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The Cloud and Virtual Worlds - Cloud & Virtualization Basics

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Cloud Service Models: IaaS (Infrastructure), PaaS (Platform), and SaaS (Software as a Service)

Cloud services are typically broken down into three main models, which describe the level of management you have versus the level the provider manages. This is often called the "shared responsibility model."

(Analogy: Making a Pizza)

  • IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

    This is the most basic category. The cloud provider offers the fundamental infrastructure—virtual servers, storage, and networking. You are responsible for managing the operating system, middleware, and all your applications and data.

    • You Manage: Operating Systems, Applications, Data.
    • Provider Manages: The physical servers, storage, and networking hardware.
    • Pizza Analogy: The provider gives you the kitchen, oven, and raw ingredients. You have to make the pizza from scratch.
    • Examples: Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure VMs, Google Compute Engine.

  • PaaS (Platform as a Service)

    This model provides a platform for you to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the underlying infrastructure. The provider manages the hardware and the operating system.

    • You Manage: Your Applications and Data.
    • Provider Manages: Everything in IaaS + Operating Systems, Middleware, Runtime.
    • Pizza Analogy: The provider gives you the kitchen, oven, and a pre-made pizza base with sauce. You just add your favorite toppings (your code).
    • Examples: Heroku, Google App Engine, AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

  • SaaS (Software as a Service)

    This model delivers a complete, ready-to-use software application over the internet, on a subscription basis. The provider manages all aspects of the service, from the hardware to the application code itself.

    • You Manage: Nothing. You just use the software.
    • Provider Manages: Everything.
    • Pizza Analogy: You order a finished pizza delivered to your door. You just eat it.
    • Examples: Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs), Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Dropbox.