• What are the different types of cloud computing?

• Cloud deployment models

• Types of cloud services: IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS vs. serverless models
• Differences between IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, and serverless
• Related products and services
• Take the next step

• Topics

• Types of cloud computing

What are the different types of cloud

computing?
Cloud adoption continues to grow in popularity as more enterprises replace
the upfront costs and long-term maintenance of physical servers and on-
premises infrastructure with the scalable, flexible, on-demand computing
resources of the public cloud.

So, what are the main types of cloud computing models and how do you know
which is right for you? The main three types of cloud computing are public
cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud. Within these deployment models, there
are four main services: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service
(PaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and serverless computing.

The type of cloud deployment model and cloud service model you choose will
vary depending on your existing IT investments, business requirements, and
the outcomes you are hoping to achieve.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at the different types of cloud computing,
including deployment and service models.
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Cloud deployment models
When adopting cloud architecture, there are three different types of cloud
deployment models that help deliver cloud computing services: public cloud,
private cloud, and hybrid cloud.

Public cloud

Public clouds deliver resources, such as compute, storage, network, develop-

and-deploy environments, and applications over the internet. They are owned
and run by third-party cloud service providers like Google Cloud.

Private cloud

Private clouds are built, run, and used by a single organization, typically
located on-premises. They provide greater control, customization, and data
security but come with similar costs and resource limitations associated with
traditional IT environments.

Hybrid cloud

Environments that mix at least one private computing environment (traditional

IT infrastructure or private cloud, including edge) with one or more public
clouds are called hybrid clouds. They allow you to leverage the resources and
services from different computing environments and choose which is the
most optimal for the workloads.
When talking about types of cloud deployment, you may also hear the term
multicloud environment. In fact, industry research shows that nearly 90% of
companies are now considered multicloud, meaning they combine cloud
services from at least two different cloud service providers, whether public or
private. Adopting a multicloud approach gives you greater flexibility to choose
the solutions that best suit your specific business needs and also reduces the
risk of vendor lock-in.
While multicloud and hybrid cloud are sometimes used interchangeably, a
hybrid cloud approach can be considered multicloud, but only if it makes use
of services from multiple public cloud providers.
Types of cloud services: IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS
vs. serverless models
Within the cloud deployment models, there are several types of cloud services,
including infrastructure, platforms, and software applications. Cloud service
models are not mutually exclusive, and you can choose to use more than one
in combination or even all of them at once.

Here are the three main cloud service models:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS delivers on-demand infrastructure resources, such as compute, storage,

networking, and virtualization. With IaaS, the service provider owns and operates
the infrastructure, but customers will need to purchase and manage software,
such as operating systems, middleware, data, and applications.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS delivers and manages hardware and software resources for developing,
testing, delivering, and managing cloud applications. Providers typically offer
middleware, development tools, and cloud databases within their PaaS
offerings.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS provides a full application stack as a service that customers can access
and use. SaaS solutions often come as ready-to-use applications, which are
managed and maintained by the cloud service provider.
Serverless computing

Serverless computing in cloud service models is also called Function as a

Service (FaaS). This is a relatively new cloud service model that provides
solutions to build applications as simple, event-triggered functions without
managing or scaling any infrastructure.
Differences between IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, and
serverless
A simple analogy to help remember the difference between IaaS, PaaS, SaaS,
and serverless is to think of the models like eating fresh pasta. You could
make your own from scratch (on-premises data center), where you buy all the
basic ingredients to make everything like the sauce and dough.

However, most of us generally don’t have enough time or don’t want to spend
so much time and effort to eat a bowl of pasta. Instead you might choose
from the following options instead:

• IaaS: Buying pre-packed ingredients like fresh pasta and sauce made by
someone else that you use to cook at home.
• PaaS: Order takeout or delivery where your meal is prepared for you and
you don’t have to worry about the ingredients or how you’ll cook it, but
you have to worry about where you’ll eat, the utensils, and cleaning up
after your meal.
• SaaS: Call ahead to the restaurant and order the exact meal you want.
They prepare everything ahead of time for you so that all you have to do
is show up and eat.
• Serverless: Go out to dinner and order pasta at a restaurant, alone or
with friends. You pay and eat whatever you want and the restaurant
makes sure there’s enough ingredients and staff to create the order
without a long wait.
Cloud computing technology continues to accelerate digital transformations,
providing organizations with everything from compute and storage to cloud
databases and development tools to advanced data analytics and AI/ML
capabilities.

At the same time, the cost of cloud computing offers significant savings over
traditional IT infrastructure and technology. Instead of having to procure,
build, and maintain expensive data centers, companies can opt for virtual
servers and other cloud-based IT solutions where they only pay for what they
consume.

Choosing a cloud deployment model and service model is a basic, but

necessary, part of cloud adoption. While your implementation and utilization
of cloud computing will always be unique from other organizations, it’s
important to know the advantages and limitations of different types of cloud
computing so you can understand how they will impact your business.

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transformation.

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enterprises.

BigQuery
Cost-effective, serverless, multicloud enterprise data warehouse to power data-driven
innovation.

Virtual Private Cloud

Virtual Private Cloud: managed networking functionality for your Google Cloud
resources.
 •

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