Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

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IaaS - Infrastructure-as-a-Service:

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This cloud service model is the closest to managing physical servers; a cloud provider will keep the hardware up-to-date, but operating system maintenance and network configuration is left to the cloud tenant.

For example: Azure Virtual Machines are fully operational virtual compute devices running in Microsoft's datacenters.

IaaS is the most flexible category of cloud services. It aims to give you complete control over the hardware that runs your application. Instead of buying hardware, with IaaS, you rent it.

Advantages:

• Rapid deployment of new compute devices.

• Setting up a new virtual machine is considerably faster than procuring, installing, and configuring a physical server.

• No CapEx. Users have no upfront costs.

• Agility. Applications can be made accessible quickly, and deprovisioned whenever needed.

• Management. The shared responsibility model applies; the user manages and maintains the services they have provisioned, and the cloud provider manages and maintains the cloud infrastructure.

• Consumption-based model. Organizations pay only for what they use and operate under an OpEx model.

• Skills. No deep technical skills are required to deploy, use, and gain the benefits of a public cloud. Organizations can leverage the skills and expertise of the cloud provider to ensure workloads are secure, safe, and highly available.

• Cloud benefits. Organizations can leverage the skills and expertise of the cloud provider to ensure workloads are made secure and highly available.

• Flexibility. IaaS is the most flexible cloud service as you have control to configure and manage the hardware running your application.

Disadvantages:

• Management. The shared responsibility model applies; the user manages and maintains the services they have provisioned, and the cloud provider manages and maintains the cloud infrastructure.

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