled, however, Wasm can support workloads in multiple languages and on numerous infrastructure types without requiring an application rewrite. WebAssembly code is sandboxed by default, or limited in what memory resources it can access, which has potentially compelling cybersecurity implications. Based on its potential, startups and projects such as Second State and WasmEdge, Fermyon and Spin, and Cosmonic and wasmCloud emerged in 2021 and 2022. All featured server-side Wasm support integrated with containerized and function as a service (FaaS) workloads orchestrated with Kubernetes. In January, version 0.2 of WASI became generally available, introducing a new Wasm component model -- standardized plugin interfaces for running cloud-native apps on Wasm. Thanks to this milestone and a growing contributor base, the wasmCloud project moved from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation's early sandbox to the incubation stage on Nov. 12. The Wasm component model caught the eye of platform engineers at American Express, who had begun to build their own Wasm components to support an internal FaaS developer platform. They hoped that Wasm could pack more functions into the same infrastructure while maintaining security boundaries between workloads, make it easier to support multiple programming languages and speed up cold starts for functions by replacing containers. We realized that we needed to build a lot of core ecosystem components for Wasm. ... That's when we started looking out for open source projects. Ritesh RaiStaff engineer, American Express "The WebAssembly component model enables us to do that, along with providing some additional features like composition and reuse," said Ritesh Rai, a staff engineer at the credit card issuer based in New York City, during a presentation at the WasmCon colocated event at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America on Nov. 11. "[But] we realized that we needed to build a lot of core ecosystem components for Wasm. ... That's when we started looking out for open source projects." Enter wasmCloud, which gave Amex platform engineers a leg up with community-maintained components to support topology-agnostic functions, prebuilt capability providers and dynamic linking between components. "Where WebAssembly is at this point in time, we know that we cannot ... just take any code and compile it to WebAssembly and run it efficiently," Rai said. "For example, if I have to write some code that interacts with a relational database ... I would choose to write it as a native binary, [while] my function code ... could still be compiled to WebAssembly. Dynamic linking with capability providers allows my function code to interact with this native binary code in a seamless manner." As the technology matures, these capability providers can be swapped out with Wasm components without disrupting developers, Rai said. American Express doesn't have wasmCloud deployed in production yet, but plans to soon, according to Rai's co-presenter, Vamsi Sanagavarapu, vice president of engineering at American Express, during a question-and-answer session after the WasmCon presentation. American Express engineers used the open source wasmCloud framework to build a faster, more flexible platform for developers, as shown in this slide from WasmCon. Wasm component model feeds community updates Another server-side WebAssembly vendor, Fermyon, reached a milestone Nov. 11 with the generally available release of version 3.0 of its Spin open source project. Spin is a framework for running event-driven microservices applications with Wasm components, and a corresponding SpinKube project provides a Kubernetes operator for Spin. Version 3.0, which uses the Wasm component model, includes selective deployments -- a way for platform engineers to repackage Wasm components into different microservices configurations without disrupting developer workflows. These microservices can then communicate with one another from different infrastructure devices, such as edge or IoT nodes and Kubernetes clusters in a data center. "Once the developer delivers that package, the application never gets recompiled, never gets unpacked and broken into separate [pieces]," said Matt Butcher, CEO of Fermyon, in an interview with TechTarget Editorial before WasmCon. "It's really just a configuration file ... that allows the application to break into whatever set of constituent parts the operations team thinks it should." Another new Spin feature called component dependencies logically groups related Wasm components together under a developer's application while enabling platform engineers to swap them out, setting the stage for a kind of polyglot package manager for Wasm, Butcher said. Spin 3.0 includes integrations with observability tools such as OpenTelemetry, Prometheus and Jaeger, as well as an upstream runtime for Wasm that improves JavaScript and TypeScript performance. Red Hat OpenShift and MicroShift support the Spin project, along with the Azure Kubernetes Service and SUSE's Rancher. But Red Hat officials said the technology remains nascent, during a KubeCon press prebriefing. "[Adoption] is still very early-stage," said Shobhan Lakkapragada, director of product for edge computing at Red Hat, during the prebriefing. "A lot of the discussions that I'm having with customers and partners is [focused on] building applications, supporting them, modernizing them to containers and Kubernetes. ... I'm getting some inquiries about support for WebAssembly, but I wouldn't say it's mainstream yet." WASI makes progress, but market awaits maturity Another WASI update slated to ship as an alpha release this quarter, version 0.3, will refine WASI's support for asynchronous operations, including streaming operations. One wasmCloud maintainer and early adopter said this update will be key for improved software supply chain security in Wasm apps. "Once we have streams that are bidirectional, it'll be a lot easier