What is platform as a service (PaaS)?

What does the PaaS provider provide?

The PaaS provider takes responsibility for managing the physical infrastructure, virtualization, operating systems, middleware, runtime environments (e.g. for Java, Python, Node.js) and often databases and other support services. The customer (usually a developer or development team) is provided with a turnkey environment where they can focus solely on developing and deploying their own application code and managing data.

Benefits of using PaaS

Using a PaaS platform brings a number of benefits, especially for development teams:

• Faster development and deployment: Developers can create and deploy applications faster because they don’t have to waste time configuring and managing infrastructure, operating systems or runtime environments.
• Focus on application code: The team can focus on creating the business logic and functionality of the application, the things that bring the most business value.
• Scalability and flexibility: PaaS platforms typically offer built-in mechanisms to automatically scale applications as needed, without the need for manual server management.
• Reduction in operational complexity: A significant portion of infrastructure and system software maintenance tasks are taken over by the cloud provider.
• Access to off-the-shelf services: PaaS often integrates with other cloud services, such as databases, queuing systems, monitoring tools or AI services, making it easy to build advanced applications.
• Support for various languages and frameworks: PaaS providers typically support popular programming languages and frameworks, giving developers the freedom to choose their technology.

Examples of PaaS platforms

Popular PaaS platforms include: Heroku, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Google App Engine, Microsoft Azure App Service, Red Hat OpenShift (often referred to as PaaS for containers).

Limitations of PaaS

Despite its many advantages, PaaS also has some limitations. Customers have less control over the underlying infrastructure and operating system compared to the IaaS model. They may be limited in their choice of available runtime environments, software versions or configuration options. There is also the risk of becoming dependent on a particular cloud provider (vendor lock-in) if the application is heavily integrated with its specific services.

PaaS vs. other cloud models (IaaS, SaaS, FaaS)

Compared to IaaS (where the customer manages the operating system and software), PaaS offers a higher level of abstraction and less control over the infrastructure. Compared to SaaS (where the customer uses an off-the-shelf application), PaaS offers the opportunity to create your own custom applications. Functions as a Service (FaaS), or serverless computing, is often seen as an evolution of PaaS, offering an even higher level of abstraction and payment only for actual code execution.

Summary

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud model that significantly simplifies and speeds up the process of developing and deploying applications, allowing developers to focus on code rather than infrastructure management. It is an attractive solution for companies looking to quickly build and scale modern applications in the cloud, while accepting a degree of reduced control over the environment.