Cloud Hosting: Infrastructure as a Service

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is one of the most prominent types of cloud service being utilized today. Your service provider hosts hardware equipment, operating systems and other IT components for customers in an efficient and automated delivery model. It can also be used to handle data backup and business continuity. IaaS helps the user eliminate the cost of purchasing expensive equipment and allow the user to pay only for the resources that are being used. The cloud hosting provider shoulders the responsibility of maintaining the equipment. IaaS offers virtualized computing resources to organizations and businesses via the internet. The most noteworthy aspect of IaaS is that the hardware as well as software are offered as virtualized services.

As mentioned, the cloud service provider is responsible for the maintenance and repairs of any equipment, relieving the end user of the hassles of dealing with servicing equipment. If any glitches occur, the user need only notify the service provider. Often, the issues are resolved by remote operations. If more serious issues arise, the provider undertakes to offer replacement as agreed in the Service Level Agreement.

Iaas enables a responsiveness not possible with traditional IT infrastructure that relies on on-premise data centers. It is especially beneficial for the SMB that is looking ahead and sees growth in demand. IaaS is a big cost saver to the user. Switching IT infrastructure to the cloud ensures saving in expenditures and operating costs. It also offers flexibility in terms of location and working remotely.

IaaS Considerations

Infrastructure and location: Planning the volume of data storage that you want to outsource to a data center can be used as a metric for the kind of infrastructure you need to look for. Some things that can help make your decision are the types of servers used and the location of the center and the configuration of the servers and networks.
Efficiency and reliability: Power backup is very important as is understanding how this backup is configured with regard to your servers. The reliability of the data center should be at least 99.9995% for the efficient functioning of your business, and this should be supported by smooth accessibility of your data for all operations.
Data redundancy for unexpected situations: In the event of an emergency, or as part of a disaster recovery plan, redundancy of your stored data should be ensured by the data center. Have a discussion with the data center personnel to ensure that all failure scenarios have been taken into account when planning the design of the data center.
Data security in all aspects: The physical and virtual security of our data must be well protected by the data center. It is important that you visit it personally to assess both these aspects before making your choice.
Access and connectivity for smooth functioning: As the data stored in a data center would probably not be just a static block, but would need to be accessed for your business needs, the ease of access needs to be considered as well. The network connectivity of the center plans an important part in determining this, too.
Scalability to support growth: As your business grows, your data storage needs increase accordingly. The ways and speed of accessing this data would also need to adapt with this growth. Ensure that the data center has plans for future expansion and can provide you these additional resources, even on short notice.

IaaS Features