What is cloud file storage?

Cloud file storage is a method for storing data in the cloud that provides
servers and applications access to data through shared file systems. This
compatibility makes cloud file storage ideal for workloads that rely on
shared file systems and provides simple integration without code
changes.
What is a cloud file system?
A cloud file system is a hierarchical storage system in the cloud that
provides shared access to file data. Users can create, delete, modify,
read, and write files, as well as organize them logically in directory trees
for intuitive access.
What is cloud file sharing?
Cloud file sharing is a service that provides simultaneous access for
multiple users to a common set of files stored in the cloud. Security for
online file storage is managed with user and group permissions so that
administrators can control access to the shared file data.
How does cloud file storage help with collaboration?
Cloud file storage allows team members to access, view, and edit the
same files in near, real-time, and simultaneously, from virtually any
location. Edits are visible to users or groups as they are made, and
changes are synced and saved so that users or groups see the most recent
version of the file. Collaboration through cloud file sharing offers many
benefits:

 Work together and achieve shared goals, even with remote members.
 Schedule work flexibly by sharing tasks between collaborators in
different time zones.
 Share and edit large files, like video or audio files, with ease.
 Receive notifications when files are edited or updated in real time.
 Share ideas or suggestions by leaving comments on shared files.
What are the use cases for cloud file storage?
Cloud file storage provides the flexibility to support and integrate with
existing applications, plus the ease to deploy, manage, and maintain all
your files in the cloud. These two key advantages give organizations the
ability to support a broad spectrum of applications and verticals. Use
cases such as large content repositories, development environments,
media stores, and user home directories are ideal workloads for cloud-
based file storage. Some example use cases for file storage are as
follows.

Web serving

The need for shared file storage for web serving applications can be a
challenge when integrating backend applications. Typically, there are
multiple web servers delivering a website’s content, with each web
server needing access to the same set of files. Since cloud file storage
solutions adhere to common file-level protocols, file naming
conventions, and permissions that web developers are accustomed to,
cloud file storage can be integrated into your web applications.

Content management

A content management system (CMS) requires a common namespace

and access to a file system hierarchy. Similar to web serving use cases,
CMS environments typically have multiple servers that need access to
the same set of files to serve up content. Since cloud file storage
solutions adhere to the expected file system semantics, file naming
conventions, and permissions that developers are accustomed to, storage
of documents and other files can be integrated into existing CMS
workflows.

Analytics
Analytics can require massive amounts of data storage that can also
scale further to keep up with growth. This storage must also provide the
performance necessary to deliver data to analytics tools. Many analytics
workloads interact with data through a file interface, rely on features like
file locks, and require the ability to write to portions of a file. Since
cloud-based file storage supports common file-level protocols and can
scale capacity as well as performance, it is ideal for delivering a file-
sharing solution that is easy to integrate into existing big data and
analytics workflows.

Media and entertainment

Digital media and entertainment workflows are constantly changing.

Many businesses use a hybrid cloud deployment and need standardized
access using file system protocols (NFS or SMB) or concurrent protocol
access. These workflows require flexible, consistent, and secure access
to data from off-the-shelf, custom-built, and partner solutions. Since
cloud file storage adheres to existing file system semantics, storage of
rich media content for processing and collaboration can be integrated for
content production, digital supply chains, media streaming, broadcast
playout, analytics, and archive.

Home directories

The use of home directories for storing files only accessible by specific
users and groups can be beneficial for many cloud workflows.
Businesses looking to take advantage of the scalability and cost benefits
of the cloud are extending access to home directories for many of their
users. Since cloud file storage systems adhere to common file-level
protocols and standard permissions models, customers can lift and shift
applications to the cloud that need this capability.

Database backups

Backing up data using existing mechanisms, software, and semantics can

create an isolated disaster recovery scenario with little locational
flexibility for recovery. Many businesses want to take advantage of the
flexibility of storing database backups in the cloud, either for temporary
protection of previous versions during updates, or for development and
testing. Since cloud file storage presents a standard file system that can
be mounted from database servers, it can be an ideal platform to create
portable database backups using native application tools or enterprise
backup applications.

Development tools

Development environments can be challenged to share unstructured data

in a safe and secure way as they are collaborating to develop their latest
innovations. With the need to share code and other files in an organized
way, using shared cloud file storage provides an organized and secure
repository that is accessible within their cloud development
environments. Cloud-based file storage delivers a scalable and highly
available solution ideal for collaboration.

