Read on:
Microsoft Azure for Beginners: Understanding Azure Terminologies – Part 1
Microsoft Azure for Beginners: How to Create an Azure Virtual Machine – Part 2
Microsoft Azure for Beginners: What is Azure Governance – Part 3
Welcome to yet another article in the “Azure for beginners” series. In previous posts, we discussed what Cloud is all about and the difference between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS services. In this article, we are going to talk about PaaS services.
What is Azure PaaS?
PaaS stands for “Platform as a Service.” A Platform as a Service is a development environment in Azure, suitable for developing simple and advanced cloud applications. Azure provides the resources needed for this. These can be the following resources :
- Servers
- Storage
- Networking
- Middleware (this provides the communication between the client and application), the tools to manage it, etc
What are common PaaS scenarios?
Developers mostly use PaaS services to develop Cloud applications. These developers want to focus on creating an application rather than managing the underlying infrastructure. In a simple and flexible way, things like scalability, high(er) availability and the use of multiple environments can be easily realized. The advantage is that developers get results faster and can stay focused on their primary work.
Besides this framework offered by Azure, the tools provided can be used to analyze and collect data so that insight can be gained and also patterns can be discovered. Based on this, results can be predicted, and as a result, better forecasts can be made.
In addition, PaaS services offer additional services that developers have, think workflows, planning tools, security, and automation of tasks. As a result, the risk is less, chance of errors is less.
What are the benefits of Azure PaaS
License costs
You don’t have to worry about licensing (costs), the underlying infrastructure, and any container services such as AKS. Microsoft manages all these things and you don’t have to worry about them.
Cost
Because you only pay for what you consume and when you consume it, this positively impacts costs. Management can also be done more efficiently and for example, you don’t have to manage an entire Operating system, update a virus scanner and perform updates on the environment(s). The more you use PaaS services instead of IaaS services for development, the lower the costs will be.
Efficiency
By using an efficient framework supported by the necessary tooling, you work more efficiently and get results sooner. Think of applications that can be tested or put live earlier. Also, the created code can often be reused, increasing efficiency even further.
Multi-platform
Azure offers all possibilities to develop Cloud applications for multiple platforms. These can be Client/Server applications, standalone or Mobile applications for use on a smartphone. But also think of web applications that can be accessed from any device.
Availability
All tools and the underlying hardware can be accessed anywhere at anytime. It is, therefore, not necessary to purchase hardware. The Cloud resources of Azure can be used for this purpose. This is instantly and almost infinitely available. There is always enough capacity available. Many developers work from home or remotely, and Azure’s PaaS services also provide for this. All tools and the complete environments can be accessed securely and remotely so that work can be resumed quickly. This also makes it possible, for example, to work on a product together across the globe, with all the benefits that entails.
Tools
Azure PaaS services come complete with all the tools to perform all the work. These tools come complete with the PaaS service and are updated every time. Using Azure DevOps, code can be stored in a repository, the backlog can be maintained, and a wide range of testing and deployment tools (pipelines) are provided. This way of working helps to manage the entire lifecycle of an application and keep it continuous through updates.
How often is Azure PaaS used?
Gartner research shows that PaaS services are growing strongly (more than doubling from 3 years ago) and is 2nd in terms of growth prospects after IaaS. However, one potential barrier to using PaaS services is the presence of many legacy systems. Sometimes this can be overcome by using and linking multiple PaaS services, but that can also make it very complex.
PaaS services are best suited for developers and Web builders. A development or test environment is quickly arranged and provides a similar (or identical) environment to the production environment without comparable costs.
Examples of Azure PaaS services include:
- Azure App Service
- Azure SQL
- Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure CDN
- Azure Search
So, is Azure PaaS better than IaaS?
No, not quite. If you need full control over a VM and the operating system, then you can’t avoid IaaS. At the same time, if you want more flexibility and efficiency as a developer, then you are best off with PaaS services. Azure PaaS services do offer comparatively more Cloud benefits, such as:
- Paying for use instead of ownership
- Scalability and flexibility
- Lower costs
- Simpler management
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