What is a cloud database? Detailed explanation about IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, DBaaS

For many businesses, the benefits of using a cloud-based database are clear. It has the advantage of providing scalability, security, and availability at a lower cost than custom and on-premises database solutions.

However, there are also different types of cloud databases. In general, we use terms such as IaaS, PaaS and SaaS to describe different levels of cloud computing, so how do they apply to cloud databases, and how do you use DBaaS (Database as a Service) products?

In this article, we'll look at the key differences between these different types of cloud databases, as well as the pros and cons of each, to help you decide which one is best for your business.

As shown, in a cloud computing environment, the main difference between Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the level of abstraction of the underlying resources and services.

Generally speaking, the more a service provider abstracts from the user, the easier and faster the user can generate value in the cloud service. The less the provider handles on behalf of the user, the more control and responsibility the user has over the environment.

Different levels of abstraction in cloud computing

We can also apply the principles behind this cloud computing classification to cloud databases. As with most cloud-based tools and services, the database a business chooses will reflect the market needs, expertise and skills of its teams, the overhead and administrative burden it is willing to take, and the degree of customization required for the project.

Below is a general overview of each type of cloud database, along with their pros and cons.

IaaS: Most Control, Most Work

The implementation of an IaaS database is self-managing on a cloud infrastructure. The enterprise will be responsible for the operating system, runtime and database software, as well as installation, configuration and ongoing maintenance. The experience will be similar to running on-premises, except for using cloud servers and storage. An IaaS database gives businesses maximum control over their settings, which naturally means more responsibility for businesses.

Businesses don't have to commandeer hardware and operate their own data centers with IaaS databases. But you need to choose a cloud provider infrastructure, then install and manage the database yourself within the provider's parameters.

Let's take a more intuitive look at the advantages and disadvantages of IaaS.

1. Advantages of IaaS

• With IaaS, businesses will have more database choices, as they can choose to offer databases that are not equivalent to the PaaS or SaaS versions.

• With IaaS, you can configure your own database to work exactly as you want.

• Like all cloud database options, IaaS offers virtually unlimited scalability. If a business has the ability to manage its own database, but is transitioning to avoid managing its own data center, then IaaS is definitely more in line with the needs of the business.

• IaaS makes it easier to reproduce on-premises database infrastructure in the cloud.

• If the enterprise team has extensive expertise and experience with this, IaaS can provide greater control over database software, operating systems, and other configuration options.

2. IaaS shortcomings

• If you choose an IaaS database, you assume full responsibility for ongoing maintenance, including handling backups, scaling, security, and other considerations.

• Compared to PaaS and SaaS, enterprise team members need more database skills and cloud credentials, especially related to database operations.

• Supporting an IaaS database implementation takes a considerable amount of time, and businesses need to weigh the urgency of the project.

PaaS be the best choice for enterprises?

The database provided by PaaS further utilizes the advantages of cloud computing. PaaS databases help automate provisioning, configuration, scaling, and other cluster management tasks. PaaS can free businesses from setting up and managing infrastructure.

PaaS is an intermediate option in the IaaS-PaaS-SaaS continuum, and many cloud databases are offered this way. They make it easier for teams to manage their databases through cluster automation tools. However, users of PaaS still need to have some understanding of cluster details such as number and type of nodes, capacity, and sharding.

1. Advantages of PaaS

• Users gain scalability benefits similar to IaaS deployments.

• With PaaS, vendors simplify operations by providing management tools for provisioning, provisioning, scaling, and other common operations.

• Vendors also handle basic administrative tasks such as patches and updates.

2. Disadvantages of PaaS

• While it is less burdensome to operate than IaaS, it still requires planning the cluster, specifying software versions as well as the number and type of nodes, instance sizes, and performing other tasks.

• Using PaaS also requires capacity planning such as peak capacity/usage and headroom to handle growth.

• With PaaS, users may still be responsible for some or all of the software upgrades.

SaaS: Low Configuration, Instant Productivity

SaaS is the most common software delivery model for cloud applications: just log in and start working. Everyone is very familiar with SaaS applications, but when it comes to databases, the familiarity is greatly reduced.

SaaS databases are usually the easiest type of database to set up and maintain. Because the service provider handles all technical issues, planning, provisioning and other day-to-day tasks. In other words, the database is operated entirely by the provider and all cluster details are abstracted from the user. But using a SaaS database might have fewer deployment and configuration options.

1. Advantages of SaaS

• The SaaS database does most of the capacity and cluster planning work

• It abstracts away all cluster management, so there is no need to configure nodes, node types, or instance sizes.

• With SaaS, operations such as provisioning or scaling require no manual intervention.

• All software upgrades happen transparently in the background.

• Pricing for SaaS databases is often based on consumption of storage, compute, I/O, or number of queries, not the number or size of nodes. This means that the ratio of storage and computation is not fixed by instance type.

2. Disadvantages of SaaS

• Using this model for cost estimation is more difficult because there are fewer options that can be easily configured by the user. However, due to the lower operational burden, this is still the most affordable option for many teams.

• Most databases offered as SaaS are purpose-built for the cloud, and if the user needs this option, there is no corresponding self-managed version.

DBaaS: Diversity of

Here's an introduction to Database as a Service (DBaaS), which generally refers to a database offered as a PaaS or SaaS.

All major cloud platforms now offer DBaaS solutions. Some of them are closer to SaaS; others are slightly closer to PaaS. Popular examples of DBaaS solutions include Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Azure SQL Database, MongoDB Atlas, and Amazon DynamoDB.

A solution closer to PaaS could allow businesses to avoid some of the operational issues while providing a self-managing experience for these databases.

A more SaaS-like solution provides an out-of-the-box database solution that makes it easy to add powerful database capabilities to an application. This can be an excellent choice for businesses looking for the shortest path to get up and running with data applications quickly and easily.

There are a wide variety of cloud databases to choose from, which vary in ease of use, granularity of control, and resource utilization.

Range of database solutions related to level of control and ease of use

As shown, the three database solution layers can be summarized as: IaaS provides more control than PaaS, and PaaS provides more control than SaaS.

IaaS requires more work from the enterprise operations team, followed by PaaS, which still requires manual intervention in cluster management tasks. Since IaaS and PaaS bring a greater management burden, it also means more effort is needed to optimize their cost and performance. SaaS, on the other hand, requires the least amount of manpower, reducing the burden on employees and improving efficiency.

When a SaaS database is designed for the cloud, it maximizes cloud elasticity and the disaggregation of compute and storage resources, which can improve performance or utilization.