Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service model that provides virtualised computing resources over the internet. It offers on-demand access to fundamental computing infrastructure such as virtual machines (VMs), storage, networking, and other essential resources, allowing users to build, deploy, and manage their own applications and services.
IaaS providers offer scalable and flexible resources that users can provision and manage as needed, without the necessity of purchasing physical hardware. Users can access and use computing resources on a pay-as-you-go or subscription-based model.
Users have control and flexibility over the configuration, management, and maintenance of their virtualised infrastructure. They can manage operating systems, install applications, and control settings to meet their specific needs.
Prominent IaaS providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS) with its EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), IBM Cloud, and other cloud service providers that offer infrastructure resources to support diverse workloads and applications.