What is cloud computing? What is the difference between SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS?

Hello. My name is Kikuchi and I am an infrastructure engineer.

This time, we will introduce "the background and form of cloud computing".

table of contents

①What is cloud?

② Background of the birth of cloud

③Form of cloud computing service

④Summary

 

What is cloud?

Cloud (or cloud computing) is a form of using computer resources based on networks, especially the Internet.

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Background of the birth of cloud

▼ Birth of the word “cloud”

The concept of cloud computing was proposed by a professor at the University of Southern California in 1997, but at that time it had not yet spread to general society.

The cloud began to attract serious attention in 2006, when Eric Schmidt, then CEO of Google, touched on the concept of the cloud again.

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Eric Schmidt is said to have expressed the concept of cloud using the word "cloud."

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▼Background of the realization of cloud computing

The reasons behind the realization of the cloud are as follows.

• Increased speed by improving network lines
• Practical application of virtualization technology

→Users can now utilize the processing power provided by data centers consisting of a huge group of servers.

As a result of the above, users can now do the following:

• Use the functions of a data center as much as you need, when you need it, at a low cost
• Quick response to increase/decrease server load, procure new resources, etc.

 

Form of cloud computing service

▼Cloud computing services classified into three types

Cloud computing services are classified into "SaaS," "PaaS," and "IaaS."

These are classified based on how much you can prepare on your own.

If you make a table, it will look like this:

*Services provided in red

 

SaaS : No need to prepare on your own

PaaS : Prepare the application yourself

IaaS : Prepare your own OS/execution environment/applications

 

▼Representative examples of each service

Now that we understand the formats of SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS, we will introduce the services provided by each. The information in parentheses is the provider.

• SaaS

Salesforce(Salesforce) GoogleApps(Google)

• PaaS

Google App Engine (Google) Heroku (Heroku) FluxFlex (fluxflex)

• IaaS

Amazon EC2 (Amazon) Google Compute Engine (Google) Nifty Cloud (Nifty)

 

▼Spread of cloud computing

There is a movement to avoid introducing cloud computing services due to the following reasons.

• The degree of freedom of the system decreases.
• High risk of system failure
• High risk in information management

However, the adoption of the cloud is spreading because it allows for faster system construction while controlling costs according to processing power and data volume.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in 2018, the percentage of companies using cloud services was approximately 60%.

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summary

Cloud refers to the use of computer resources based on networks, especially the Internet, and cloud computing services are classified into "SaaS," "PaaS," and "IaaS."

The cloud is being widely adopted because it speeds up system construction and allows costs to be controlled according to processing power and data volume.

 

 

 

References: “The World's Easiest-to-Understand IT Information Service Industry Structure and Flow” edited by Inou