Alexis Kestler
Hey there! If you‘re interested in learning all about Infrastructure as a Service, you‘ve come to the right place. By the end of this guide, you‘ll be an IaaS expert.
Let‘s start from the beginning…
What Exactly is Infrastructure as a Service?
Infrastructure as a Service (or IaaS for short) refers to on-demand computing infrastructure — things like servers, storage, networking, and data centers — provided over the internet by cloud providers.
With IaaS, you don‘t have to purchase any hardware or manage any data centers yourself. It‘s like everything is rented! The cloud provider handles it all. You just pay for what you use.
This is a big shift from the old way of procuring and maintaining your own IT infrastructure. IaaS gives unprecedented flexibility and scalability.
Here‘s a simple analogy:
Old way = You buy a car
IaaS = You use Uber/Lyft
Makes sense right? With IaaS you "rent" IT infrastructure instantly whenever and wherever you need it.
According to [Grand View Research], the global IaaS market size was valued at USD 50.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.7% from 2021 to 2028.
So it‘s safe to say IaaS is massively disrupting the IT landscape!
IaaS Architecture: The Nuts and Bolts
An IaaS platform is made up of different components working together behind the scenes:
Compute
This refers to the virtual servers, CPUs, and GPUs that provide the processing capacity. With just a few clicks, you can launch as many virtual machine (VM) instances as you need to scale. The cloud provider maintains the actual physical servers for you.
Storage
Your data needs a place to live. IaaS provides storage resources like object storage, block storage, file storage, and disk storage. Again, no need to set up physical storage hardware when you use the cloud.
Networking
Your cloud resources need to be connected. IaaS gives you virtual networking services like routers, firewalls, load balancers, and bandwidth. The cloud provider handles all the cabling, configuration, and management.
With these building blocks combined, you can deploy virtually any type of application or workload to the cloud. It‘s like having a fully functional data center at your fingertips that can scale infinitely!
Let me show you what I mean…
Here‘s a diagram of the high-level IaaS architecture:
Give me a virtual high-five! With IaaS, the infrastructure management burden is lifted off your shoulders. Now let‘s dig a bit deeper…
The Use Cases and Benefits of IaaS Adoption
Many organizations are migrating workloads to IaaS platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. Why? What can you actually do with it?
Here are some of the most popular use cases and benefits:
Flexibility for Developers
IaaS makes setting up dev and test environments a breeze. Developers can quickly provision the infrastructure they need to build and iterate on apps without waiting around. There‘s no need to procure any hardware either.
Highly Scalable Apps and Websites
Got a viral web app taking off? IaaS allows you to scale your infrastructure up or down to meet demand. Adding more capacity is as easy as sliding a slider bar.
Crunching Big Data
Platforms like Hadoop and Spark thrive on IaaS. The scale-out architecture lets you analyze huge datasets using clusters of virtual servers. Scaling to thousands of nodes is no problem.
Always-On Availability
By distributing infrastructure across multiple data centers, IaaS provides built-in redundancy and failover most organizations could never match themselves. Your apps can stay online 24/7/365.
Disaster Recovery
Recovering from catastrophic data loss or downtime is easy with IaaS. Critical systems can be replicated to the cloud as a backup. If something happens to your primary infrastructure, the cloud copy can take over quickly.
According to Gartner, the worldwide public cloud services market is forecast to grow 23% in 2021 to total $332.3 billion, up from $270 billion in 2020. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) will remain the largest market segment in 2021, growing 26% to $92 billion.
Clearly, IaaS adoption is accelerating! Now, how does it differ from other cloud services?
Comparing IaaS to PaaS, SaaS and Serverless
IaaS is one of the three major cloud computing models:
IaaS – Provides infrastructure like servers, storage and networking. You manage the software.
PaaS – Provides an application development/deployment platform with infrastructure included. You manage your code and data.
SaaS – Provides a complete end-user application. You just use the app.
Think of it as increasing levels of abstraction. IaaS is the foundation. SaaS builds on PaaS which builds on IaaS.
IaaS also differs from "serverless" computing. With serverless, all infrastructure is managed for you automatically without provisioning anything. Your code simply connects to event-triggered services that scale instantly.
The cloud spectrum runs from raw infrastructure (IaaS) to fully abstracted serverless. Which one you use depends on your needs and workload!
Here‘s a quick recap:
| Model | Description | User Management | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | Provides virtualized computing infrastructure like servers, storage, and networking on-demand.
You deploy whatever software you want. |
You manage operating systems, applications, data etc.
No control of actual physical infrastructure. |
AWS EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute |
| PaaS | Provides an application development and deployment platform including infrastructure plus dev tools, APIs, etc.
You deploy your code/apps on it. |
You manage your code and applications.
No control over infrastructure or middleware. |
AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Heroku, Google App Engine |
| SaaS | Provides a complete end-user application delivered over the internet.
You just use the app. |
You manage user access and application data.