Storage for containers and serverless applications

Containers are ideal for building microservices because they’re quick to

provision, portable, and provide process isolation. A container that needs
access to the original data each time it starts may require a shared file
system that it can connect to regardless of which instance it's running on.
Cloud file storage can provide persistent shared access to data that all
containers in a cluster can use. You can increase agility with serverless
cloud computing while spending less time focusing on the security,
scalability, and availability of your applications. For example, you can
run large-scale and mission-critical serverless applications on AWS
Lambda. Cloud file storage can provide highly available and durable
serverless data storage for data sharing that needs to persist beyond and
between executions of Lambda functions.

End user computing

 End user computing (EUC) is a combination of technologies that gives
your employees secure, remote access to applications, desktops, and data
they need to get their work done. Modern enterprises use EUC so their
employees can work from wherever they are, across multiple devices, in
a safe and scalable way. EUC technologies like persistent desktops and
document management systems require secure, reliable, and scalable file
storage systems.
What are the requirements for cloud file storage?
An ideal file-based data storage solution in the cloud must deliver the
right performance and capacity for today, while also being capable of
scaling as business needs change. The solution should include the
following features:

 Fully managed: Provides a fully managed file system that can be

launched in minutes with no physical hardware required or ongoing
software maintenance
 Performance: Provides consistent throughput, scalable storage space, and
low-latency performance
 Compatibility: Integrates seamlessly with existing applications with no
new code to write
 Security: Provides network security and access control permissions for
sensitive data protection
 Availability: Redundancy across multiple sites and always accessible
when needed
 Affordability: Pay only for capacity used with no upfront provisioning
costs or licensing fees
What are the different types of cloud file storage services?
The benefits of cloud file storage are clear, but it is important to note
that not all cloud file storage solutions are created equal; various
solutions exist. Cloud file storage can be delivered in one of two ways:
through fully managed solutions with minimal setup and little to no
maintenance, or through do-it-yourself solutions with separate compute,
storage, software, and licensing, which require staffed expertise to
configure and maintain.

Fully managed solutions

Fully managed solutions require little to no setup and maintenance. They

perform to meet the needs of the most demanding application workloads.
They also provide simple, scalable file storage for AWS compute
models, including AWS containers and serverless, and on-premises use
cases. You get virtually unlimited cloud storage for all your file data
needs.

Do-it-yourself solutions

Do-it-yourself clustered solutions require time-consuming setup,

management, and maintenance. For example, a file storage service might
consist of a single node file server on a compute instance using self-
managed storage with no scalability and few redundancies to protect
data. Setup is a complex and slow process that is prone to human error
and increases security risks. In contrast, managed solutions are reliable,
secure, and scalable, and can save you hours and days in configuration
and management time.
How does cloud file storage compare to other types of cloud storage?
There are three types of cloud storage: file, object, and block. Each type
offers its own unique advantages.

File storage

Many applications need to access shared files and require a file system.
This type of storage is often supported with a network-attached storage
(NAS) server. File storage solutions like Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx
are for use cases like content repositories, development environments,
machine learning, data science, media stores, and user home directories.
Amazon FSx for Lustre is ideal for high-performance computing.

Object storage

Applications developed in the cloud often take advantage of object

storage's vast scalability and metadata characteristics. Object storage
solutions like Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) are ideal
for building modern applications from scratch that require scale and
flexibility, and can also be used to import existing data stores for
analytics, backup, or archive. Object storage is built for the internet and
comprises buckets and objects. A bucket is a container for objects. An
object is a file and any metadata that describes that file. Costs can be
lower with object storage because of the scale; it delivers faster retrieval
times without folder hierarchy; and its metadata classification allows for
greater data analytics.

How is file storage different from object storage?

Although object storage solutions support storage of files as objects,

accessing them with existing applications requires new code and the use
of APIs and direct knowledge of naming semantics. Conversely, file-
based data storage solutions support common file-level protocols and
permissions models. They do not require new code to be written to
integrate with applications that are configured to work with shared file
storage.

Block storage

Other enterprise applications like databases or enterprise resource

planning (ERP) systems often require dedicated, low-latency storage for
each host. This is similar to direct-attached storage (DAS) or a storage
area network (SAN). Block-based cloud storage solutions like Amazon
Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) are provisioned with each virtual
server and offer the millisecond latency required for high-performance
workloads.
 How is file storage different from block storage?

Block storage can be used as the underlying storage component of a self-

managed file storage solution. However, the one-to-one relationship
required between the host and volume makes it difficult to have the
scalability, availability, and affordability of a fully managed file storage
solution, and requires additional budget and management resources to
support. Using a fully managed cloud file storage solution removes
complexities, reduces costs, and simplifies management.
What are the AWS file storage services?
There is a lot of file-based data in the world. AWS provides fully
managed file system services that help you address the diverse needs of
your file-based applications and workloads. Organizations require their
mission-critical business applications to be highly available, and many
of these applications use shared file storage. Migrating these
applications to the cloud provides scalability, high availability and
durability, security, and reduced costs, while increasing agility.
AWS offers the following file system services optimized for your
applications and use cases:

 Amazon EFS provides a simple, serverless, set-and-forget elastic file

system that allows you to create and configure shared file systems
quickly for AWS compute services.
 Amazon FSx for Lustre is for compute-intensive applications such as
high-performance computing. With this service, you can easily process
data with a file system that’s optimized for performance with input and
output stored on Amazon S3.
 Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP delivers fully managed, multi-protocol
shared storage built on NetApp’s popular ONTAP file system.
 Amazon FSx for OpenZFS provides fully managed shared file storage
built on the OpenZFS file system so that you can migrate your Linux-
 based file servers to AWS without modifying application code or how
you manage data.
 Amazon FSx for Windows File Server provides a fully managed native-
Windows file system with a wide range of data access, data management,
and administrative capabilities.

What is Cloud Computing ?

Cloud computing means storing and accessing the data and programs on
remote servers that are hosted on the internet instead of the computer’s hard
drive or local server. Cloud computing is also referred to as Internet-based
computing, it is a technology where the resource is provided as a service
through the Internet to the user. The data which is stored can be files, images,
documents, or any other storable document.
Some operations which can be performed with cloud computing are –
 Storage, backup, and recovery of data
 Delivery of software on demand
 Development of new applications and services
 Streaming videos and audio
Cloud Computing Architecture:
Cloud computing architecture refers to the components and sub-components
required for cloud computing. These components typically refer to:
1. Front end(fat client, thin client)
2. Back-end platforms(servers, storage)
3. Cloud-based delivery and a network(Internet, Intranet, Intercloud)
Why Cloud Computing?
Here are the top reasons why to switch to Cloud Computing instead of owning a
database server.
1. Reduces cost :
The cost-cutting ability of businesses that utilize cloud computing over time is
one of the main advantages of this technology. On average 15% of the total
cost can be saved by companies if they migrate to the cloud. By the use of
cloud servers businesses will save and reduce costs with no need to employ a
staff of technical support personnel to address server issues. There are many
great business modules regarding the cost-cutting benefits of cloud servers
such as the Coca-Cola and Pinterest case studies.
2. More storage :
For software and applications to execute as quickly and efficiently as possible, it
provides more servers, storage space, and computing power. Many tools are
available for cloud storage such as Dropbox, Onedrive, Google Drive, iCloud
Drive, etc.
3. Employees using cloud computing have better work-life balance :
Direct connections between cloud computing benefits, and the work and
personal lives of an enterprise’s workers can both improve because of cloud
computing. Even on holidays, the employees have to work with the server for its
security, maintenance, and proper functionality. But with cloud storage the thing
is not the same, employees get ample of time for their personal life and the
workload is even less comparatively.
What is Cloud Hoisting
There are three layers in cloud computing. Companies use these layers based
on the service they provide.
 Infrastructure
 Platform
 Application

