What is PaaS Cloud Computing?
Platform-as-a-service is a cloud computing model that offers a comprehensive environment for developing and deploying applications to the cloud. This platform supports developers in creating, testing, and releasing applications without the need to administer any underlying infrastructure.
It fully supports the entire application life cycle by providing tools and resources for developing basic as well as complex cloud-native applications.
PaaS Features
- Development Frameworks - PaaS offers various frameworks, which gives developers the ability to build applications in a short period of time. Some examples of frameworks are based on Java and Python, two widely used language systems for building applications worldwide.
- Middleware Services - Middleware, including integration and messaging services allow distinct applications and services to communicate within a PaaS environment.
- Database Management - Managed databases facilitate data replication, data scaling, and data backup through MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.
- Business Intelligence and Analytics - Some PaaS platforms support native analytics and BI functionalities in real-time for analysis over the data of an application.
- Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) - With IDEs, the coding, debugging, and deployment would be managed from the cloud directly, making a developer’s task easy.
- Servers and Storage - In PaaS, all server and storage resources are managed and automatically provisioned according to requirements.
- Security and Networking – Networking features include load balancing and security to prevent threats against applications and ensure proper data transmission.
Benefits of PaaS
| Cuts time for coding | Development Capabilities | Suited for multiple platforms/ devices | Cost-friendly tools | Ensures remote access | Efficient application lifecycle management |
PaaS services are included in cloud managed services. They help developers focus on code rather than managing infra. Hence, proving suitable for continuous delivery and vigorous development. Some PaaS providers: Azure cloud, GCP, AWS, and Oracle cloud.