Cloud computing architecture: layers of cloud pyramid

Nowadays cloud computing services are no longer only a trend but a part of everyday life. We use them everywhere: when checking our emails and social media in the morning, using banking applications, eLearning platforms, etc. You can start to watch a video on your laptop and continue on your phone. All these things are available because of cloud computing.

The majority of people use it but not everyone knows what it is and how it works.

Today we will describe what is cloud computing, what does it consist of and what it can offer for your business.

We can simply describe cloud computing as interaction with different configurable services (virtual machines, data storage, servers, etc.) via the Internet. All services could be quickly provided and decommissioned without big effort.

A lot of people perceive cloud computing and data centers as similar things. If you have a business you might hear you need something of the listed. So are they alike or not?

Actually, both cloud and dedicated data centers serve and storage a big amount of data. Common features end. What’s the difference?

If you want to reduce the expenses of maintaining servers in on-prem data centers, you can rent the equipment from dedicated data centers, which are placed in different places on different distances. When you need to send some data or launch the application, the signal will move through different points in the different cities and countries. Until it gets to the finish, you might lose time and resources. Also, don’t forget that the data center equipment has limited capacity. This is one of the crucial moments when we are talking about large numbers of users. The more users you have, the greater the response delay will be.

Opposite to that, cloud computing allows you to use almost unlimited recourses. Amazon Web Services Availability Zones (AWS AZ), for example, cover a huge territory around AWS data centers. This allows to minimize latency remarkably. In this case, you do not need to wait for the signal to hop to the remote data center. The route to the nearest cloud data center will be created automatically and it will be as short as it can be.

As you can see, the cloud provides high-availability, while data centers can’t do the same things.

For a better understanding of cloud computing structure imagine a pyramid consisting of three layers:

• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS);
• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS);
• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).

Software-as-a-Service

If we imagine cloud structure as a pyramid, we can call SaaS the pyramid head. This is also called “on-demand software”, as end users have ready-to-use software. The Managed Service Provider (MSP) manages all the services, users have only access to the software via the website or mobile application.

The common benefit of SaaS is no installation, maintenance, update and other costs. Users pay only for usage and do not need to worry about all the technical moments. The payment model in SaaS looks like renting — you pay for software only if you use it. Thus, you can pause usage and do not overpay for this period.

SaaS model provides the next features:

• access to the software provided remotely via a thin client;
• payment for software usually include technical support;
• software deployment to the data center as a central core for using the app by all customers;
• a lot of users can launch application simultaneously;
• you can pay monthly or only for the services you actually use;
• the provider performs maintenance and update of the software.

Platform-as-a-Service

PaaS is a central layer of the cloud architecture pyramid. PaaS is a model that provides access to cloud-based platforms like operating systems, database management systems, instruments for software development and testing. Provider in SaaS delivers maintenance for all the IT infrastructure (servers, networks, databases) and decides what resources to provide. The payment n PaaS depends on the level of usage. You might pay for the time of use, the volume of processed information or network traffic.

PaaS model provides the next features:

• this cloud pyramid layer allows developers to configure necessary resources for running apps, thus you can receive complete environment for software development;
• you can use automated scalability of resources and do not need to allocate them manually;
• you manage the services you develop and the provider manages all the rest.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service

Infrastructure-as-a-Service is the bottom layer of the cloud architecture pyramid, it provides access to computing resources. The provider handles administration and hardware issues. All the settings of the operating system and application the customer has to manage on his own.

IaaS model provides the next features:

• you can rent all the tools (hardware and others) you need and use it how you need;
• you receive administrator rights inside rented hardware;
• the MSP guarantees the availability of resources allocated to you;
• the provider manages all hardware issues.

There is a well-known example of cloud infrastructure and all layers — Pizza as a Service. To ensure the complete understanding of the whole pyramid, let’s have a look at this example.

SaaS is a pizza in the restaurant. You have all the services — served table, menu with different pizzas, waiter and pizza itself and you don’t need to cook or prepare something on your own. It looks like a list of applications you can choose, the application itself and technical support.

PaaS is like pizza delivery. You have a menu, you can choose and receive your pizza, but the table and service are up to you. The same works with software — you have the environment for software development.

IaaS, in this case, is homemade pizza — you are supplied with products and need to cook and serve the pizza. In the development area, you have instruments and can make your own software with them. Your instruments are computing resources and access to the hardware, they allow you to make any “recipe” you need.

As you can see, the architecture of cloud computing is quite simple for understanding and can be used by different customers with different needs. In addition to the described pyramid, you can make your cloud private, public or hybrid. It means, you can make cloud only for your company or use one of the public clouds, or combine both approaches.

Wrapup: cloud pyramid as a customization instrument

Cloud computing, in general, provides a huge level of customization. You can use the ready application with technical support from the provider and without needing to access the software source code or vice versa, have access to the settings and customize the environment for your needs, or even make your own environment and software with access to the necessary resources.

Resources in the cloud are delivered by Managed Service Providers, which can support your cloud projects, implement cloud computing to your company, make cloud strategy, etc. Cloud computing can propose for your business high-availability, flexibility, scalability and, of course, cost reduction. In the cloud, you pay by subscription, which you can cancel if you need, or by Pay-As-You-Go model, where you pay only for used supplies.

Scalability allows you to increase and lower the allocated resources, as a result, you have a very stable but flexible system.

Thus, cloud computing can upgrade your business or startup and make it more competitive. You just need to choose the right pyramid layer and strategy. If you have doubts about what’s better for your project, refer to the MSP which always can give some good advice.