Big Data For Dummies
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A number of cloud delivery models exist for big data. Try talking to those with experience to figure out which type of delivery model is best for your big data initiative.

Infrastructure as a Service

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is one of the most straightforward of the cloud computing services. IaaS is the delivery of computing services including hardware, networking, storage, and data center space based on a rental model. The consumer of the service acquires a resource and is charged for that resource based on amount used and the duration of that usage.

You find both public and private versions of IaaS. In the public IaaS, the user utilizes a credit card to acquire these resources. When the user stops paying, the resource disappears. In a private IaaS service, it is usually the IT organization or an integrator who creates the infrastructure designed to provide resources on demand for internal users and sometimes business partners.

Platform as a Service

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a mechanism for combining IaaS with an abstracted set of middleware services, software development, and deployment tools that allow the organization to have a consistent way to create and deploy applications on a cloud or on premises.

A PaaS offers a consistent set of programming or middleware services that ensure that developers have a well-tested and well-integrated way to create applications in a cloud environment. A PaaS environment brings development and deployment together to create a more manageable way to build, deploy, and scale applications. A PaaS requires an IaaS.

Software as a Service

Software as a Service is a business application created and hosted by a provider in a multitenant model. Multitenancy refers to the situation where a single instance of an application runs in a cloud environment, but serves multiple client organizations, keeping all their data separate. Customers pay per user on a monthly or yearly contract model. The SaaS model sits on top of both the PaaS and the foundational IaaS.

Data as a Service

DaaS is closely related to SaaS. DaaS is a platform-independent service that would let you connect to the cloud to store and retrieve your data. In addition, you find a number of specialized data services that are of great benefit in a big data environment. For example, Google offers a service that can process a query with 5 terabytes of data in only 15 seconds.

This type of query would typically take ten times as long with a typical data center.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Judith Hurwitz is an expert in cloud computing, information management, and business strategy. Alan Nugent has extensive experience in cloud-based big data solutions. Dr. Fern Halper specializes in big data and analytics. Marcia Kaufman specializes in cloud infrastructure, information management, and analytics.

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