Infrastructure as a Service – or IaaS(1) – is a calculating infrastructure that aids manage, and monitors the Internet. There are other types of Cloud Computing Architecture that businesses go for including Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS), however, IaaS helps companies by managing and maintaining servers for them.
Many companies – of all various sizes – have switched to using the IaaS for their company. This one isn’t one to take lightly though, because it depends on what the company needs to use it for. There are a handful of advantages and disadvantages of IaaS since it is still developing.
There are three architecture parts of the IaaS: the cloud, the hardware, and the servers. The cloud gives the companies access to a type of virtualized setting to create their own IT platforms. They can work on the cloud from anywhere as long as they have an Internet connection.
The hardware is where all the company’s data is stored. It is dependable and secure to make sure the company’s data is safe, which is always something a company needs. The cloud providers manage the last part of IaaS, the servers. The servers are dispersed and secured across countless data centers for the companies.
Why use IaaS
Many companies use IaaS because it saves them money and working hours. It also provides those same companies with an easy way to scale and grow their businesses. Since so many companies are benefiting from using IaaS services, the demand for it has only gotten higher. It is something that companies should look into to see if it could benefit them in the long run.
Also Read: What Is Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS)?
Advantages of IaaS
There are many benefits to using IaaS. Here’s a list of the Top 8 IAAS Benefits:
1. Cost Savings
Cost savings is one of the main benefits of IaaS, because of its low infrastructure costs. Companies do not have to spend money to make sure that the hardware and networking equipment are in good condition. They also do not have to pay monthly or annual fees for benefits they do not use. IaaS saves companies money because they do not force them to buy more capacity than they need. For example, if the company’s business is smaller, they do not have to buy the same amount of capacity as what a much larger company would.
2. Scalability and Flexibility
With IaaS, companies can scale up and down depending on their requirements, which is considered one of the greatest benefits that IaaS offers. This flexibility with scaling lets companies responds to any change that may come to opportunities or requirements, including when the size of the company changes or when the company is building and dismantling developmental environments.
3. Faster Time to Market
Competition gets stronger every year, and marketing is one of the best ways to come out on top. Since IaaS allows scalability, companies can market themselves out faster to any potential customers.
4. Support for DR, BC, and High Availability
Most disaster recovery plans are expensive and unwieldy. If a company is spread out in different locations, they often need to have a different disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) plans. IaaS provides combined service plans for DR and BC. If a disaster occurs, IaaS provides DR, which reduces costs, and BC, which increases manageability. Companies can access their infrastructure through the Internet no matter where they are, including emails, documents, web servers, and more. IaaS is available to help quickly and efficiently.
5. Focus on Business Growth
By using IaaS, companies are able to spend more time growing their business rather than making smaller technology decisions. They can focus on developing their applications and solutions with more time and resources.
6. IaaS Can Run Even If a Server Goes Down
With strong reliability with IaaS, its infrastructure will not be affected if the Internet fails or if a hardware component fails.
7. On-Demand Access
The IaaS system is on-demand, which helps keep the costs down since companies only have to pay for the resources they use. For example, if they are a smaller company, they do not have to purchase resources that only a large company would use.
8. Expand as You Grow
Since the service is on-demand, these benefits of IaaS lets companies scale as they grow or downsize, which helps companies in any time of change. If a company grows in size, the IaaS services can also grow as the company needs.
Disadvantages of IaaS
1. Security
In an IaaS system, the company does not control the cloud security. Companies should read the cloud’s service level agreement (SLA) to understand what coverage is provided.
2. Lack of Flexibility
Some providers do not upgrade the software for some businesses even though they provide maintenance for that software, which does not help those companies.
3. Technical Problems
Sometimes, companies will have downtime with IaaS. That downtime can restrict access to data and applications if it does occur.
4. Over Dependency
When a company uses an IaaS service, its whole company is dependent on that provider, which would not be useful in some instances.
5. Upgrade and Maintenance
After getting an IaaS service, the company is responsible for any upgrades or maintenances that the company will need.
6. Virtualization Services and User-Privacy
IaaS depends on virtualization services, and it also limits user-privacy.
IaaS Examples
-
Business Networks
In business networks, information gets stored and applications are run by networking resources and a pooled server. Growing businesses will also scale their IaaS according to how much the businesses build.
-
Cloud Hosting
During cloud hosts, websites will be hosted on servers that upkeep resources from fundamental physical servers. Companies can access the cloud as long as they have an Internet connection.
-
Virtual Data Center
The virtual data center is a group of connected servers. It develops cloud hosting, operations, or IT infrastructure.
IaaS Providers
There are many IaaS Providers out there, but here are the top five examples of IaaS providers:
- Amazon AWS
- Digital Ocean
- Microsoft Azure
- Rackspace Open Cloud
- Google Compute Engine
Final Thoughts
Despite the pros and cons of IaaS, it helps greatly with experimental, unanticipated, or temporary work. It is one of the best emerging technology that gives architectural solutions to IT companies or businesses. Like any new growing technology, it can have its challenges, but those will be overcome in the future. For the moment, IaaS helps companies immensely.
Other Useful Resources:
IaaS: Adopt, Disrupt, and Thrive
