Iaas, PaaS & SaaS

With the hype about cloud computing rising up, better to have a closer look at the three most popular terms that go along with cloud computing; IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. 

• IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service 
• PaaS - Platform as a Service 
• SaaS - Software as a Service 

All these above terms refer to technologies which allow users to run applications and store data in a cloud environment. What differs them are the features, functionality and the control offered by each of the technology. 

SaaS

This allows to users to use existing applications such as google mail, google docs or Facebook. You do neither manage equipment nor software environment. But you just use the software in order to get the required work done. This is the easiest and fastest way someone can get involved with cloud computing without any hassle.

Pros

• Free or paid as a subscription fee
• Can access from anywhere using a computer and a internet connection
• Multiple users can work at the same time (E.g.: Google Docs)

Cons

• Might not fit for exact business requirement 

PaaS

Platform as a service offer platform provider specific APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to develop own applications in cloud. for an example google offers "App Engine" and mircrosoft offers "Azure" in which developers can use them to develop their applications.

Pros

• Quick application development with provider specific APIs
• Development of applications of own choice

Cons

• Technical restriction of platform provider specific tools and languages
• Re-usability of the application is restricted 

IaaS

IaaS allows users to run any application on any amount of hardware that they choose on the cloud. Users don't need to manage hardware such as servers or switches but you can ask for them and get it as you want them. User will have to manage his own software environment by installing/ uninstalling any software you wish to have on your own premises.
IaaS is a broader subject with its branches spreading into private clouds, dedicated hosting, hybrid hosting and cloud hosting which I'll be explaining in the next blog.