SEARCH (ENTER TO SEE ALL RESULTS)
Cancel Search
POPULAR TOPICS
Contributed
sponsored-post-contributed
News
Analysis
The New Stack Makers
Tutorial
Podcast
Feature
Research
Profile
The New Stack Logo
Skip to content
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • Ebooks
    • DevOps
    • DevSecOps
    • Docker Ecosystem
    • Kubernetes Ecosystem
    • Microservices
    • Observability
    • Security
    • Serverless
    • Storage
    • All Ebooks
  • Newsletter
  • Sponsorship
  • • • •
    • Podcasts
      • TNS @Scale Series
      • TNS Analysts Round Table
      • TNS Context Weekly News
      • TNS Makers Interviews
      • All Podcasts
    • Events
    • Ebooks
      • DevOps
      • DevSecOps
      • Docker Ecosystem
      • Kubernetes Ecosystem
      • Microservices
      • Observability
      • Security
      • Serverless
      • Storage
      • All Ebooks
    • Newsletter
    • Sponsorship
Skip to content
  • Architecture
    • Cloud Native
    • Containers
    • Edge/IoT
    • Microservices
    • Networking
    • Serverless
    • Storage
  • Development
    • Development
    • Cloud Services
    • Data
    • Machine Learning
    • Security
  • Operations
    • CI/CD
    • Culture
    • DevOps
    • Kubernetes
    • Monitoring
    • Service Mesh
    • Tools
Search The New Stack
 

Cloud Services

▾ 5 MINUTE READ — CLOSE

There are multiple providers offering cloud services and solutions in different industries. Leading cloud computing vendors include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, the Google Cloud Platform, Alibaba, IBM Cloud, DigitalOcean, Packet, and the Oracle Cloud. These providers offer a wide range of computing, storage, messaging, processing, and other cloud services, all consumed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Types of Cloud Platforms

Cloud computing refers to services run and accessed over the internet. Cloud platforms are created with a mix of technologies that enable cloud computing. These offerings might differ in location, ownership, and use, among many other factors.

Here are the four different types of clouds:

Public Cloud

These are clouds created from infrastructure that is not owned by the end-user. Traditionally, public clouds ran off-premises, but recent public clouds offer cloud services on clients’ premises.

Private Cloud

These cloud environments are created for a given group of users, usually running within the users’ firewall.

Hybrid Cloud

The hybrid cloud combines public and private clouds connected through a specified network.

Multicloud

This is a cloud approach that includes multiple cloud vendors and services. While all hybrid clouds are multiclouds, not all multiclouds are hybrid clouds.

What Are Cloud Services?

Cloud services allow organizations to control and monitor their data using scalable, reliable, virtual resources. Cloud services have been divided into three major categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Are Cloud-Native and Cloud-Based Software the Same?

Although both have many similarities, cloud-native and cloud-based software are different.

Cloud-native software is architected in the cloud and built to run in public clouds like Azure, AWS, and other cloud technologies. Cloud-native applications are flexible and backed by microservices architecture, enabling parts of an app to be upgraded without total disruption.

Discover some important attributes for cloud-native applications.

Cloud-based software is architected in traditional servers but is moved to a cloud provider so that its local components can work with cloud structures. Cloud-based software leverages the scalability and availability of cloud-native applications.

When applications are transferred to a cloud provider, organizations are no longer responsible for managing the resources needed to run the application. This feature eliminates the need to maintain servers and manage backups.

Cloud Service Types

Cloud services are generally divided into three categories:

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

IaaS is one of the first cloud computing services that comprise security tools, networking, storage, and computing. IaaS tools allow organizations to manage and configure software while maintaining maximum hardware and software stack control.

IaaS providers create the infrastructure, and companies provide the remaining tools needed for their internal networks. With these infrastructure services, organizations can reduce the cost of capital needed to create their internal infrastructure. Infrastructure-as-a-service examples include Rackspace, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Compute Engine (GCE).

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS is a development environment in the cloud that provides resources for delivering operating systems through the web without requiring installation or constant downloads.

Platforms-as-a-service solutions maintain the basic infrastructure of many IaaS tools. It also has development tools, database management systems, middleware, and operating systems needed to build software applications. PaaS is best suited for companies that develop software and web applications, as it allows developers to access development tools when needed without buying them directly. PaaS solutions include Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine, and Apache Stratos.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS is an advanced software solution that comes in web-based software applications. The cloud provider maintains the operating system, middleware, data, and infrastructure needed to run the software in specific SaaS solutions. The provider also ensures that the software application is available when needed.

