Cloud Computing Service models

Abimuktheeswaran Chidambaram
3 min readDec 23, 2023

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Cloud Computing can be defined as the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. These services are provided by cloud providers and typically charge for services as free (or) based on usage.

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Types of Services in cloud computing:

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  1. Software as a Service (SaaS)

It is a way of delivering services and applications over the Internet to customers. You are responsible for your data. It is managed by a cloud service provider including updates, bug fixes, and maintenance. Most SaaS applications can be run directly from a web browser without any downloads or installations. The SaaS applications are sometimes called Web-based software, on-demand software, or hosted software. Ex: Google Drive, Microsoft Outlook, Netflix, and Amazon S3.

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

It is a way of providing a platform and environment to the developers for developing the applications over the Internet. You are responsible for your application and its data. It is managed by a cloud service provider including updates, bug fixes, and maintenance. PaaS applications can be run directly from a web browser. Ex: Elastic Bean Stalk (AWS), Azure App Service (Microsoft), and Google App Engine (GCP).

3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

It is a way of providing virtual networking equipment like operating systems, servers, storage, networks, and databases to the developers for developing applications over the Internet. You are responsible for your application and its data. It is managed by a cloud service provider including updates, bug fixes, and maintenance. Ex: Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2 in AWS), Azure Virtual Machine, Google Compute Engine (GCE).

//Note: the first three services are core in cloud computing.

4. Data as a Service (DaaS)

It is a way of providing data (audio, video, and text) to customers in real-time (or) on-demand over the Internet. You are responsible for your application and its data. It is managed by a data vendor (or) data provider who manages data (data storage, data processing, data integration, and data analytics services) in the data warehouse. Ex: AWS Data Exchange, Azure Data Services.

5. Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

It is a way of providing virtual desktops to the customer over the Internet on a subscription basis. Persistent and Non-Persistent are the two types of DaaS. Persistent Virtual Desktop means users can customize the desktop permanently. It has the features of more customization, more cost, and more storage space. A non-Persistent Virtual Desktop means users can customize the desktop temporarily till log out in each session. It has the features of enhanced security, less customization, easy to manage, less cost, and less storage space. Ex: Amazon WorkSpace, Azure Virtual Desktop, and VMware.

6. Database as a Service (DBaaS)

It is a way of providing a database to the customer over the Internet without downloading and install in the cloud. It is managed by a Cloud Service provider. Ex: AWS Relational Database Service, Azure SQL database, and Google Cloud SQL.

7. Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS)

It is a way of providing Artificial Intelligence to the customer over the Internet through a subscription (or) based on usage model. It uses Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing for analysis, verification, and validation in the service. It is managed by a Cloud Service provider. So you can give fewer coding skills, lower initial payment, etc. Ex: Amazon Sagemaker, Microsoft Cognitive, Google Cloud AI, IBM Watson.

Last Updated: 07-Jan-2024

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