No access to infrastructure/platform. |
Salesforce, Dropbox, Slack, Office 365 |
| Serverless | Provides event-driven, autoscaling functions and services.
You write function code and connect to services. |
You manage your code.
No infrastructure management at all. |
AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, GCP Cloud Functions |
Got it? Now let‘s look at the top IaaS providers out there…
Major IaaS Platforms Compared
There are many IaaS providers to evaluate. Here are some of the top players:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) – The clear market leader. AWS offers just about every IaaS component you can think of. Huge global footprint with 24 regions and 77 availability zones. Widely adopted.
Microsoft Azure – Azure provides Windows and Linux VMs, storage, networking, Kubernetes service, and more. It has 54 regions globally. Strong hybrid cloud capabilities.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) – GCP offers VMs, object storage, VPNs, load balancers, and all the core IaaS building blocks. It has 24 regions and 73 availability zones worldwide.
IBM Cloud – IBM Cloud has data centers in six continents. It offers virtual servers, storage, networking, and direct link connectivity. GPUs available.
Alibaba Cloud – Fast growing Chinese provider. Elastic Compute Service (ECS) for VMs, storage, VPN, etc. 22 availability zones across 6 regions.
Oracle Cloud – Oracle has a full IaaS suite focused on Windows/Linux VMs, networking, storage, and block volumes. 29 cloud regions worldwide.
The major players all offer the core IaaS capabilities, but they differ in their geographic reach, service options, pricing, and supplemental services.
IaaS spending is also growing across the board:
| IaaS Provider | 2020 Revenue | 2021 Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon AWS | $29B | $37B |
| Microsoft Azure | $12.7B | $19.5B |
| Google Cloud Platform | $4.1B | $5.5B |
| Alibaba Cloud | $4.5B | $6.2B |
| IBM Cloud | $5.8B | $6.2B |
| Oracle Cloud | $1.9B | $2.8B |
AWS leads the pack by far in market share. But all the major players are rapidly growing.
Now that you know the key options, let‘s discuss the pros and cons of IaaS…
The Main Advantages of IaaS
There are some great reasons to adopt IaaS:
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Cost Savings – No need to buy hardware you only use part time. Pay only for what you use.
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Scalability – Scale up or down as needed. No capacity planning required.
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Speed – Provision resources in minutes without waiting weeks for hardware.
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Reliability – Leverage cloud providers‘ top-tier data centers, redundancy, and failover capabilities.
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Flexibility – Experiment and innovate quickly. Switch workloads between regions or providers.
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Maintenance – The cloud provider handles all infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.
According to LogicMonitor‘s Cloud Vision 2020 survey, 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by 2020. The top drivers for migration are greater scalability (59%) and higher availability (55%).
Clearly, the benefits are resonating with enterprise customers! But what about the downsides?
Potential IaaS Drawbacks to Consider
IaaS isn‘t perfect. There are some challenges to note:
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Vendor lock-in – Migrating between cloud providers is difficult with proprietary platforms.
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Complexity – Large-scale infrastructure takes skill to configure and optimize cost/performance.
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Security risks – You‘re dependent on the cloud provider‘s security model. Must take precautions.
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Internet reliance – Being online 24/7 is crucial. Outages hurt availability.
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Cost overruns – Inefficient use of resources can rack up big bills fast if not cautious.
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Job disruption – Could reduce need for traditional sysadmin roles over time as workloads move to cloud.
The key is architecting cloud-based solutions the right way and using managed services to reduce complexity. Training helps too.
Now, let‘s briefly envision the future of IaaS…
Where is IaaS Heading?
What does the future hold for IaaS? Here are a few predictions:
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Continued rapid growth as more workloads migrate to the cloud
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Enhanced integration between IaaS and higher-level PaaS and managed services
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Improved analytics and automation capabilities to optimize utilization and spend
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Expansion of infrastructure options with new CPUs, GPUs, quantum etc.
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Higher interoperability between providers to reduce lock-in
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Greater global competition as telcos and Chinese providers gain share
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Incorporation of emerging technologies like blockchain, edge computing and AI
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Tighter integration with on-prem infrastructure for seamless hybrid cloud
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Serverless computing gaining more enterprise adoption on top of IaaS foundations
Exciting times ahead! IaaS will continue to evolve quickly while cementing its role as the backbone of the cloud.
Get Started with IaaS Today
I hope this guide gave you a comprehensive overview of Infrastructure as a Service! Here are a few parting thoughts:
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Think strategically before jumping onto IaaS. Plan workloads and use cases.
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Audit existing infrastructure and apps before migrating. Refactor as needed.
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Start small. Prototype on IaaS before going all in. Learn by doing.
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Manage costs closely. Monitor usage and turn off unused resources.
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Architect for high availability across regions. Build in redundancy.
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Take security seriously. Lock down network access, encrypt data, enable MFA, etc.
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Have a cloud exit plan just in case. Avoid over-customization that locks you in.
Wow, you made it to the end! You‘re now a certified IaaS expert. Go deploy those cloud workloads! Let me know if you have any other questions.
