While some might think of the word “cloud” as a rain-bringing cloud, most people these days immediately believe in cloud computing. The cloud is ubiquitous, but not everyone who uses it knows what they are dealing with. We will get to the bottom of this question below. We will also detail the common types of cloud computing services, among other things.
Cloud Computing: What Is It Anyway?
In cloud computing, computer resources such as services, servers, applications, and storage systems are made available in a network via the Internet. Access to these resources is independent of time and location and can be made from any Internet-enabled device. More and more companies are also deciding to use cloud services – and not without reason.
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Cloud Computing Services: The Cloud Offers These Advantages
If you listen to some hymns of praise online, the cloud appears to be gold-plated. It is accurate, and it is well known that cloud computing services bring numerous benefits. These “plus points” weigh the heaviest:
Low Cost
Anyone who uses a cloud does not have to invest in their software and hardware and their monitoring, updating, and maintenance. So from a financial perspective, cloud computing makes sense for most companies.
Flexibly Available Performance
Computing resources can usually be made available flexibly in large quantities precisely when needed.
Scaling On A Global Level
The elastic scaling on a global level ensures that the required resources can be provided promptly and in sufficient quantities and from a favorable geographical location.
Global, Flexible Collaboration
Cloud applications make working in a joint project more accessible and flexible than ever before. No matter what office, city, or country the individual team members are in – they can work together using modern cloud applications and always have the latest version of the documents being processed.
Cloud Computing Services – The Three Established Types
Cloud computing services can be broken down into different types. The three most common are SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS, which are also known as the SPI model. But what is the difference between the services? We clarify:
IaaS Cloud Computing Services
IaaS stands for “Infrastructure as a Service,” although the name reveals what it is all about. IaaS is colloquially referred to as the lowest layer of the “cloud stack.” Here, the IT infrastructure is provided for a fee – you rent the hardware you need to integrate and install applications. No software is provided in the sense of IaaS. It is just a service that offers the fundamentally required infrastructure as the basis for everything else.
PaaS Cloud Computing Services
PaaS is the abbreviation for “Platform as a Service” and is based relatively directly on IaaS. PaaS services are used by developers and provide these frameworks as development environments. The developers can thus create, test, and run their programs. PaaS providers usually specify certain framework conditions, for example, about the programming languages to be used. The PaaS user never has the opportunity to change or control the provider’s infrastructure in any other way. He can only manage the programs that he has implemented himself.
SaaS Cloud Computing Services
SaaS services (Software as a Service) are at the top of the “cloud stack.” It used to be expected to purchase software at a comparatively high price and install it on your hardware. The software can now be used for a fee but does not change hands with SaaS services. The application is provided via the cloud and can be used at any time and with any internet-enabled device. Much of the software we use today is slowly but surely moving from product to service.
XaaS: “Anything As A Service”
XaaS, sometimes also EaaS, for “Anything as a Service” is a comparatively new term. All services that can now be obtained via the cloud can be grouped under it. To conclude this article and for the sake of completeness, you will find the names of other types of services that fall into this category:
- CaaS – Communication as a Service
- NaaS – Network as a Service
- HaaS – Hardware as a Service
- DaaS – Desktop as a Service
- StaaS – Storage as a Service
- BaaS – Blockchain as a Service
- GaaS – Games as a Service
