IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service
An IaaS cloud vendor runs and manages server farms running virtualization software, enabling you to create VMs that run on the vendor’s infrastructure. Depending on the vendor, you can create a VM running Windows or Linux and install anything you want on it.
Some of the services available under IaaS in Azure are:
- Virtual Machines. Provision Windows and Linux virtual machines in seconds
- Container Instances. Easily run containers with a single command
- Traffic Manager. Route incoming traffic for high performance and availability
- Azure DNS. Host your DNS domain in the Cloud
Azure also provides the ability to set up virtual networks, load balancers, and storage and to use many other services that run on its infrastructure. You don’t have control over the hardware or virtualization software, but you do have control over most everything else. In fact, unlike PaaS, in the case of Iaas, you are completely responsible for the deployment, maintenance, monitoring, and scaling of resources to run your application.