Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the most flexible cloud computing model. It provides the fundamental compute, network, and storage resources to consumers on-demand, over the internet, and on a pay-as-you-go basis. IaaS is analogous to leasing the raw hardware of a data center without the capital expenditure and management overhead. The consumer is responsible for managing the operating system, middleware, data, and applications, while the cloud provider manages the physical infrastructure, including servers, storage arrays, and networking hardware, as well as the virtualization layer. This level of control makes IaaS ideal for a wide range of scenarios. It's perfect for 'lift-and-shift' migrations, where existing on-premises applications are moved to the cloud with minimal changes. Startups and small companies find IaaS appealing because it allows them to avoid the high cost of purchasing and creating hardware. Larger companies use it to retain complete control over their applications and infrastructure while benefiting from cloud scalability and reliability. Common use cases include website hosting, big data analysis, backup and disaster recovery, and high-performance computing (HPC). Leading examples of IaaS include Amazon Web Services' (AWS) EC2, Google Compute Engine (GCE), and Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines.