PaaS applications and SaaS (Software-as-Service)
Introduction
PaaS applications are also referred to as on-demand which is cost-effective and facilitate easier management of huge data in an organization in a Web-based, or software as a service (or SaaS) solutions. PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) is a business model in the cloud computing era, which provide a server platform or development environment for developers. Compared with the
SaaS (Software-as-Service) to end-user, PaaS is more flexibility. Google App engine is a typical PaaS platform, which allows developers to write and run their own applications on the platform. It also helps developers store data and manage the server.
Definition of PaaS
Abstract— Cloud computing is an increasingly popular paradigm for
accessing computing resources. In practice, cloud service providers
tend to offer services that can be grouped into three categories:
software as a service, platform as a service, and infrastructure as a
service. This paper discuss the characteristics and benefits of cloud
computing. The advantages in using the cloud for start-up and small
businesses that lack infrastructure have been shown to far outweigh
the disadvantages. Cloud platform services, also known as Platform
as a Service (PaaS), provide a computing platform or solution stack
on which software can be developed for later deployment in a cloud.
Index Terms—. PaaS, SaaS, Cloud, Auto-scaling,
1.1 WHAT IS A CLOUD COMPUTING?[1]
Cloud computing is Internet(“CLOUD”) based development
and use of computer technology (“COMPUTING”).Cloud
computing is a general term for anything that involves
delivering hosted services over the Internet. It is used to
describe both a platform and type of application. These cloud
applications use large data centers and powerful servers that
host Web applications and Web services. Anyone with a
suitable Internet connection and a standard browser can
access a cloud application.
1.2 BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING [4]
v Cloud technology is paid incrementally, saving
organizations money.
v Organizations can store more data than on private
computer systems.
v No longer do IT personnel need to worry about keeping
software up to date.
v Cloud computing offers much more flexibility than past
computing methods.
v Employees can access information wherever they are,
rather than having to remain at their desks.
Manuscript received October 01, 2011
Gurudatt Anil Kulkarni, Electronics & Telecommunication,
Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s Polytechnic Pune, Pune, India, Phone/ Mobile
No-9561509574., (e-mail: gurudatt.kulkarni@mmpolytechnic.com).
Prasad Ramakant Khatawkar, Electronics & Telecommunication,
Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s Polytechnic Pune, Pune, India, Phone/ Mobile
No-9525571214., (e-mail: khatawkarpr@mmpolytechnic.com).
Jayant Hari Gambhir, Electronics & Telecommunication, Marathwada
Mitra Mandal’s Polytechnic Pune, Pune, India, Phone/ Mobile
No-09175767011, (e-mail: gambhirjh@mmpolytechnic.com).
FIG:-1.1 GENERAL CLOUD DIAGRAM
1.2.1TECHNICAL BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING [7]
Automation – ―Scriptable infrastructure‖: You can create
repeatable build and deployment systems by leveraging
programmable (API-driven) infrastructure.
Auto-scaling: You can scale your applications up and down
to match your unexpected demand without any human
intervention. Auto-scaling encourages automation and drives
more efficiency.
Proactive Scaling: Scale your application up and down to
meet your anticipated demand with proper planning
understanding of your traffic patterns so that you keep your
costs low while scaling.
Improved Testability: Never run out of hardware for testing.
Inject and automate testing at every stage during the
development process. You can spawn up an ―instant test lab‖
with pre-configured environments only for the duration of
testing phase.
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: The cloud
provides a lower cost option for maintaining a fleet of DR
servers and data storage. With the cloud, you can take
advantage of geo-distribution and replicate the environment
in other location within minutes.
1.3 WHAT IS DRIVING CLOUD COMPUTING?
The CLOUD COMPUTING is driving in two types of
categories as follows:
- Customer perspective
- Vendor perspective
1.3.1 CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE:
- In one word: economics
- Faster, simpler, cheaper to use cloud computation.
- No upfront capital required for servers and storage.
- No ongoing for operational expenses for running
Cloud Computing-Platform as Service
Gurudatt Kulkarni, Prasad Khatawkar,
Jayant Gambhir
Cloud Computing-Platform as Service
116
datacenter.
- Application can be run from anywhere.
