Confused about the different types of cloud services? IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS explained!
Let me give you a quick overview of the different services, and what value they provide you.
The various cloud service types
It's hard to find the right solution for your problem in the cloud.
To find the best solution, you must first understand that there are three types of cloud services. There is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). It is essential to understand the various cloud service types to select the one that best meets your needs.
Let me give you a quick overview of these three services, so you can select which one to use.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the most basic form of cloud computing.
IaaS will provide you with a virtual server where you can do almost anything.
It is the most basic service that the cloud service provider has to offer (like Amazon Web Service, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform). A virtual server will be made available to you, and you can connect to it. Then you can perform all the actions that you could perform on your physical server there. But you also have to maintain everything besides the physical hardware. One of the key differences is that you can quickly adjust your infrastructure by adding more servers or shutting down unused ones, which is not so easily possible with physical servers.
IaaS makes it simple to transfer your existing servers to the cloud and will give you almost the same experience.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides pre-made environments so you can focus on your product.
PaaS delegates more tasks to the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) rather than requiring you to handle everything yourself.
You will receive pre-built environments in which to deploy your code. Working on your application built on top of these environments is all that you need to do. The CSP handles the infrastructure and deployment.
Known examples of PaaS are:
- Google App Engine
- AWS Lambda
- Heroku
You retain total control over your application with PaaS. Still, you don't need to worry about the infrastructure that it is running on.
Software as a Service (SaaS) provides ready-to-use software.
SaaS can provide you with a finished product you can use within minutes.
They will provide a finished software that you can use from anywhere because it is typically accessed through your web browser. The provider takes care of all the background work involved in creating new features, running servers, or managing support. You don't need to do administrative tasks and can focus on using the product. These services typically require a monthly payment because they are subscription-based.
Well-known examples of SaaS are:
- Microsoft Office 365
- Google G Suite
- Zoom
If you need a solution and don't want to spend time developing it, SaaS is best for you.
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