Modal has developed a platform offering HTTP and WebSocket support for serverless functions, allowing for real-time messaging. This feature, modal-http, eliminates traditional serverless constraints, enabling heavy compute workloads such as video processing. The platform supports large-scale demand, with containers capable of using up to 64 CPUs and 336 GB of memory. Modal’s unique approach involves translating HTTP requests into function calls directly, bypassing the need for a REST API. The infrastructure is built in Rust, ensuring high performance. Additionally, the platform addresses challenges related to HTTP idle timeouts, WebSocket connections, and multi-region request handling, showcasing a comprehensive and innovative design.
https://modal.com/blog/serverless-http