Software-as-a-service solutions are best suited to users who want to avoid overhead costs as there is no significant capital required for use. Many SaaS offerings come in the form of subscriptions or installment payments. Some SaaS examples are LaunchDarkly, Mirantis, Aqua Security, and Salesforce.

Benefits of Cloud Technologies

Cloud technology, also known as cloud computing, uses networks to access digital resources stored in the cloud. Cloud technologies allow organizations to scale up and down when needed.

Here are some benefits of cloud technologies:

Storage. Cloud storage is not limited by capacity like some physical devices may be. Cloud storage is unlimited and accessible to everyone who can afford it.

Collaboration. Cloud computing enhances communication and resource sharing between team members in remote locations. This capability has been invaluable since remote and hybrid work became prominent.

Affordability. Many cloud technologies allow organizations that cannot afford the overhead costs — or initial capital required to build internal technologies — to access vital technologies on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Recovery. Cloud technologies allow organizations to develop disaster recovery solutions and implement backups swiftly.

Challenges Surrounding Cloud Solution Services

Cloud-based services are applications or software that provide information technology (IT) as-a-service over a specified network or the internet. Delivery of cloud-based services is on-demand, and users make payments based on usage.

Cloud services have numerous capabilities that have improved software development, deployment, and service delivery, to name a few. But they have drawbacks, too.

Here are some challenges associated with cloud-based platforms:

Lock-in. An organization may get too dependent on a set of services from a single provider, making it challenging to move operations to another cloud if they find the current provider no longer suitable.

Cost. Cloud computing often saves businesses money. Still, the scalable features and on-demand use of cloud-based platforms make it difficult to anticipate cloud software costs, which may be very expensive.

Compliance. As industry standards and policies are updated, organizations that use cloud storage and backups often face compliance issues whenever they want to move data from their internal storage to the cloud.

Find the Latest News on Cloud Computing at The New Stack

At The New Stack, we keep track of the wealth of technologies, tools, and services that will help organizations make the most of their cloud services. Here is also the place to find out the best practices for setting up hybrid clouds, resilient and secure multicloud systems, and other cloud platforms.

Specifically, we explore issues such as costing, cloud migration, cross-cloud Kubernetes support, application deployment, cloud application performance, and monitoring. Learn more about these concepts in the cloud services category.

Discover more about cloud services below:

What Is ‘Cloud Native’ (and Why Does It Matter)?

What Is Cloud Automation and How Does It Benefit IT Teams?

Cloud Native Applications: Stateless or Stateful Services?


