In a context of strong competition, companies must focus on their know-how. Having an in-house team responsible for building, deploying and maintaining an IT infrastructure is no longer always the best solution. An IT architecture must be managed as a service in order to benefit from innovation and flexibility. This is the purpose of IaaS.
It is obvious today: data is the fuel of all companies. The pipes through which they pass are therefore of less interest.
Owning your entire IT infrastructure or renting fixed server space in a data centre no longer corresponds to today’s world. Servers or computing centres can be used as a service, just like software. This is the principle of “Infrastructure-as-a-Service”.
The Principle Of Infrastructure-As-A-Service
It is a standardized and highly automated offer. Computing resources, supplemented by storage and networking capabilities, are owned and hosted by a provider and offered as packages (by the hour, week or month). Like any service accessible online, companies can manage their infrastructure in the cloud from a graphical interface.
In a nutshell, IaaS amounts to working with virtualized IT resources: operating systems, storage space, computing resources (CPU) or additional random access memory (RAM).
The Different Types
They are very classic and while being able to meet the expectations or constraints of each company.
- Public mode: several clients share resources.
- Private mode: virtualization technologies and services are reserved for a single organization (no mixing of data with other companies).
Hybrid mode: it combines a physical and virtual infrastructure in the public or private cloud. This option offers more flexibility. A company can administer its own server locally while taking advantage of the scalability of cloud technologies (temporarily using computing power, for example).
The 2 Main Uses
- Agile projects : It allows applications to be developed more quickly and tests to be multiplied automatically.
- Replacing a datacentre : this operation is done gradually, starting with development environments or less critical production applications.
Benefits Of Infrastructure-As-A-Service
They are identical to the cloud. The main IaaS platforms provide greater scalability, a wide choice of technological options and a higher level of security than that which an SME could claim.
A reduction in costs (including those related to the immobilization of equipment) is also mentioned as one of the advantages of this model. But like any migration to the cloud, it is essential to rely on an accurate dashboard updated in real time to really measure the ROI.
Finally, this model allows you to take advantage of a PRA (Disaster Recovery Plan) or a BCP (Business Continuity Plan) that is easier to set up than if it is managed internally.
Replicating IT resources to the cloud facilitates a business restart. This is not always the case when the servers are installed in a company that has suffered water damage.
IaaS And Data Security
The protection and confidentiality of sensitive information are still the main barriers to cloud adoption. Even if providers offer a high level of security and availability, companies must put safeguards in place:
- Access and profile control: like any remote access, this model requires an authentication policy (and in particular double authentication) for users and the administrator. Connections must be made through a VPN. This private channel notably avoids interceptions or malicious intrusions.
- Security devices: the supplier must integrate various protections (against DDoS attacks among others), a managed firewall, a full daily backup of VMs on a dedicated infrastructure, etc.
- Data localization: companies must ensure the location in France of the IT resources used in this model.
IaaS has certain advantages. But it is essential to reflect upstream to assess its real needs and the concrete benefits.
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