Cloud service models

Also called: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, Serverless · Topic: Infrastructure: Transport, Communications and Energy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Cloud computing means using computing resources over the internet, such as servers, storage and software. You pay for what you use instead of owning the machines. Cloud service models describe how much of this the provider handles for you:

• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): you rent virtual servers, storage and networks, and you run everything on top of them.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service): you get developer tools to build and launch your own apps.
• SaaS (Software as a Service): you get ready-to-use software, and the provider handles updates.
• Serverless: you send single tasks to be run, and the provider manages the servers fully. The servers still exist; you just never handle them.

Moving from IaaS to SaaS, the user does less work and the provider does more.

Example

MeghRaj (GI Cloud) is MeitY's National Cloud Computing Initiative, launched in 2014. It offers IaaS, PaaS and SaaS to government departments, and 2,330 departments were on MeghRaj 2.0 by September 2026. A department that rents virtual servers to host its own portal is using IaaS. A department that uses ready-made software online is using SaaS.

Don't confuse with

• Cloud deployment models: public (shared third-party infrastructure), private (dedicated to one organisation) and hybrid (a mix of both). These tell you where and for whom the cloud is set up. Service models tell you what is being supplied.
• "Serverless" means no servers: this is false. Servers are still used, but the provider runs and manages them.

Read more

• Infrastructure: Transport, Communications and Energy