The New Stack Newsletter Sign-Up
A newsletter digest of the week’s most important stories & analyses.
Do you also want to be notified of the following?
We don’t sell or share your email. By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Cloud Services / Culture / Data Science
Analytics in 2022 Means Mastery of Distributed Data Politics
29 Dec 2021 6:00am, by Andrew Brust
Cloud Services / Data Science / Machine Learning
Review: Build a ML Model with Amazon SageMaker Canvas
23 Dec 2021 3:00am, by Janakiram MSV
Cloud Services / Data Science / Machine Learning
Tutorial: Deploying TensorFlow Models with Amazon SageMaker Serverless Inference
22 Dec 2021 3:00am, by Janakiram MSV
Cloud Services / Machine Learning / Serverless
Explore Amazon SageMaker Serverless Inference for Deploying ML Models
21 Dec 2021 3:00am, by Janakiram MSV
databases
Cloud Services / Data Science / Software Development / Sponsored / Contributed
re:Invent Notes: Purpose-Built vs. General-Purpose Databases
14 Dec 2021 6:01am, by Dominic Wellington
https://cdn.thenewstack.io/media/2016/01/PodcastBrandingOverlay_TNS_Makers.svg
API Management / Cloud Services / DevOps / Sponsored
A Paradigm Shift in App Delivery
9 Dec 2021 1:15pm, by B. Cameron Gain
Cloud Services / Machine Learning / Software Development / Sponsored
Amazon Wants Everybody on Its Cloud
9 Dec 2021 3:00am, by B. Cameron Gain
Cloud Services / Machine Learning / Sponsored
Amazon SageMaker Studio Lab from the Eyes of an MLOps Engineer
7 Dec 2021 7:00am, by Janakiram MSV
a line of padlocks
Cloud Native Ecosystem / Cloud Services / Data Science / Security / Technology / Sponsored
Why Cloud Native Systems Demand a Zero Trust Approach
6 Dec 2021 7:00am, by Heather Joslyn and Maria Korolov
Cloud Services / IoT Edge Computing / Software Development
Vercel and Svelte: A Perfect Match for Web Developers
6 Dec 2021 4:00am, by Darryl K. Taft
Cloud Services / DevOps / Software Development / Sponsored
JFrog Brings Artifactory On-Prem for AWS with EKS Anywhere
2 Dec 2021 9:21am, by Mike Melanson
AWS REinvent
Cloud Services / Observability / Software Development / Sponsored
Amazon CloudWatch Gets Feature Flags, User-Based Monitoring
30 Nov 2021 10:49am, by Joab Jackson
Cloud Native Ecosystem / Cloud Services / Kubernetes / Contributed
Access AWS Services Through a Kubernetes Dual-Stack Cluster
29 Nov 2021 10:00am, by Saurabh Modi
Cloud Services / DevOps / Machine Learning / Sponsored / Contributed
Going Multicloud? Think About These 5 Things First
29 Nov 2021 7:09am, by Maxim Melamedov
Cloud Services / Data Science / IoT Edge Computing
Cloudflare Brings Stateful Data Support to CDN Platform
23 Nov 2021 9:00am, by Mike Melanson
Sustainability
Cloud Services / DevOps / Technology / Sponsored / Contributed
Sustainability Focus: Cloud Efficiency, Not Carbon Emissions
22 Nov 2021 7:33am, by Jan Stücke
Cloud Native Ecosystem / Cloud Services / Security
Palo Alto Networks Rolls Out Prisma Cloud 3.0
19 Nov 2021 10:00am, by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Cloud Services / DevOps Tools / Machine Learning / Sponsored / Contributed
Shrink Your Cloud Footprint with This Simple Guide
19 Nov 2021 7:09am, by Maxim Melamedov
Cloud Services / IoT Edge Computing / Networking
SC21: Fugaku Still Fastest Supercomputer as Exascale Looms
17 Nov 2021 12:51pm, by Jeffrey Burt
a picture of mushrooms
Cloud Native Ecosystem / Cloud Services / Kubernetes
Azure Container Apps: Do We Need Yet Another Managed Container Service?
17 Nov 2021 5:00am, by Janakiram MSV
Cloud Services / DevOps Tools / Storage / Sponsored / Contributed
GitOps and the Cheap Cloud Myth
15 Nov 2021 10:16am, by Jordi Mon Companys
Cloud Services / DevOps / Machine Learning / Sponsored / Contributed
Intelligent Automation: What’s the Missing Piece of AIOps?
12 Nov 2021 10:00am, by Maxim Melamedov
Cloud Services / Data Science / DevOps / Sponsored / Contributed
Modernize Your Cloud Data Warehouse with Real-Time Data
8 Nov 2021 6:30am, by Josh Treichel
Cloud Services / Data Science / Security / Contributed
How to Permanently Lose Cloud Data Instantly 
5 Nov 2021 10:00am, by Dave North
Cloud Services / DevOps / DevOps Tools / Sponsored / Contributed
Pros and Cons of Cloud Repatriation: Is it Right For You?
2 Nov 2021 10:45am, by Maxim Melamedov
Cloud Services / Data Science / IoT Edge Computing / Sponsored / Contributed
On-Premises Comeback: Cloud Is Just One Side of the Story
28 Oct 2021 8:31am, by Charles-Henri Schulz
Pagination Previous Button
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Pagination Next Button
Architecture
  • Cloud Native
  • Containers
  • Edge/IoT
  • Microservices
  • Networking
  • Serverless
  • Storage
Development
  • Cloud Services
  • Data
  • Development
  • Machine Learning
  • Security
Operations
  • CI/CD
  • Culture
  • DevOps
  • Kubernetes
  • Monitoring
  • Service Mesh
  • Tools
The New Stack
  • Ebooks
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • About / Contact
  • Sponsors
  • Sponsorship
  • Disclosures
  • Contributions

© 2022 The New Stack. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy. Terms of Use.