Infrastructure as a Service or “infrastructure as a service” means that the customer rents computing power from the provider and uses it for their tasks.
Computing power includes servers, storage, switches, and other hardware platforms. The IaaS model also includes and preinstalled software that is necessary for stable operation of the equipment.
There are two rental options. The first is Pay as you go. The customer pays only for the used capacity, but when trying to request large resources, the provider may refuse due to a lack of available equipment.
The second is that the Reservation Pool reserves a certain pool of computing power for the client’s requirements. The customer can use 100% or less, but the subscription fee will not change in this model.
Cloud computing
Advantages
The positive aspects of IaaS compared to the classic purchase model:
- Reduction of financial costs for the purchase of new equipment and/or data center.
- Fixed subscription fee.
- The upgrade and replacement of the hardware is performed by the provider, and only computing power is provided to the end user.
- The client does not carry out commissioning work, as happens when buying new equipment.
- The IaaS model allows the customer to increase or decrease the resources consumed at any time, and the price will change accordingly.
- Cloud resources are provided both in public access and protected at the request of the client.