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What is the difference between IaaS, SaaS and PaaS?

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Madhu Krishna
What is the difference between IaaS, SaaS and PaaS?
What is the difference between IaaS, SaaS and PaaS?

Cloud computing has become the lifeline of all kinds of organizational set-ups- whether big or small. Through cloud computing, organizations can share unlimited virtual resources present in the cloud.

Cloud technology services are of three types:

  • IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
  • SaaS (Software as a Service)
  • PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Organizations that plan to move to the cloud platform can use the above services as per their requirements. Each of these services has its own uniqueness, service offerings, and advantages. Organizations, therefore, need to understand the differences between IaaS, SaaS, and Paas, before deciding on which services will suit them best in their organizational set-ups.

Let us have an in-depth understanding of each of the services of IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS. Each section will be explained under the following heads for your understanding and convenience:

1. What is IaaS/SaaS/PaaS
2. The Iaas/SaaS/PaaS delivery model.
3. Examples
4. Applications
5. Advantages

In the end, we will be looking at the differences between Iaas, SaaS, and PaaS

Why Cloud computing?

Before getting into an in-depth understanding of IaaS, SaaS, PaaS, the differences between them and the quintessential question of IaaS vs PaaS, let us get a quick understanding of the importance of Cloud computing in the current organizational scenario.

Organizations can access and share resources such as networking, servers, databases, and storage through the internet, making the whole process faster, more efficient, cost-effective and flexible. Cloud computing makes it easier for organizations to store, access, manage and process data in an efficient manner.

Simply put, cloud computing is the process of using hardware and software that resides on the cloud, through the mode of the internet, in order to perform various complex organizational activities. In traditional business structures, all the data used to be stored in local machines and hard drives. With cloud computing, all the data is stored in virtual servers provided and maintained by third-party service providers. This also helps in Geo-Replication of data and for disaster recovery.

The third parties will also make software, applications, various infrastructural facilities as well as platforms available on the cloud. These can be accessed by the employees or users through a computer and an internet connection. This is where IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS come into the picture.

Let us now look at an in-detail explanation of the three services, IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS:

What is Iaas?

IaaS or Infrastructure as a Service, as the name suggests, is a cloud technology service, where the IaaS providers make available various infrastructural services on the cloud. For example, the provider hosts infrastructural components such as virtual machines, virtual LANs, networks, storage, hard drives, etc. through virtualization technology.

The IaaS Delivery Model:

The IaaS provider provides his client with either a dashboard or an API, providing access to the end-user to all the services. This way the end-user has complete control over the entire infrastructure.

Along with infrastructural services, the provider will supply accompanying services that support these infrastructural services. Some examples of these services are detailed billing, load balancing, and clustering, log access. In addition to all the above, the IaaS provider will also enable data-storage related services such as data back-up, data replication, and data recovery.

IaaS can be compared to a traditional data center, in the sense that it will provide the end-user with all the infrastructure, technology and capability of a data center. The difference though lays in the fact that the client doesn’t need to spend a huge amount of money to buy and maintain all the infrastructure.

IaaS takes care of setting up a virtual data center and maintaining it for the client. The client, in turn, is completely responsible for their own applications, operating systems, middleware, and data. The client or the buyer rents space on the cloud through the IaaS provider. The IaaS provider, in turn, provides the client with virtual servers and virtual storage. The provider helps the client in building a network around these services. The end-users use their own operating systems and applications on the final platform, thereby cutting additional costs.

Examples of IaaS:

  • Microsoft Azure
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Google Compute Engine
  • Cisco Metapod
  • Joyent
  • OpenStack

Applications of IaaS:

IaaS is used in the following scenarios in the current business environment:

  • Development environment
  • Testing environment
  • Data storage
  • Data analytics
  • Data warehousing
  • Websites and web applications with a lot of user interactions.

Advantages of IaaS:

IaaS provides many benefits to its clients who are planning to migrate their organization to cloud technologies. Some of the key advantages include:

  • One of the major advantages of IaaS is that the clients do not need any capital upfront, especially for setting up high-level infrastructure. They can simply rent all the infrastructure necessary from the SaaS providers. They can pay as they go, implying that they can simply unsubscribe from services which they no longer need. This makes the arrangement extremely cost-effective for the client.
  • The IaaS also provides the advantage of scalability for the clients meaning that they can upgrade or downgrade services with a simple click of a button.
  • IaaS can help the clients obtain the needed infrastructure, as per their within a short period of time. This will eliminate any time lag in procurement and the organization is able to carry out necessary tests quickly and deliver results on time.
  • IaaS reduces the costs of buying, setting up and managing new and expensive hardware. IaaS services are also available on a subscription basis. All these features help the client cut down on huge upfront expenses.
  • The client and end-user can cut down on the time of setting up and maintaining the infrastructure. This saves a lot of time for the clients, and they can use this time to concentrate on other crucial organizational functions.
  • Clients and end-users get the time to concentrate on more important core activities needed for the organization. As a result, the overall efficiency and output will improve.

What is SaaS:

SaaS or Software as a Service, as the name suggests, is a cloud technology service, where the SaaS provider hosts various applications on the cloud and makes them available to customers over the internet. SaaS is also known as cloud application services and is one of the most commonly used cloud services.

The SaaS provider, apart from making the application available to the end-users, will also be responsible for providing services such as managing the client’s data, storage, and managing the application’s updates. Most of the SaaS applications will run on the web browsers directly. This means that the end-users will just need a computer with an internet connection and a browser to access the applications.

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Madhu Krishna
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