Let’s look at the types of cloud services, consider each type and the most famous examples.
- IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
- PaaS (Platform as a Service)
- SaaS (Software as a Service)
- CaaS (Communications as a Service)
- CaaS (Container as a Service)
- DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service)
- BaaS (Backup as a Service)
- BaaS (Backend as a Service)
- DBaaS (Data Base as a Service)
- MaaS (Monitoring as a Service)
- DaaS (Desktop as a Service)
- STaaS (Storage as a Service)
- NaaS (Network as a Service)
All of these cloud services are united by the fact that they remove a number of tasks for organizing certain solutions from the shoulders of customers and allow them to focus on their work.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
This is the most popular type of cloud application. Such solutions can be used via mobile or browser without installing and configuring an app. Since such apps don’t overuse the device’s resources, users can use such apps on any device. They don’t also need to purchase the software and pay for each released update.
SaaS Examples: GSuite, Slack, Dropbox
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS platforms are designed to simplify the development process and offer all the necessary means for developing applications. PaaS provides different development tools, middleware, operating systems, database management, and infrastructure.
PaaS Examples: Apache Stratos, Windows Azure, Heroku, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, OpenShift
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS allows building products without developing basic components from scratch. Providers of IaaS solutions provide businesses with servers, networks, visualization, and storage. Business owners need to create middleware (API) for an application to interact with its operating system.
IaaS Examples: Google Compute Engine, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean