Cloud service models are a set of standardized approaches to delivering cloud computing services. These models define the level of control, responsibility, and flexibility that users have when using cloud services.
The three primary cloud service models are IaaS , PaaS and SaaS. In this post, I have extended Container as a Service (CaaS) and Function as a Service (FaaS) to get more public cloud offerings perspective.
IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service
- Instant computing infrastructure, provisioned and managed over the internet
- Provider Manages the infrastructure; Customer Purchase, install, configure, and manage own software—operating systems, middleware, and applications
Use cases of IaaS:
- Web hosting and website deployment
- Big data storage and processing
- Disaster recovery and backup solutions
- Test and development environments
- High-performance computing
- Enterprise Applications like SAP, Oracle
- Machine learning and AI applications
- Network infrastructure and security
- Virtual desktops and remote workstations
- Media transcoding and streaming services
Advantages of IaaS
- Eliminates capital expense and reduces ongoing cost
- Full control over the Operating system
- Improves business continuity and disaster recovery
- Focus on your core business
- Increase stability, reliability, and supportability
- Better security
- Gets new apps to users faster
CaaS: Container as a Service
- A cloud service model that allows users to upload, organize, start, stop, scale, and otherwise manage containers, applications, and clusters through container-based virtualization
- Run and managed containerized applications by leveraging Docker engine, Kubernetes, etc…
Use cases of CaaS:
- Container orchestration and management
- Microservices architecture development
- Hybrid and multi-cloud deployments
- DevOps and CI/CD workflows
- Scalable and resilient web applications
- Edge computing and IoT device management
- Machine learning and AI applications
- Legacy application modernization
- High-performance computing
- Batch processing and big data analytics
Advantages of CaaS
- Easier deployment with application reuse
- Infra resources are smartly distributed
- Highly efficient and cost-cutting
- Efficiently manage the application life cycle
- Enables DevOps-related opportunities with the implementation of CI/CD pipelines
PaaS: Platform as a Service
- Service providers deliver a platform to clients enabling them to run and manage business applications
- No need to build and maintain the infrastructure. Allows to avoid the expense and complexity of buying and managing software licenses.
- Web Apps – development, testing, and deployment
- Application integration and middleware
- API management and development
- Mobile application development
- SQL and No-SQL Databases
- Data warehouse and BI Analytics
- IoT device management and analytics
- Content management and publishing
- Business process management and automation
- Chatbots and voice assistants
- Cloud-native application development
Advantages of PaaS:
- Cut coding time by using pre-coded workflows
- Efficiently manage the application life cycle
- Use pay-as-you-go to afford sophisticated tools
- Focus on your core business
- Rapid and cost-effective deployment
- Scalability on the fly
- Future Proofing
FaaS: Function as a Service
- Cloud service provider automatically provision, scale, and manages the infrastructure required to run the code
- Eliminate the need to manage Infrastructure by enabling developers to build applications faster
- The tasks associated with infrastructure provisioning and management are invisible to the developer
Use cases of FaaS:
- Serverless application development and deployment
- Event-driven computing and automation
- Real-time data processing and analytics
- Chatbots and voice assistants
- Webhooks and API integrations
- Image and video processing
- Scheduler or Cron Jobs to function
- Internet of Things (IoT) event processing
- Natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis
- Data transformation and ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tasks
Advantages of FaaS:
- Developers to more Focus on Business logic
- More value to the core of the business
- Built-in Scalability
- Cost efficiency and increase productivity
- Faster to market by delivering products
- Optimize resources and focus on innovation
SaaS: Software as a Service
- Allows users to connect and use cloud-based apps over the internet.
- A complete software solution that you purchase from a cloud provider
- Examples: Google Drive, Microsoft Office 365
Use cases of SaaS:
- Email and collaboration tools
- Customer relationship management (CRM) software
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
- Human resources management (HRM) software
- Sales and marketing automation software
- Project management and collaboration software
- Accounting and financial management software
- Video conferencing and webinar software
- E-commerce platforms
- Learning management systems (LMS)
Advantages of SaaS:
- Pay only for what you use
- Use free client software
- Access data from anywhere
- Easy to use and no worries on upgrades
- Gain access to classy applications such as ERP, CRM
- Reduced time to gain benefit