Cloud computing gives IT developers and departments the ability to focus on what matters most and avoid hard tasks such as provisioning, maintenance and capacity planning. As the popularity of cloud computing has increased, several models and implementation strategies have been developed to meet the needs of different users.
Each type of cloud service and implementation method provides different levels of control, flexibility and administration. Understanding the difference between Infrastructure as a service, Platform as a service and Software as a service, in addition to the available implementation strategies, can help you determine the set of services that best suits your needs.
Models of Cloud Computing
If we talk about infrastructure, there are three main models of cloud computing. Each model represents a different part of the cloud computing stack. The first is Infrastructure as a service. Sometimes abbreviated to IaaS, it contains the fundamental building blocks for IT in the cloud. In general, it provides access to network characteristics, to equipment and to data storage space. Infrastructure as a service gives you the highest level of flexibility and management control around your IT resources.
Platform as a service (PaaS) eliminate the need for companies to manage the underlying infrastructure and allow you to focus on the implementation and administration of your applications. This helps improve your efficiency, as you do not have to worry about provisioning resources, capacity planning, software maintenance, patches, or any of the other tasks involved in running your application.
Software as a service (SaaS) provides you with a complete product that the service provider runs and manages. In most cases, those who talk about Software as a service actually refer to end-user applications. With a SaaS offering, you do not have to think about how the service is maintained or how the underlying infrastructure is managed. You just have to worry about how to use the specific software. A common example of a SaaS application is an email program on the Web that allows you to send and receive messages without having to manage the aggregation of features or maintain the servers and operating systems in which the email program runs.
If we talk about strategies and solutions, then we have the following types of Cloud computing. A Public Cloud service is when the provider provides its resources openly to all entities that wish to do so, from individuals to large corporations. This type of services are offered by Amazon, Microsoft Azure or Google Engine.
Private Cloud
In the other part of the balance there is the Private Cloud, which is one when the provider performs the implementation and administration of the system for the entity that is part of it. The entities that opt for this type of system are those that have a high level of complexity and need to centralize their resources, such as large corporations or public administrations. The system that stands out the most for this type of services is Openstack, OpenSource solution.
Hybrid Cloud – as its name suggests, this solution is made up of the two previous ones, where a part of the services and information is offered publicly and privately. These types of solutions have a lot of potential, since they allow you to grow your system by hiring third parties what you need. This type of services can also be done with Openstack, as advised by Aviatrix systems.