Understand IaaS, PaaS, SaaS in one article

When using cloud computing services, different users require different services. Some companies only need to rent servers, some companies require a complete set of services, and some individual customers hope to directly pay for a website that can run. Based on the differences in service types, cloud computing is usually divided into three categories: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. The following describes their concepts, characteristics and roles in the industrial Internet.

The full name of IaaS is Infrastructure as a Service, which stands for Infrastructure as a Service. To understand it, you can first compare the differences between traditional IT construction and the current model. Traditional enterprise IT construction usually requires the completion of infrastructure resource construction, including server selection, procurement, deployment, data center selection, network construction, etc. The process is time-consuming and requires a significant investment of manpower and material resources. Nowadays, enterprises do not need to build their own infrastructure resources and can directly rent IT infrastructure services provided by IaaS service providers, which saves time, effort, and costs, and does not require self maintenance in the future.

IaaS refers to a service model that provides IT infrastructure as a service over a network and charges users based on their actual usage or occupancy of resources. Infrastructure services include servers, storage, computing power, and networks, which users can use through leasing. From the perspective of usage patterns, IaaS is somewhat similar to traditional hosting, but IaaS has significant advantages in service flexibility, scalability, and cost.

IaaS services are generally divided into public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud. Public cloud is placed on the Internet, and its core attribute is shared resource service. Users can register on the platform or pay for it. Private cloud is built separately for a customer, providing the most effective control over data security and service quality. It can be deployed within the firewall of enterprise data centers or in secure hosting locations, and its core attribute is proprietary resources. Hybrid cloud is the fusion of private and public clouds, taking into account the advantages of both. Storing data in a private cloud ensures security while also utilizing the computing resources and storage space of a public cloud. Hybrid cloud has become the main mode and development direction of cloud computing.

There are many advantages to using IaaS services for enterprises. It has low cost, and enterprises do not need to purchase hardware, saving upfront investment. It charges based on actual usage, without idle waste, and can also meet sudden needs without the need to purchase services in advance. It is maintenance free, and maintenance work is undertaken by IaaS service providers. It has strong scalability and can adjust the size of resources according to user needs. New computing resources can be provided in just a few minutes. It also supports a wide range of applications and can support various types of operating systems. At present, common IaaS service providers on the market include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud platform, Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Baidu Cloud, etc.

In the industrial Internet platform, the IaaS layer is the cloud infrastructure resource of the industrial Internet platform. If enterprises want to carry out IT construction, they can choose to rent IT infrastructure services provided by IaaS service providers without building their own infrastructure resources, which can save costs and time and effort. So, if a company wants to build and develop applications, besides spending time, effort, and money developing a local deployment environment, is there a solution similar to IaaS services? The answer is yes, that is PaaS.

The full name of PaaS is Platform as a Service, which refers to a business model that provides the corresponding server platform or development environment in the cloud computing era as a service. Simply put, users can purchase PaaS services to provide an environment for generating, testing, and deploying software applications. Developers only need to focus on their own business logic, without the need to manage and control cloud infrastructure, including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage.

For example, if a company wants to build and develop applications, the traditional approach is to first build infrastructure resources and develop local deployment environments. The cost is often very high in terms of time and capital investment. Choosing PaaS services has obvious advantages, as PaaS operators provide infrastructure resources and local deployment environments. Enterprises only need to focus on application development, which can greatly shorten product time to market and greatly reduce development costs.

The characteristics of PaaS are quite distinct. It provides a basic platform. According to traditional logic, the platform is the foundation of application system deployment and should be built and maintained by application service providers. The emergence of PaaS has overturned this concept, as it is built and operated by specialized platform service providers and provided to application service providers in a service-oriented manner. PaaS operators not only provide basic platform services to customers, but also offer platform specific technical support services, and even provide application system development, optimization, and other services tailored to the platform. In addition to a powerful and stable basic operation platform, PaaS operators also have a professional technical team to support them. This platform level service is a powerful guarantee for the long-term and stable operation of various application systems on the platform. With the support and backing of PaaS platforms, development capabilities will be significantly improved, development efficiency will be higher, and development costs will be lower.

The form of PaaS providing services is somewhat similar to IaaS, therefore it also has advantages similar to IaaS. But the additional features of PaaS, such as middleware, development tools, and other business tools, give it more advantages. It can shorten coding time, and PaaS development tools can significantly reduce the time required to code new applications through pre coded application components built into the platform, such as workflows, directory services, security features, search, etc. It can improve development capabilities, platform as a service components can expand the team's development capabilities, effectively reduce technical difficulties encountered by the team during the development process, and improve development efficiency. It supports development on multiple platforms, and some service providers offer development options for multiple platforms such as computers, mobile devices, and browsers, allowing developers to develop cross platform applications more quickly and easily. It can reduce development costs, and the pay as you go model allows individuals and businesses to use advanced development software, business intelligence, and analysis tools that they do not have the ability to purchase in full, which is very cost-effective. It also supports cross regional collaboration. Because of the Internet access to the development environment, team members can work together to develop projects even if they are far away.

At present, the application scenarios of PaaS are mainly reflected in two aspects. One is the development framework. PaaS provides a framework that developers can build upon to develop or customize cloud based applications. PaaS enables developers to create applications using built-in software components, and cloud features such as scalability, high availability, and multi tenancy reduce developers' code writing workload. The second is Analytics or Business Intelligence. With the tools provided by PaaS services, data analysis and mining can be conducted, insights and patterns can be found, and results can be predicted to improve business decisions such as forecasting, product design, and return on investment. In the industrial Internet platform, PaaS layer is also called the platform layer. Its essence is to build an extensible operating system on the IaaS platform, providing a basic platform for industrial application software development. It is the core of the industrial Internet platform.

With the development of Internet technology and the maturity of application software, SaaS is used more and more widely, and it can be seen everywhere in life. In fact, professionals use SaaS software such as DingTalk, CRM, ERP, HRM, OA, SCRM, MIS, etc. every day. The full name of SaaS is Software as a Service, that is, software as a service, that is, providing software services through the Internet.

Simply put, SaaS provides a "get it and use it" service for software, just like turning on a faucet to use water or turning on a power switch to use electricity. Enterprises do not need to build their own infrastructure resources, develop local deployment environments, or recruit IT personnel. SaaS platform providers will build all the network infrastructure, software, and hardware operation platforms required for enterprise informatization, and provide a series of services such as pre implementation and post maintenance.

SaaS has very distinct characteristics. It provides services for users through the Internet. Its development is based on Internet technology. Rapid implementation, convenient use and low price all depend on the Internet characteristics of SaaS products. It usually has multiple leasing features, and SaaS is not designed to serve individual customers, but is based on a standard software system that provides services to hundreds or thousands of different customers, who have many users. SaaS providers not only need to ensure the data security of each customer, but also meet the personalized needs of different customers. It also has service characteristics. Traditional software is self-developed and used internally by enterprises, so it is not customer service. Unlike SaaS, it provides software services to customers through the Internet, and services are the core. Therefore, we must consider the signing of service contracts, measurement of service use, guarantee of online service quality, and collection of service fees. It also has scalability, which means maximizing the concurrency of the system and using system resources more effectively. For example, in applications, optimizing the persistence of resource locks, using stateless processes, using resource pools to share critical resources such as threads and database connections, caching reference data, and partitioning large databases.

The SaaS software listed earlier is frequently used by many enterprises, which shows the recognition of SaaS by business owners. There are two main advantages that SaaS attracts business owners the most. One reason is the low technical threshold. SaaS is just a simple deployment, and enterprises do not need to purchase any hardware. Simply register when using it. SaaS providers also provide maintenance and management services, eliminating the need for IT technicians and providing access to the latest technology applications to meet the information management needs of enterprises. The second is low investment cost. Enterprises do not need to purchase hardware, only need to pay monthly, reducing capital occupation and easing financial pressure; No cost depreciation, and timely access to the latest hardware platform and best solutions; No need to allocate professional technical personnel, reducing labor costs for enterprises. In the industrial Internet platform, the SaaS layer, also known as the application layer, is the key to the platform. Application services that meet different industries and scenarios will be presented in the form of industrial APP in the SaaS layer.