What Are the 3 Types of Cloud Computing?

Thinking of moving to the cloud, and wondering what options you have? Well, there are 3 types of cloud computing: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

With IaaS, companies control their own computing, networking, and storing components without having to manage them on-premises physically. PaaS, provides developers with a framework to build custom applications, while SaaS avails internet-enabled software to organizations via a third party.

Cloud Deployment Models

The three main types of cloud deployment models are private, public, or hybrid. Selecting your desired model depends on your specific requirements.

Private Cloud

This model consists of an infrastructure that is owned by a single business. This model can be hosted in-house or can be externally hosted. Although expensive, the private cloud model is well suited for large organizations with a focus on security, customizability, and computing power.

Pros of a private cloud:

◉ Highest level of security

◉ Better autonomy over the servers

◉ Highly customizable

◉ No risk of sudden changes that can disrupt company operations

Cons of a private cloud:

◉ Requires extensive expertise of IT personnel

◉ Comparatively expensive

Public Cloud

This model consists of services and infrastructure that are shared by all organizations. With huge available space, scalability becomes easier in public cloud solutions. Organizations pay public cloud models on a pay-per-use basis, making it a suitable solution for smaller businesses looking out to save money.

Pros of public cloud:

◉ Highly scalable

◉ Cost-effective

◉ Management is delegated to the cloud service provider

◉ Not bound by geographical restrictions

Cons of public cloud:

◉ Offers less customization

◉ Sudden changes by cloud provider can have dire impacts

◉ Lesser autonomy over servers

◉ Since the server is shared, it is less secure

Hybrid Cloud

A combination of both public and private clouds, a hybrid cloud combines the two models to create a tailored solution that allows both platforms to interact seamlessly.

Pros of hybrid cloud:

◉ Highly secure, flexible, and economic

◉ Better security than pure public cloud solutions

Cons of hybrid cloud:

◉ Since communication occurs between public and private clouds, it can become conflicted at times.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

IaaS provides an on-demand infrastructure to organizations on a pay-as-you-go basis over the Internet instead of via a traditional datacenter. IaaS has the following physical and virtual resources that allow organizations to run workloads in the cloud:

Physical datacenters. IaaS providers have tens of powerful servers spread across the world to provide on-demand and scalable computing. IaaS provisions these components as a service rather than users interacting with them directly.

Compute resources. IaaS compute resources are Virtual Machines (VMs) that are managed by hypervisors. IaaS providers provision VMs based on CPU, GPU, and memory consumption for various workloads. Organizations can auto-scale and load-balance different workloads based on the performance characteristic they want to achieve.

Networks. Software-defined networking programmatically manages network hardware such as switches and routers.

Storage. IaaS providers offer highly distributed storage technologies such as file storage, block storage and object storage that are resilient and easily accessible over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

Startups can opt for the IaaS model to avoid the costly and tedious process of setting up on-premises IT infrastructure. Similarly, large corporations that want to retain control over their IT infrastructure, but with the flexibility of paying only for resources consumed, can also use this model.

Common examples of IaaS include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Rackspace and Alibaba Cloud.

Disadvantages of IaaS

◉ Because IaaS has a multi-tenant architecture, there are data security issues associated with it.

◉ If there are vendor outages in IaaS solutions, users might be unable to access their data for some time.

◉ Managing a new infrastructure can be challenging, thus giving rise to the need for team training.

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

In a PaaS model, developers lease the infrastructure they need for a complete application lifecycle: development, testing, deployment and maintenance. Like IaaS, developers rent the servers, networking and storage components. In addition, they also lease items like middleware, development tools, and database management systems (DBMSs) from the PaaS provider.

PaaS allows an organization to avoid the often costly and complex process of purchasing and managing software licenses. Essentially, PaaS providers manage everything else related to the application lifecycle while allowing developers to focus on applications they are developing. PaaS is particularly useful for organizations that want to streamline workflows in a production environment that has multiple developers.

PaaS can also minimize costs greatly and simplify the application development lifecycle in a Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment. Common examples of PaaS include Google App Engine, Apache Stratos, OpenShift, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Heroku.

Disadvantages of PaaS

◉ PaaS can have data security issues.

◉ Since not every element of existing infrastructure can be cloud-enabled, there might be compatibility issues with adopting PaaS solutions.

◉ The speed, support, and reliability of PaaS depend on the vendor.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

In this model, SaaS providers host software on their servers and lease it to organizations on a subscription basis. Rather than IT administrators installing the software on individual workstations, the SaaS model allows users to access the application via a web browser where they log in with their usernames and passwords.

Under the SaaS model, organizations can lease productivity software such as email, collaboration and calendaring. Also, they can lease other business applications, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), document management, and customer relationship management (CRM).

Startups can use the SaaS model to launch enterprise applications quickly if they do not have the time to set up the server or software. Common examples of SaaS include Dropbox, Google GSuite (applications), Cisco Webex, and GoToMeeting.

Disadvantages of SaaS

◉ There is a limited range of solutions with SaaS.

◉ Network connectivity is a must when it comes to using SaaS solutions.

◉ There is a loss of control when using SaaS solutions.

Source: parallels.com