AWS & CloudAWS Step Functions là serverless workflow orchestration service, cho phép coordinate nhiều Lambda functions và AWS services thành workflows có trạng thái (state machines), với visual diagram, error handling, retry logic, và audit trail tự động. Định nghĩa workflow bằng Amazon States Language (JSON/YAML); các state types: Task (invoke Lambda/service), Choice (conditional branching), Parallel (chạy branches song song), Map (iterate over array), Wait (delay), Pass, Succeed, Fail.
- Standard Workflows: tối đa 1 năm execution duration, exactly-once execution semantics, execution history stored 90 ngày để audit/debug, tính tiền per state transition ($0.025/1000 transitions); phù hợp cho long-running business processes, order fulfillment, human approval flows.
- Express Workflows: tối đa 5 phút, at-least-once semantics, không lưu execution history dài hạn (log vào CloudWatch), giá rẻ hơn ($1/triệu workflow executions + duration); phù hợp cho high-volume, short-duration workflows như IoT data processing, streaming data transformation.
Tích hợp trực tiếp với 200+ AWS services qua SDK integrations (không cần Lambda wrapper cho nhiều tác vụ). So với Lambda orchestration thủ công: Step Functions giải quyết error handling, retry, timeout, saga pattern cho distributed transactions dễ dàng hơn.
AWS Step Functions is a serverless workflow orchestration service that coordinates multiple Lambda functions and AWS services into stateful workflows (state machines), with visual diagrams, error handling, retry logic, and automatic audit trails. Workflows are defined using Amazon States Language (JSON/YAML); state types include: Task (invoke Lambda/service), Choice (conditional branching), Parallel (run branches concurrently), Map (iterate over an array), Wait (delay), Pass, Succeed, and Fail.
- Standard Workflows: up to 1 year execution duration, exactly-once semantics, execution history stored for 90 days for auditing/debugging, billed per state transition ($0.025/1000 transitions) — suitable for long-running business processes, order fulfillment, and human approval flows.
- Express Workflows: up to 5 minutes, at-least-once semantics, no long-term execution history (logs to CloudWatch), cheaper ($1/million workflow executions + duration) — suitable for high-volume, short-duration workflows like IoT data processing and streaming data transformation.
Integrates directly with 200+ AWS services via SDK integrations (no Lambda wrapper needed for many tasks). Compared to manual Lambda orchestration: Step Functions handles error handling, retries, timeouts, and the saga pattern for distributed transactions much more easily.