What is IaaS? Infrastructure as a Service | Microsoft Azure

Learn about infrastructure as a service (IaaS) cloud computing. ... Examples include protein folding and earthquake simulations, climate and weather ... Thisbrowserisnolongersupported. UpgradetoMicrosoftEdgetotakeadvantageofthelatestfeatures,securityupdates,andtechnicalsupport. DownloadMicrosoftEdge Moreinformation SkipNavigation Azure Freeaccount WhatisIaaS? Infrastructureasaservice Overview FAQs Getstarted Products More Freeaccount Infrastructureasaservice(IaaS)isatypeofcloudcomputingservicethatoffersessentialcompute,storage,andnetworkingresourcesondemand,onapay-as-you-gobasis.IaaSisoneofthefourtypesofcloudservices,alongwithsoftwareasaservice(SaaS),platformasaservice(PaaS),andserverless. Migratingyourorganization'sinfrastructuretoanIaaSsolutionhelpsyoureducemaintenanceofon-premisesdatacenters,savemoneyonhardwarecosts,andgainreal-timebusinessinsights.IaaSsolutionsgiveyoutheflexibilitytoscaleyourITresourcesupanddownwithdemand.Theyalsohelpyouquicklyprovisionnewapplicationsandincreasethereliabilityofyourunderlyinginfrastructure. IaaSletsyoubypassthecostandcomplexityofbuyingandmanagingphysicalserversanddatacenterinfrastructure.Eachresourceisofferedasaseparateservicecomponent,andyouonlypayforaparticularresourceforaslongasyouneedit.AcloudcomputingserviceproviderlikeAzuremanagestheinfrastructure,whileyoupurchase,install,configure,andmanageyourownsoftware—includingoperatingsystems,middleware,andapplications. CommonIaaSbusinessscenarios LearnaboutAzureIaaS Lift-and-shiftmigration Thisisthefastestandleastexpensivemethodofmigratinganapplicationorworkloadtothecloud.Withoutrefactoringyourunderlyingarchitecture,youcanincreasethescaleandperformance,enhancethesecurity,andreducethecostsofrunninganapplicationorworkload. Testanddevelopment Yourteamcanquicklysetupanddismantletestanddevelopmentenvironments,bringingnewapplicationstomarketfaster.IaaSmakesitquickandeconomicaltoscaledev/testenvironmentsupanddown. Storage,backup,andrecovery Yourorganizationavoidsthecapitaloutlayforstorageandthecomplexityofstoragemanagement,whichtypicallyrequiresaskilledstafftomanagedataandmeetlegalandcompliancerequirements.IaaSisusefulforhandlingunpredictabledemandandsteadilygrowingstorageneeds.Italsocansimplifyplanningandmanagementofbackupandrecoverysystems. Webapps IaaSprovidesalltheinfrastructuretosupportwebapps,includingstorage,webandapplicationservers,andnetworkingresources.YourorganizationcanquicklydeploywebappsonIaaSandeasilyscaleinfrastructureupanddownwhendemandfortheappsisunpredictable. High-performancecomputing High-performancecomputingonsupercomputers,computergrids,orcomputerclustershelpssolvecomplexproblemsinvolvingmillionsofvariablesorcalculations.Examplesincludeproteinfoldingandearthquakesimulations,climateandweatherpredictions,financialmodeling,andproductdesignevaluations. AdvantagesofIaaS Reducescapitalexpendituresandoptimizescosts IaaSeliminatesthecostofconfiguringandmanagingaphysicaldatacenter,whichmakesitacost-effectivechoiceformigratingtothecloud.Thepay-as-you-gosubscriptionmodelsusedbyIaaSprovidershelpyoureducehardwarecostsandmaintenanceandenableyourITteamtofocusoncorebusiness. IncreasesscaleandperformanceofITworkloads IaaSletsyouscalegloballyandaccommodatespikesinresourcedemand.Thatway,youcandeliverITresourcestoemployeesfromanywhereintheworldfasterandenhanceapplicationperformance. Increasesstability,reliability,andsupportability WithIaaS,there'snoneedtomaintainandupgradesoftwareandhardwareortroubleshootequipmentproblems.Withtheappropriateagreementinplace,theserviceproviderassuresthatyourinfrastructureisreliableandmeetsservice-levelagreements(SLAs). Improvesbusinesscontinuityanddisasterrecovery Achievinghighavailability,businesscontinuity,anddisasterrecoveryisexpensivebecauseitrequiresasignificantamountoftechnologyandstaff.ButwiththerightSLAinplace,IaaShelpstoreducethiscost.Italsohelpsyouaccessapplicationsanddataasusualduringadisasteroroutage. Enhancessecurity Withtheappropriateserviceagreement,acloudserviceprovidercanofferbettersecurityforyourapplicationsanddatathanthesecurityyouwouldattaininhouse. Helpsyouinnovateandgetnewappstousersfaster WithIaaS,onceyou'vedecidedtolaunchanewproductorinitiative,thenecessarycomputinginfrastructurecanbereadyinminutesorhours,ratherthanindaysorweeks.Andbecauseyoudon'tneedtosetuptheunderlyinginfrastructure,IaaSletsyoudeliveryourappstousersfaster. Frequentlyaskedquestions Whatisplatformasaservice(PaaS)? Platformasaservicereferstocloudcomputingservicesthatsupplyanon-demandenvironmentfordeveloping,testing,delivering,andmanagingsoftwareapplications.PaaSisdesignedtomakeiteasierfordeveloperstoquicklycreatewebormobileapps,withoutworryingaboutsettingupormanagingtheunderlyinginfrastructureofservers,storage,network,anddatabasesneededfordevelopment. Learnmore Whatissoftwareasaservice(SaaS)? Softwareasaserviceisamethodfordeliveringsoftwareapplicationsovertheinternet,ondemand,andtypicallyonasubscriptionbasis.WithSaaS,cloudprovidershostandmanagethesoftwareapplicationandunderlyinginfrastructure.Theseprovidersalsohandleanymaintenance,likesoftwareupgradesandsecuritypatching.Usersconnecttotheapplicationovertheinternet,usuallywithawebbrowserontheirphone,tablet,orPC. Learnmore Whatiscloudcomputing? Cloudcomputingisthedeliveryofcomputingservicesusinganetworkofremoteservershostedontheinternettostore,manage,andanalyzedata. Learnmore Whatisahybridcloud? Ahybridcloudisatypeofcloudcomputingthatcombineson-premisesinfrastructure—oraprivatecloud—withapubliccloud.Hybridcloudsallowdataandappstomovebetweenthetwoenvironments. Learnmore WherecanIlearnmoreabouttypesofcloudservices? Mostcloudcomputingservicesfallintofourbroadcategories:infrastructureasaservice(IaaS),platformasaservice(PaaS),serverless,andsoftwareasaservice(SaaS).Thesearesometimescalledthecloudcomputing“stack”becausetheybuildontopofoneanother. Seecommoncloudcomputingterms GetstartedwithMicrosoftAzureIaaS MaximizethescaleandperformanceofyourITresourceswhileoptimizingcosts.ExploreuniqueAzureinfrastructureasaservice(IaaS)solutionsthatenableproductivityfromanywhere,increaseefficiency,deliverinnovationacrosshybridenvironments,andhelpensuresecurity. Getstarted RelatedAzureIaaSservicesandproducts AzureIaaS AzureVirtualMachines AzureDiskStorage Azurenetworking Business-criticalapplications Hybridcloudsolutions Managementandgovernance Security