Cloud computing offers businesses a flexible, pay-as-you-go alternative to owning and maintaining on-premise IT infrastructure. To choose the right approach, companies must understand the three core cloud service models, often described as the “as-a-Service” continuum: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).
These models represent increasing levels of vendor management, giving businesses different trade-offs between control and convenience.
1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS is the most basic cloud service model, providing the fundamental building blocks for cloud IT. Think of it as renting the virtual equivalent of a data center.
What the Business Controls
The customer is given access to core computing resources over the internet, including:
- Virtual Machines (VMs): Computing power (vCPUs and RAM).
- Storage: Block, file, and object storage.
- Networking: Firewalls, load balancers, and virtual networks.
The customer is then responsible for installing, managing, and maintaining the … Read the rest >>>>