KIPM-College of Engineering &Technology-751, GIDA,GORAKHPUR
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
NOTES
What are IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, and CaaS?
Cloud computing has three main cloud service models: IaaS (infrastructure as a service), PaaS (platform as a
service), and SaaS (software as a service). You might also hear IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS called cloud service
offerings or cloud computing categories, but all of these terms refer to how you use the cloud in your
organization and the degree of management you’re responsible for in your cloud environments.
In addition to these three broad categories, you may also come across other types of cloud services that
incorporate other technologies, such as containers. For example, the rising adoption of containers and
microservices architectures has led to the emergence of CaaS (containers as a service).
“As a service” typically means that the service model is offered by a third party in the cloud. In other words,
you don’t have to purchase, manage, or use any hardware, software, tools, or applications from an on-premises
data center. Instead, you can simply pay a subscription or pay based on consumption (pay-as-you-go) to access
what you need on demand via an internet connection.
But what is IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, and CaaS exactly and what does each model offer you and your teams?
Here’s a basic breakdown of each service model:
IaaS
Infrastructure as a service, or IaaS, delivers on-demand infrastructure resources to organizations via the cloud,
such as compute, storage, networking, and virtualization. Customers don’t have to manage, maintain, or update
their own data center infrastructure, but are responsible for the operating system, middleware, virtual machines,
and any apps or data.
CaaS
Containers as a service, or CaaS, delivers and manages all the hardware and software resources to develop and
deploy applications using containers. Sometimes viewed as a subset or an extension of IaaS, CaaS uses
containers rather than VMs as its main resource. Developers and IT operations teams can use CaaS to develop,
run, and manage applications without having to build and maintain the infrastructure or platform to run and
manage containers. Customers still have to write the code and manage their data and applications, but the
environment to build and deploy containerized apps is managed and maintained by the cloud service provider.
PaaS
Platform as a service, or PaaS, delivers and manages all the hardware and software resources to develop
applications through the cloud. Developers and IT operations teams can use PaaS to develop, run, and manage
applications without having to build and maintain the infrastructure or platform on their own. Customers still
have to write the code and manage their data and applications, but the environment to build and deploy apps is
managed and maintained by the cloud service provider.
SaaS
Software as a service, or SaaS, provides the entire application stack, delivering an entire cloud-based
application that customers can access and use. SaaS products are completely managed by the service provider
and come ready to use, including all updates, bug fixes, and overall maintenance. Most SaaS applications are
accessed directly through a web browser, which means customers don’t have to download or install anything on
their devices.
Key differences between cloud IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, and CaaS
Understanding the difference between IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, and CaaS in cloud computing comes down to the
level of control and responsibility. Each model offers an alternative to managing your own on-premises data
center, but the service provider will manage different elements in the computing stack depending on which
type you choose.
The diagram below shows how IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, and CaaS compare in terms of who is responsible for
managing what:
To understand cloud and the different models to choose from, it can help to think about it in terms of housing:
On-premises: If you decide to build your house from scratch, you do everything yourself. You’ll need
to source the raw materials and tools, put everything together, and run to the store every time you need
anything. This is similar to running an application on-premises, where you own everything from the
hardware to your applications and scaling.
Infrastructure as a service: If you are busy, you might consider hiring a contractor to do the work.
You tell them how you want the house to look and how many rooms you want, and they take the
instructions and build your home. IaaS works in a similar way for your applications. You rent the
hardware to run your application on, but you are responsible for managing the OS, runtime, scale, and
all the data. Example: Compute Engine
Containers as a service: If buying a home is just too much work due to the maintenance it comes with,
you can choose to rent instead. The basic utilities are included, but you bring your own furniture and
make the space yours. With containers, you can bring a containerized application, so you don't have to
worry about the underlying operating system but still have control over scale and
runtime. Example: Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Platform as a service: If you don’t want to worry about furnishing your living space, you can rent a
furnished house. PaaS lets you bring your own code and deploy it but leaves the server management
and scaling up to the cloud provider. Examples: App Engine, Cloud Run
Function as a service: If you just need a small dedicated place to work away from your home, you can
rent a desk in a coworking workspace. Similarly, FaaS allows you to build and deploy a small piece of
code, or a function, that performs a specific task. The cloud provider adds scale if needed when a
function executes. Example: Cloud Functions
Software as a service: Now, imagine you move into a finished house (rented or purchased), but you
have to pay for upkeep, such as cleaning or lawn care. SaaS is the same—you pay to use a complete
application for a specific purpose that is managed, maintained, and secured by the cloud provider, but
you are responsible for taking care of your own data. Example: Google Workspace
