Containerizing WebAssembly : Considering WebAssembly Containers on IoT Devices as Edge Solution

Abstract: This paper will explore the speed of execution, memory foot-print and the maturity of WebAssembly Runtimes (WasmRT).For this study, the WasmRT will be Wasmer1and Wasmtime.2Initially, benchmarks were run on a Raspberry Pi 3 model Bto simulate a more hardware capable IoT-device. Tests per-formed on a Raspberry Pi shows that there are many instanceswhere a WasmRT outperforms a similar Docker+C solution.WasmRT has a very clear use case for IoT devices, specifi-cally short jobs, the results from our research will show thatWasmRT can be up to almost 70 times as fast as a similarDocker solution. WasmRT has a very strong use case thatother container solutions can not contend with. This paperwill show how effective a lightweight, portable, and fast Was-merRT can be, but also to highlight its pain points and whenother container solutions may make more sense