Infrastructure-as-a-Service Solutions
Top Rated Infrastructure-as-a-Service Products
These products won a Top Rated award for having excellent customer satisfaction ratings. The list is based purely on reviews; there is no paid placement, and analyst opinions do not influence the rankings. Read more about the Top Rated criteria.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service Solutions TrustMap
TrustMaps are two-dimensional charts that compare products based on trScore and research frequency by prospective buyers. Products must have 10 or more ratings to appear on this TrustMap.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service Solutions Overview
What is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Solutions?
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) software is a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud. It provides businesses with a platform on which software can be developed and deployed. IaaS platforms handle the complexity around operating systems and servers and leaves application developers free to concentrate on the business requirements of the software.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is similar to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), in that it provides services to consumers over the Internet. However, out of the three offerings, IaaS takes care of the essentials, allowing users to manage the rest.
IaaS operates at a very fundamental level, providing the basic building blocks for cloud services. IaaS can be thought of as the provisioning of basic cloud infrastructures like virtualized servers, storage, and networking in an on-demand model. This on-demand model can easily scale up and down to meet demand. Instead of having to spend capital resources on hardware and infrastructure, rapidly scalable and secure infrastructure components are accessible over the Internet. These resources and paid for based on consumption, as in a utility model like electricity or water.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Features & Capabilities
Uptime percentage offered in SLA
Ease of scaling up or down in response to consumer needs
Administration automation for deploying and managing virtual desktops and servers
Elastic load balancing whereby resources are balanced and distributed automatically across multiple virtual computers
Preconfigured templates for virtual machines
Monitoring tools providing alerts when problems are detected
Customized machine images
Range of operating systems available as preconfigured images
Compliance with security protocols like SSL and AES
Infrastructure as a Service Software Comparison
When considering different IaaS platforms, consider the following aspects of each product offering.Scalability: IaaS platforms are cloud-based, meaning they provide easier scalability compared to on-premises options. Despite this, most providers have a maximum and minimum threshold that limits scaling up and down. Scalability should be considered by organizations that need flexibility in how easily they can scale up and down.
Support: IaaS issues or network downtime can result in a significant loss of time for users. A responsive support team is key for organizations that can’t afford to have significant IaaS downtime. Most, but not all IaaS providers offer 24/7 support. It is important to consider an organization’s support needs as well as their preferred support medium (email, phone, etc) when selecting an IaaS platform.
Compatibility: Some organizations use both IaaS and PaaS (Platform as a Service) solutions. Some IaaS solutions include PaaS features or integrate with PaaS solutions from the same vendor, while others may even integrate with PaaS solutions from different vendors. Organizations planning on integrating IaaS solutions with other software should consider compatibility.
Pricing
Pricing models vary quite a bit, but the basic structure is usually price per user per month, with different tiers based on differing factors such as the number of custom app objects, or number of servers. Some vendors provide a free tier, but per user pricing can from as little as $50 per month per user to $750 per user per month or more, depending on platform capabilities. If your organization is currently managing their own on-premise infrastructure, it's a good idea to calculate the current costs associated with doing so when comparing switching to IaaS. Typically, IaaS platforms will be a lower cost alternative.
More Resources
Infrastructure-as-a-Service Products
(1-25 of 107) Sorted by Most Reviews
Linode
For cloud infrastructure, Linode offers Linux virtual machines and a set of tools to develop, deploy, and scale modern applications. Linode states their belief that in order to accelerate innovation in the cloud, virtual computing must be more accessible, affordable, and simple.…
IBM Cloud Object Storage
IBM Cloud Object Storage is an IBM Cloud product in the endpoint backup and IaaS categories. It is commonly used for data archiving and backup, for web and mobile applications, and as scalable, persistent storage for analytics.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.
Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing services. With over 165 services offered, AWS services can provide users with a comprehensive suite of infrastructure and computing building blocks and tools.
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud. Users can launch instances with a variety of OSs, load them with custom application environments, manage network access permissions, and run images on multiple…
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers are customizable, public or private, cloud-based servers available from IBM. User can launch applications and software across blended, hybrid environments as the servers integrate with all cloud models.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is Oracles's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform which combines the utility of public cloud with the granular control, security, and predictability of on-premises infrastructure.
IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
IBM Cloud bare metal servers are cloud servers configurable in hourly/monthly options, on-demand, from any location—with a selection of standard features and services for small businesses and enterprise demands. Users can customize RAM and SSDs with 11M+ configurations from which…
Google Compute Engine
Google Compute Engine is an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) product from Google Cloud. It provides virtual machines with carbon-neutral infrastructure which run on the same data centers that Google itself uses.
IBM Power Systems Virtual Server
IBM presents their Power Systems Virtual Server as a scalable, cost-effective way to run IBM AIX, IBM i and Linux workloads.
IBM Cloud Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
The IBM Cloud Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is designed to be the user's own space, in the IBM Cloud. With VPC, the user defines and controls a virtual network in logically isolated parts of the IBM Cloud where, and can deploy desired cloud resources. VPC is designed to give dynamic…
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best IaaS software options?
The top rated IaaS software includes:
Are there any open source or free IaaS platforms?
Do IaaS platforms integrate with PaaS platforms or SaaS software?
IaaS platforms typically offer a suite of integrations, or include an API developers can use to build connectors. Businesses considering purchasing an IaaS should consider what integrations they need and select an IaaS option that supports them out of the box.

