Field Guide · concept

Also known as: PaaS

Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model in which the provider runs the servers, operating system, and application runtime, and you simply deploy code without managing the infrastructure underneath.1

On-prem IaaS PaaS SaaS Application Data Runtime OS Virtualization Hardware you manage provider manages
PaaS draws the line higher than IaaS. In the outlined PaaS column only your application and data stay yours; the platform runs the runtime, operating system, virtualization, and hardware beneath. You push code and the provider operates everything under it.

Overview

PaaS is the middle tier of the cloud stack. You push an application — a web app, an API, a background worker — and the platform builds, runs, scales, and patches it for you, often using containers behind the scenes. You do not log in to servers, install an operating system, or configure load balancing; those are the platform’s job. In exchange you accept its conventions about how apps are packaged and deployed.

Where it fits

PaaS sits above infrastructure as a service (raw VMs you must configure) and below software as a service (finished applications you just use). It overlaps with serverless computing, which pushes the abstraction further to per-request execution. For deploying a GopherTrunk web dashboard, PaaS removes server upkeep — but it cannot host the RF capture itself, which needs real radio hardware.

Sources

  1. Platform as a service — Wikipedia, on the PaaS cloud model. ↩

See also

Learn it step by step