IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
IaaS, Infrastructure as a Service, also known as hardware as a service, it provides resources that belong to virtualized hardware termed as computing infrastructure that offers virtual servers storage, networking connections and IP address.
IaaS architecture
In an IaaS service model, a cloud provider hosts the infrastructure components that are traditionally present in an on-premises data center. This includes servers, storage and networking hardware, as well as the virtualization or hypervisor layer.
IaaS providers also supply a range of services to accompany those infrastructure components. These can include the following:
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detailed billing;
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monitoring;
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log access;
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security;
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load balancing;
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clustering; and
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storage resiliency, such as backup, replication and recovery.
These services are increasingly policy-driven, enabling IaaS users to implement greater levels of automation and orchestration for important infrastructure tasks. For example, a user can implement policies to drive load balancing to maintain application availability and performance.