IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
IaaS is a model for delivering computing resources through cloud infrastructure. The client gains access to servers, storage, networks, virtual machines, and other components managed by the provider.
Unlike models where the user interacts only with applications or platforms, IaaS gives the customer control over most of the environment: operating systems, configurations, software, and network parameters. This model is flexible, scalable, and helps significantly reduce costs associated with physical hardware.
- The provider is responsible for maintaining data centers, ensuring high availability, power supply, cooling, redundancy, and physical security.
- The client manages virtual resources through a control panel or API.
This model is suitable for companies that need to quickly deploy infrastructure, test new projects, scale seamlessly, or replace their own hardware with virtual resources.
Using IaaS allows organizations to move away from capital expenses for server purchases and switch to a pay-as-you-go model. This is especially valuable for projects with seasonal traffic peaks, startups, scaling companies, and organizations seeking higher resilience without complex internal investments.
How it works
The provider builds a virtualized infrastructure based on physical servers and hypervisors. The client allocates the required amount of resources — CPU, RAM, disk space, network settings — and uses them as full-fledged virtual machines. Management is done through a web interface, API, or automation tools. The provider ensures SLA compliance, monitoring, and updates of the underlying infrastructure.
Types of resources in IaaS
- Virtual machines and compute capacity
- Block and object storage
- Network segments, routing, load balancing
- Firewalls and security policies
- Backups and snapshots
- Automation and orchestration tools
Use cases
IaaS is used for hosting corporate applications, web projects, CRM, ERP, high-load systems, DevOps testing environments, Big Data, machine learning, containerization, and hybrid infrastructures. It is also an optimal foundation for migration from traditional data centers.
Benefits
The key benefits of IaaS include scalability, high availability, flexible configurations, rapid deployment of new environments, no hardware costs, access to modern technologies, and predictable performance.
FAQ
A set of virtual servers, storage, networking resources, security tools, and management services.
IaaS provides infrastructure; PaaS provides a development platform; SaaS provides ready-to-use applications.
Companies that need flexible and scalable infrastructure without purchasing hardware, from startups to large enterprises.
Yes. Most corporate systems can be migrated to the cloud without changes to their architecture.
Yes. Its scalability and fault tolerance make IaaS an effective solution for large-scale projects.
