Definition
IaaS stands for Infrastructure as a Service. It is a cloud computing model where businesses rent virtualised computing resources such as servers, storage, and networking from a provider on a pay-as-you-go basis. Instead of buying and maintaining physical hardware, organisations use IaaS to access scalable infrastructure through the internet.
IaaS allows businesses to deploy and manage applications while the provider handles the physical infrastructure. It is widely used for hosting, backup, disaster recovery, and workloads that require flexible scaling.
Advanced
At an advanced level, IaaS platforms provide APIs for provisioning virtual machines, configuring storage, and managing networks. Users maintain control over operating systems, middleware, and applications, while providers manage the underlying hardware and virtualisation layer.
IaaS providers often include advanced features such as load balancing, autoscaling, security monitoring, and multi-region deployments. Popular providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Why it matters
- Reduces capital expenses by replacing hardware with subscription models.
- Provides scalability for growing or fluctuating workloads.
- Offers disaster recovery and global availability options.
- Gives organisations flexibility with full control over software environments.
Use cases
- Hosting enterprise applications and databases.
- Running development and testing environments.
- Supporting disaster recovery with backup infrastructure.
- Deploying scalable websites and virtual machines.
Metrics
- Uptime and service-level agreement compliance.
- Provisioning speed for new infrastructure.
- Cost efficiency compared to on-premise hardware.
- Network performance and latency across regions.
Issues
- Vendor lock-in may limit migration between providers.
- Costs can grow quickly without usage monitoring.
- Security responsibility remains partly with the business.
- Complex management for large deployments without automation.
Example
An e-commerce company migrates from on-premise servers to AWS, an IaaS provider. The company provisions virtual machines for its website, configures scalable storage, and sets up load balancers for peak shopping periods. This reduces hardware costs and improves resilience.