Cloud model providing virtualised computing infrastructure—servers, storage, and networking—on demand.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides virtualised computing resources over the internet—virtual machines, storage, and networking. Customers manage operating systems, applications, and data while the provider manages physical infrastructure. IaaS offers flexibility similar to owning hardware but with cloud benefits—scalability, no capital expenditure, and pay-per-use pricing. Examples include Azure Virtual Machines, AWS EC2, and Google Compute Engine.
Why It Matters
The DSC Perspective:
IaaS provides infrastructure flexibility without hardware ownership. It's useful for variable workloads, disaster recovery, and avoiding hardware refresh cycles. Security responsibility for IaaS is shared—you secure your workloads, the provider secures the infrastructure.