In which cloud computing service model does a provider secure the physical computers running the virtual environment?

By 2025, Gartner predicts that cloud-native platforms will serve as the foundation for more than 95% of new digital workloads, up from less than 30% in 2021.1

One of the greatest benefits of cloud computing is automation. Companies are eager to adopt the cloud to remove layers of management. You won’t be responsible for the physical data centers, operating systems, and hardware.

By removing these layers, your organization can cut costs and minimize the time spent on mundane IT tasks. Instead of maintaining hardware, you can focus on innovation and scale your applications on demand. More enterprises are turning to cloud to reinvent their applications and take advantage of new deployment strategies.

But cloud may mean something different to your enterprise compared to the enterprise down the street. Deploying the right model or hybrid model for your needs is key.

What are the three common cloud service models?

There is confusion about the three main categories of cloud service models: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Let’s define each cloud service model.

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a self-service model for managing remote data center infrastructures. IaaS provides virtualized computing resources over the Internet hosted by a third party such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google.

Instead of an organization purchasing hardware, companies purchase IaaS based on a consumption model. It is like buying electricity. You only pay for what you use. This model enables companies to add, delete or reconfigure IT infrastructure on-demand.

Many IT organizations rely on IaaS because they are more familiar with IaaS, especially if they have years of experience with virtual environments or strict security and regulatory requirements that can only be met through IaaS.

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Platform as a Service (PaaS) allows organizations to build, run and manage applications without the IT infrastructure. This makes it easier and faster to develop, test and deploy applications.

Developers can focus on writing code and create applications without worrying about time-consuming IT infrastructure activities such as provisioning servers, storage, and backup.

PaaS brings more value to cloud. It can reduce your management overhead and lower your costs. PaaS also makes it easier for you to innovate and scale your services on demand.

3. Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a service (SaaS) replaces the traditional on-device software with software that is licensed on a subscription basis. It is centrally hosted in the cloud. A good example is Salesforce.com.

Most SaaS applications can be accessed directly from a web browser without any downloads or installations required. However, some SaaS applications require plugins.

Find the right model for the right business outcome

A successful move to cloud isn’t about IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS. The trick for any organization is knowing which model to choose based on what it needs to accomplish. In many situations, it is likely to use all three models to cover various business needs and perhaps a few of the other service models listed below.

Other cloud service models you may want to consider:

• Network as a service (NaaS)
• Backup as a service (BaaS)
• Database as a service (DBaaS)
• Communications as a service (CAAS)
• Storage as a service (STaaS)

Working with a trusted solutions advisor can help you assess your organizations need and develop the right hybrid cloud solution. With a solid strategy, cloud foundation and governance plan, you can achieve more value from cloud.

Image: antonioricardo.org

There are three fundamental models that make up the framework of cloud computing services:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): IaaS gives computers (mostly virtual machines) infrastructural resources;
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS provides a development environment to application developers; and
• Software as a Service (SaaS): SaaS offers users access to application software and databases.

For the purpose of this discussion let's focus on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Like every other cloud computing service model, it makes computing resources available in a virtualized environment (the Cloud), using the Internet as a medium. The computing resources made available through IaaS provided are essentially in the form of virtualized hardware (also known as computing infrastructure). The resources provided through IaaS include network connectivity, server space (virtual), load balancers, bandwidth, and IP addresses. The hardware resources are derived from a combination of networks and servers spread across various data centers. An IaaS-using client is provided access to the virtualized systems that are used to develop self-owned IT platforms.

IaaS can be used by businesses to develop cost-effective and scalable IT solutions. The technicalities and costs of maintaining the root hardware are borne by the cloud provider. A major advantage of IaaS is that in situations where the scale of a client’s operations flutter, or a client desires to expand, it can make use of the cloud resources whenever needed, instead of purchasing, installing, and integrating the hardware itself.

Here are some important examples of how a business can incorporate IaaS into its processes:

• Enterprise infrastructure: businesses that desire to expand can tune their infrastructure to reflect their growth and use private clouds (which are accessible to only the said business) to safeguard the storage and transmit and store sensitive data.
• Cloud-hosting: A cloud-hosted website can benefit from the redundancy occasioned by numerous physical servers, which helps in dealing with unexpected demands on the website.
• Virtual Data Centers (VDC): VDCs can be harnessed to provide optimized cloud-hosting capacities or enterprise IT infrastructure.

IaaS system models have the following benefits and capabilities:

• Scalability -Resources are available whenever you require it and, therefore, there is no time wastaged in increasing your capacity or the dissipation of capacity that is not used.
• No hardware investments –The root hardware supporting IaaS platforms are set up and maintained by the cloud provider, saving you time and money.
• Utility style costing -IaaS is an on-demand service and can be utilized whenever you want. You only have to pay for the services of which you actually made use.
• Location independence - IaaS platforms give you access to the cloud environment wherever and whenever you need access. All that is required is internet connectivity.
• No single point of failure - If a single server or network crashes, the platform would not be affected as a result of numerous other redundancy configurations and hardware resources that remain integrated to ensure consistency in performance.

The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model is rapidly gaining ground in the cloud-computing environment. This is due to the fact that it’s cost-effective, scalable, and offers utility-style hosting.

In which cloud computing service model does a provider secure the physical computer running the virtual environment?

In which type of cloud computing model are the hardware resources managed and maintained by the cloud service provider?

What is IaaS in cloud computing?

What is PaaS and SaaS?