Definitions[]
infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is
| “ | one type of cloud computing in which a vendor offers various infrastructure components such as hardware, storage, and other fundamental computing resources.[1] | ” |
| “ | [t]he capability provided to the cloud service customer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental ]computing resources where the cloud service customer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The cloud service customer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).[2] | ” |
| “ | [a] cloud service model focused on providing infrastructure required to host a workload; includes virtual machines, servers, storage, load, balancers, network, etc.[3] | ” |
| “ | a provisioning model in which an organization outsources the equipment used to support operations, including storage, hardware, servers and networking components. The service provider owns the equipment and is responsible for housing, runing and maintaining it. The client typically pays on a per-use basis.[4] | ” |
Overview[]
"Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) provides computing resources such as processing, storage and networks to the users of clouds, and enables users to leverage these resources through their own implementation of virtualisation capabilities. Providers of these hardware virtual machines offer access to raw computing resources and a high degree of flexibility. IaaS users are able to access computational resources (e.g. CPUs), and run operating systems and software on the provided computing resources. The flexibility for users is very high is the IaaS model as there are only few limits on the kinds of application that can be hosted on these services."[5]
Key components[]
Implementation of IaaS typically includes the following layered components:
- Service level agreements (optional)
- Utility computing billing (e.g., per instance hour)
- Platform virtualization environment for running client-specified virtual machines
- Computer hardware (typically set up as a grid for massive horizontal scalability)
- Computer networks (including firewalls, load balancing, etc.)
- Internet connectivity
Key characteristics[]
The key characteristics of IaaS include:
- Resources delivered as a service including servers, network equipment, memory, CPU, disk space, data center facilities,
- Dynamic scaling of infrastructure which scales up and down based on application resource needs
- Variable cost service using fixed prices per resource component
- Multiple tenants typically coexist on the same infrastructure resources
- Enterprise grade infrastructure allows mid-size companies to benefit from the aggregate compute resource pools.
References[]
- ↑ Information Technology Reform: Progress Made; More Needs to Be Done to Complete Actions and Measure Results, at 5 n.b.
- ↑ Cloud Service Level Agreement Standardisation Guidelines, at 13.
- ↑ DoD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide, at B-1.
- ↑ Best Practices for Negotiating Cloud-Based Software Contracts, at 4.
- ↑ Cloud Computing: The Concept, Impacts and the Role of Government Policy, at 10.
See also[]
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