1.3.2 VENDOR PERSPECTIVE:
- Easier for application vendors to reach new customers.
- Lowest cost way of delivering and supporting applications.
- Ability to use commodity server and storage hardware.
1.4. TYPES OF SERVICES:
These services are broadly divided into three categories:
- Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
- Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
1.4.1INFRASTRUCTURE-AS-A-SERVICE (IAAS):[7]
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provides virtual servers
with unique IP addresses and blocks of storage on demand.
Customers can pay for exactly the amount of service they use,
like for electricity or water, this service is also called utility
computing.
1.4.2PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE (PAAS):[7]
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is a set of software and
development tools hosted on the provider’s servers. Google
Apps is one of the most famous Platform-as-a-Service
providers. This is the idea that someone can provide the
hardware (as in IaaS) plus a certain amount of application
software – such as integration into a common set of
programming functions or databases as a foundation upon
which you can build your application. Platform as a Service
(PaaS) is an application development and deployment
platform delivered as a service to developers over the Web.
1.4.3 SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE (SAAS):
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the broadest market. In this
case the provider allows the customer only to use its
applications. The software interacts with the user through a
user interface. These applications can be anything from web
based email, to applications like Twitter or Last.fm.
FIG 1.4.3 CLOUD COMPUTING STACK
You don’t have to purchase anything. You just pay for what
you use. A SaaS provider typically hosts and manages a given
application in their own data center and makes it available to
multiple tenants and users over the Web. Some SaaS
providers run on another cloud provider’s PaaS or IaaS
service offerings. Oracle CRM on Demand, Salesforce.com,
and Net suite are some of the well known SaaS examples.
- HOW DOES CLOUD COMPUTING WORK?
Cloud computing aims to apply the power of supercomputer
to problems like analyzing risk in financial portfolios,
powering immersive computer games, in a way that users can
tap through the Web. It does that by networking large groups
of servers that often use low-cost consumer PC technology,
with specialized connections to spread data-processing chores
across them. Soon instead of installing a suite of software for
each computer, you’d only have to load one application. That
application would allow workers to log into a Web-based
service which hosts all the programs. Remote machines
owned by another company would run everything from e-mail
to word processing to complex data analysis programs. It’s
called cloud computing. The only thing the user’s computer
needs to be able to run is the cloud computing systems
interface software, which can be as simple as a Web browser,
and the cloud’s network takes care of the rest.
FIG 1.5 HOW CLOUD WORKS
Cloud computing providers deliver applications via the
internet, which are accessed from a Web browser, while the
business software and data are stored on servers at a remote
location. In some cases, legacy applications (line of business
applications that until now have been prevalent in thin client
Windows computing) are delivered via a screen-sharing
technology such as Citrix Xen App, while the computing
resources are consolidated at a remote data center location; in
other cases, entire business applications have been coded
using web-based technologies such as AJAX.
3.0 PLATFORMS AS SERVICE [3]
―Cloud computing‖ has dramatically changed how business
applications are built and run. At its core, cloud computing
eliminates the costs and complexity of evaluating, buying,
configuring, and managing all the hardware and software
needed for enterprise applications. Instead, these applications
are delivered as a service over the Internet. Cloud computing
has evolved to include platforms for building and running
The introduction of the PaaS it will involve the definination of PaaS as new concept in cloud computing services. Platform as a Service (Paas) is also know as Cloud Platform Services is a platform that provides a computing platform or solution stack on which the software can be developed for later deployment in a cloud.It is also a set of software and development tools hosted on the provider’s servers. PaaS uses the Google Apps as the most famous platform. It is also used as an application development and deployment platform delivered as a service to developers over the Web.
Definition of IaaS
The other cloud computing platform service is Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) which is platform that provides virtual servers with unique IP addresses and blocks of storage on demand. Unlike the the PaaS with IaaS the Customers can pay for exactly the amount of service they use, like for electricity, water or data bundles this service is also called utility computing. This is the idea that the customer can provide the hardware (as in IaaS) plus a certain amount of application software – such as integration into a common set of programming functions or databases as a foundation upon which you can build your application.
Benefits of PaaS and IaaS
The benefits of the PaaS and IaaS cannot be overstated in the modern world of doing business. The concept of building and running on premise applications has always been complex and especially with the modern enterprises. It is expensive, and risky affairs for any organization that care to be efficient and effective Without cloud computing platforms. Since each application required hardware, an operating system, a database, middleware, Web servers, and other software. That that one is not enough because once the stack was assembled, a team of developers had to navigate complex programming models like J2EE and .NET. A team of network, database, and system management experts was needed to keep everything up and running. Inevitably, a business requirement would require a change to the application, which would then kick off a lengthy development, test, and redeployment cycle. Large companies often needed specialized facilities to house their data centers. Enormous amounts of electricity also were needed to power the servers as well as the systems to keep them cool. Finally, a failover site was needed to mirror the data center so information could be replicated in case of a disaster. The PaaS and IaaS reduces all these cost in terms of human resources.
The other benefit of PaaS lie in greatly increasing the number of people who can develop, maintain and deploy web applications. In short, PaaS offers to democratize development of web applications much the same way that Microsoft Access democratized development of client/server application. Today, building web applications requires expert developer with three, highly specialized skill sets:
PaaS also as cloud computing platform offers the potential for general developers to build web applications without needing specialized expertise. With this it will allow an entire generation of MS Access, Lotus Notes and PowerBuilder developers to start building web applications without the huge learning curve.
Another benefit for PaaS (IEEE Cloud Computing Call for Papers Connecting Fog and Cloud Computing. (2016), 3(4), c2-c2. https://doi.org/10.1109/mcc.2016.83) is that it empowers developers to deploy, deliver and manage their applications effectively. It does that by building applications, upload (deploy) the same into the cloud platform and simply run and test them . it also make it possible for the developers to leverage additional benefits like authentication and data access provided by the platform .PaaS as cloud takes away the concept of servers, while providing an application centric environment is also a major benefit it provides . The other advantages of the PaaS it is use to use in comparison with other cloud computing softwares.
Disadvantages of PaaS and IaaS
The main disadvantages of the platforms is the Vendor lock-in that is lack of cloud portability in tha noo option is given to a developer or an organization to move from one cloud to another. For instance, if a developer chose Google App Engine, then they must continue with Google App Engine unless the application is deleted using the Google App Engine console and the existing application is modified according to the new cloud provider. The application must then be deployed there this limits the exploration.
The other disadvantage is the deployment to public cloud only the PaaS mostly of the existing solutions target only public cloud, which results in many enterprises not moving to PaaS. Because that immobility most enterprises will never move to the public cloud, and they were given no choice to set up private cloud on their infrastructure or use a combination of private and public cloud.
Another major disadvantage of both IaaS and PaaS is stagnant mindset in that the its only the developers have to change their mindset for building applications on the public cloud. Previously, Google App Engine did not provide the option of relational databases. They are also tired to a particular environment such as Java and Python using BigTable as back end for
Google App Engine, .Net and Java using SQL Azure database for Microsoft Azure, or Java for Amazon Beanstalk.and using any of these PaaS requires survival in that environment only.
REFERENCE
- http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-sprin
groo4/index.html
- ―Detailed reference to security and geoprocessing services‖ ,byron
ludwig and serena coetzee, Department of computer science,
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002
- ―Cloud Computing Platform as Service‖, InformationWeek 16 Oct.
2, 2009.
- ―THE IMPROVEMENT OF PAAS PLATFORM‖, ZENG SHU-QING; XU
JIE-BIN; DEPT. OF COMPUTER. SCI. & TECHNOLOGY, SOUTH
CHINA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY. GUANGXHOU, CHINA,
NETWORKING AND DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING.
- ―CLOUD COMPUTING: AN ANALYSIS‖, THAKUR RAMJIRAM
SINGH, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENTERPRISE
COMPUTING & BUSINESS SYSTEMS, VOL. 1 ISSUE 2 JULY
2011.
- ―Controlling the Cloud: Requirements for Cloud Computing‖, F5
Networks’ perspective on cloud computing: definition,
architecture, and development, Lori MacVittie
- L. Wang, G. Laszewski, M. Kunze and J. Tao, ―Cloud computing: a
perspective study‖, J New Generation Computing, 2010, pp 1-11.
- http://www.esscloud.com/paasBenefits.html