XaaS – What is it?

Cloud Computing is an umbrella term for how IT is delivered as a Service.  Cloud Computing is the distribution model for scalable, on-demand, affordable, pay-as-you-go, advanced hosted IT services.  The concept behind Cloud Computing is the ability for businesses to leverage the infrastructure of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) to obtain many different types of services, at a lower cost, and through a user-friendly model in which IT knowledge is not generally required.

Within the Cloud Computing domain, there are various terms for specific pieces of the cloud.  Some of these terms include the different variations of “XaaS” – meaning “something” as a service; the X is a variable that can be changed to represent several things.  This term simply describes the distribution of different IT components within a Cloud Computing service model.  All of the following options are hosting services provided over the Cloud, and include Cloud security; some focus on one aspect of IT, while some encompass everything as a service.

Some of the common delivery models of Cloud Computing:

SaaS – Software as a Service.  This service allows users to access specific software applications on their own computer, via the Internet.  The Cloud Service Provider owns the application and the software licenses, and the customer leverages the use of the application for a fixed subscription fee.  Some examples of SaaS are NIRIX’s oneBackup and oneExchange services.

PaaS – Platform as a Service.  This concept is the provisioning of an application platform, typically for web applications, from a Cloud Service Provider to the customer.  The customer requires an environment and the tools to create a specific application, so the CSP hosts the platform and the application for the customer to leverage.  An example of PaaS is NIRIX’s oneCloud Control Panel (oCCP) tool.

IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service.  This is the perfect service for businesses seeking the use of a datacenter or a server, but not wanting to invest in the building and maintenance of facilities or hardware/software costs.  Customers can run applications on the Cloud Service Provider’s infrastructure, usually through a virtual/cloud server(s), or can host servers in the CSP’s datacenter.  IaaS is often a server hosting service.  Some examples of IaaS are NIRIX’s oneDatacenter and oneServer services.

DaaS – Desktop as a Service.  This service allows a customer to host their entire desktop computing environment through a Cloud Service Provider.  This means access to software, applications, email, data storage/online backup, etc. without IT maintenance and software costs.  An example of DaaS is NIRIX’s oneDesktop service.  This is an“everything as a service”option.