AWS User Group PGH: Introduction to AWS Firecracker with Alex Grinberg

Join the AWS User Group Pittsburgh for our August meetup featuring Alex Grinberg.

AWS Firecracker is the open-source virtual machine monitor (VMM) that powers AWS Lambda and AWS Fargate. Built on KVM, Firecracker creates lightweight microVMs that boot in as little as 125 milliseconds with less than 5 MiB of memory overhead. It delivers the security and isolation of traditional virtual machines with the speed and resource efficiency of containers.

In this session, Alex will explore the architecture and design principles behind Firecracker, demonstrate how to get started with microVMs, and discuss practical use cases for serverless and multi-tenant workloads.

Topics will include:

What Firecracker is and how it differs from traditional VMs and containers
The architecture of microVMs and the role of the jailer for security isolation
Getting started: launching your first Firecracker microVM
Use cases for serverless computing, multi-tenant workloads, and local development
Performance characteristics and resource efficiency

Whether you are an experienced cloud engineer or just getting started with AWS, this session will provide valuable perspective on modern cloud infrastructure and virtualization.

Speaker
Alex Grinberg

Alex Grinberg is the Guildmaster and lead security instructor at Hackers Guild, bringing over a decade of experience in offensive security, firmware and APK reverse engineering, red-team operations, and malware analysis. His background spans independent security research, penetration testing, and tooling development for high-assurance environments. At the Guild, Alex leads advanced technical training and shapes the curriculum with a focus on practical, real-world hacking skills taught with precision, insight, and a dry sense of humor.