Google Cloud Platform - IaaS/PaaS

IaaS (infrastructure as a service) is a computing model that offers resources on-demand to businesses and individuals via the cloud. IaaS is attractive because acquiring computing resources to run applications or store data the traditional way requires time and capital. Enterprises must purchase equipment through procurement processes that can take months. They must invest in physical spaces: typically specialized rooms with power and cooling. And after deploying the systems, enterprises need IT, professionals, to manage them.

Do you need IaaS?

  • IaaS provides enterprises with storage, server, and networking options that don’t require them to purchase and maintain vast private server rooms that take up a lot of energy and space. Thus one of the key reasons businesses choose IaaS is to reduce their capital expenditures and transform them into operational expenses.
  • IaaS versus PaaS (platform as a service): sometimes these two services are confused. Indeed, the difference between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS (software as a service) is often questioned. The answer is that they each provide a different cloud service: an infrastructure environment versus platform-tools versus complete applications.

If your organization experiences any of the following, you’re probably a good candidate for IaaS:

  • High business growth that outpaces infrastructure capabilities
  • Unpredictable spikes in demand for infrastructure services
  • Low utilization of existing infrastructure resources
  • Large volumes of data that overwhelm on-premises data stores
  • Slow response times with on-premises applications
  • Application performance limitations due to capacity constraints
  • Slow hardware refresh cycles

What is IaaS used for?

  • IaaS offers a broad range of possible applications that can benefit organizations. Here are some common use cases:

Run testing and development

  • The computing and networking power of IaaS makes it a perfect environment to run and manage testing and development cycles.

Improve disaster recovery preparation

  • Because IaaS is scalable and reliable, businesses can consolidate disparate disaster recovery systems into one virtualized environment.

Perform big data analysis

  • Storing and analyzing big data requires a lot of processing power. IaaS is an appropriate environment for big data because it can handle large workloads.

Provision resources quickly

  • IaaS makes it possible to get new projects up and running quickly when urgent business priorities arise.