to implement web crypto[graphy]," said Colin Murphy, a senior software engineer at Adobe, in an interview with TechTarget Editorial during KubeCon. "For my team, which is the Content Authenticity Initiative ... we have to validate cryptographic signatures and then sign manifests with provenance data, so that's a crucial thing for us." Server-side Wasm appeared poised for takeoff already in late 2022, but encountered challenges in 2023, including being drowned out by generative AI hype, said Larry Carvalho, an analyst at Robust Cloud. "Now, inference workloads running on the edge are gaining interest, and Wasm can play a role in workload efficiency [there]," Carvalho said. "[But] many enterprises seek battle-tested, fully supported solutions with extensive tooling and libraries ... [and] integrating Wasm into existing infrastructure and workflows can be complex." Beth Pariseau, senior news writer for TechTarget Editorial, is an award-winning veteran of IT journalism covering DevOps. Have a tip? Email her or reach out @PariseauTT. Dig Deeper on Systems automation and orchestration * Server-side Wasm to-do list lengthens for 2024 BethPariseau By: Beth Pariseau * KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2023 cloud-native vendor highlights PaulNashawaty By: Paul Nashawaty * The growing link between microservices and WebAssembly TwainTaylor By: Twain Taylor * WebAssembly vs. Kubernetes: Understand the relationship StephenBigelow By: Stephen Bigelow Sponsored News * Servers and Security: 4 Keys to Maximizing End-to-End Protection -Dell Technologies and Intel * Why sustainability, why now, why Dell? -Dell Technologies and Intel * 10 Reasons to Use a Subscription Model for On-Premises Infrastructure -Dell Technologies * See More Related Content * Server-side Wasm to-do list lengthens for 2024 - Search IT Operations * Server-side Wasm boosts K8s bonds, devx ahead of key ... - Search IT Operations * Server-side WebAssembly prepares for takeoff in 2023 - Search IT Operations Latest TechTarget resources * Software Quality * Application Architecture * Cloud Computing * AWS * Java * Data Center Search Software Quality * The 5 Scrum events explained Scrum consists of four formal events for inspection and adaptation within one containing event -- the sprint. Learn how to ... * Ansible vs. Docker: Differences and similarities explained Ansible and Docker play specific roles, but when used together, Ansible's playbooks and Docker's Dockerfiles provide greater ... * Scrum master responsibilities: What does a Scrum master do? While the title may sound authoritative, Scrum masters have little control over their team. So, what exactly does a Scrum master ... Search App Architecture * 13 application performance metrics and how to measure them You've deployed your application, now what? Keep your application performing well by tracking metrics. Take a look at these 13 ... * Webhooks explained simply, with examples Webhooks make significant use of basic API call mechanisms and set event triggers in a few clicks of a button -- all without the ... * Managing complexity: Event-driven architecture explained Event-driven architecture is complex, but so are today's data challenges. Discover ways to manage dynamic and distributed ... Cloud Computing * A conference guide to AWS re:Invent 2024 Explore the latest news, product releases and technology updates, as well as analysis and expert advice from AWS re:Invent 2024 ... * 12-step checklist for cloud migration success Ready to move your on-premises apps to the cloud? From rehosting vs. redesigning to testing and monitoring, follow these key ... * Microsoft Launches Azure Local for Hybrid Cloud, edge uses Along with Azure Local, Microsoft launched a migration tool for enterprises that want to ditch their VMware by Broadcom VMs. Search AWS * Compare Datadog vs. New Relic for IT monitoring in 2024 Compare Datadog vs. New Relic capabilities including alerts, log management, incident management and more. Learn which tool is ... * AWS Control Tower aims to simplify multi-account management Many organizations struggle to manage their vast collection of AWS accounts, but Control Tower can help. The service automates ... * Break down the Amazon EKS pricing model There are several important variables within the Amazon EKS pricing model. Dig into the numbers to ensure you deploy the service ... TheServerSide.com * Understanding the 7 principles of functional programming Java and C++ ushered in object-oriented programming, but now Python and JavaScript popularize functional programming. These seven... * Agile estimation: Predicting the unpredictable Agile teams' overreliance on estimates detracts from the overall goal to deliver value to the customer. Avoid these agile ... * Know these top 5 Scrum antipatterns Embrace sprints, set clear goals, engage with customers -- these behaviors and others will help your teams avoid common Scrum ... Search Data Center * How the rise in AI impacts data centers and the environment AI's impact on data centers raises environmental concerns as rising energy demands from technologies such as ChatGPT strain ... * HPC, supercomputing share stage with enterprise AI at SC24 AI's effects on supercomputing helped shift the focus toward enterprise demands at SC24, as vendors -- including Dell and HPE -- ... * Object storage, VM offerings emerge for HPE GreenLake HPE aims to attract new customers to its GreenLake ecosystem by launching standalone virtualization software. It also eyes AI ... * About Us * Editorial Ethics Policy * Meet The Editors * Contact Us * Advertisers * Partner with Us * Media Kit * Corporate Site * Contributors * Reprints * Answers * Definitions * E-Products * Events * Features * Guides * Opinions * Photo Stories * Quizzes * Tips * Tutorials * Videos All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2016 - 2024, TechTarget Privacy Policy Cookie Preferences Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information Close