Three layers of Cloud Computing

At the bottom is the foundation, the Infrastructure where the people start and
begin to build. This is the layer where the cloud hosting lives.
Now, let’s have a look at hosting: Let’s say you have a company and a
website and the website has a lot of communications that are exchanged
between members. You start with a few members talking with each other and
then gradually the number of members increases. As time passes, as the
number of members increases, there would be more traffic on the network and
your server will get slow down. This would cause a problem. A few years ago,
the websites are put on the server somewhere, in this way you have to run
around or buy and set the number of servers. It costs a lot of money and takes
a lot of time. You pay for these servers when you are using them and as well as
when you are not using them. This is called hosting. This problem is overcome
by cloud hosting. With Cloud Computing, you have access to computing power
when you needed. Now, your website is put in the cloud server as you put it on
a dedicated server. People start visiting your website and if you suddenly need
more computing power, you would scale up according to the need.
Characteristics of Cloud Computing
 Scalability: With Cloud hosting, it is easy to grow and shrink the number
and size of servers based on the need. This is done by either increasing or
decreasing the resources in the cloud. This ability to alter plans due to
fluctuations in business size and needs is a superb benefit of cloud
computing, especially when experiencing a sudden growth in demand.
 Instant: Whatever you want is instantly available in the cloud.
 Save Money: An advantage of cloud computing is the reduction in hardware
costs. Instead of purchasing in-house equipment, hardware needs are left to
the vendor. For companies that are growing rapidly, new hardware can be
large, expensive, and inconvenient. Cloud computing alleviates these issues
because resources can be acquired quickly and easily. Even better, the cost
of repairing or replacing equipment is passed to the vendors. Along with
purchase costs, off-site hardware cuts internal power costs and saves
space. Large data centers can take up precious office space and produce a
large amount of heat. Moving to cloud applications or storage can help
maximize space and significantly cut energy expenditures.
 Reliability: Rather than being hosted on one single instance of a physical
server, hosting is delivered on a virtual partition that draws its resource, such
as disk space, from an extensive network of underlying physical servers. If
one server goes offline it will have no effect on availability, as the virtual
servers will continue to pull resources from the remaining network of servers.
 Physical Security: The underlying physical servers are still housed within
data centers and so benefit from the security measures that those facilities
implement to prevent people from accessing or disrupting them on-site.
 Outsource Management: When you are managing the business, Someone
else manages your computing infrastructure. You do not need to worry about
management as well as degradation.
Top leading Cloud Computing companies
1. Amazon Web Services(AWS): One of the most successful cloud-based
businesses is Amazon Web Services(AWS), which is an Infrastructure as a
Service(Iaas) offering that pays rent for virtual computers on Amazon’s
infrastructure.
2. Microsoft Azure Platform: Microsoft is creating the Azure platform which
enables the .NET Framework Application to run over the internet as an
alternative platform for Microsoft developers. This is the classic Platform as
a Service(PaaS).
3. Google: Google has built a worldwide network of data centers to service its
search engine. From this service, Google has captured the world’s
advertising revenue. By using that revenue, Google offers free software to
users based on infrastructure. This is called Software as a Service(SaaS).
4. IBM Cloud is a collection of cloud computing services for businesses
provided by the IBM Corporation. It provides infrastructure as a service,
software as a service, and platform as a service.
5. Oracle Cloud is a collection of cloud services offered by Oracle Corporation,
including infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS),
and software as a service (SaaS).
6. Alibaba Cloud is the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, providing a
comprehensive suite of global cloud computing services to power both their
international customers’ online businesses and Alibaba Group’s own e-
commerce ecosystem.
7. Tencent Cloud is a cloud service platform provided by Tencent. It provides
a range of services such as virtual machines, storage, databases, and
analytics.
8. Rackspace is a provider of hybrid cloud computing, founded in 1998. It
provides managed hosting, cloud hosting, and email and app services.
9. Salesforce – A cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM)
platform used for sales, marketing, and customer service.
10. VMware Cloud – A cloud platform by VMware, offering services such as
virtualization, cloud management, and network virtualization.
11. DigitalOcean – A cloud platform focused on providing easy-to-use,
scalable computing services.
12. Red Hat OpenShift – A cloud platform by Red Hat, offering container-
based application development and management.
13. Cisco Cloud – A cloud platform by Cisco, offering a range of services
including networking, security, and application development.
14. HP Helion – A cloud platform by HP, offering services such as
computing, storage, and networking.
15. SAP Cloud Platform – A cloud platform by SAP, offering services such
as analytics, application development, and integration.
 16. Fujitsu Cloud – A cloud platform by Fujitsu, offering services such as
computing, storage, and networking.
17. OVHcloud – A cloud platform offering a range of services including
computing, storage, and networking.
18. CenturyLink Cloud – A cloud platform offering a range of services
including computing, storage, and networking.
19. Joyent – A cloud platform offering services such as computing, storage,
and container-based application development.
20. NTT Communications Cloud – A cloud platform offering services such
as computing, storage, and networking.

Cloud Based Services





Cloud Computing can be defined as the practice of using

a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to
store, manage, and process data, rather than a local
server or a personal computer. Companies offering such
kinds of cloud computing services are called cloud
providers and typically charge for cloud computing
services based on usage. Grids and clusters are the
foundations for cloud computing.
Types of Cloud Computing
Most cloud computing services fall into five broad
categories:
1. Software as a service (SaaS)
2. Platform as a service (PaaS)
3. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
4. Anything/Everything as a service (XaaS)
5. Function as a Service (FaaS)
These are sometimes called the cloud computing
stack because they are built on top of one another.
Knowing what they are and how they are different, makes
it easier to accomplish your goals. These abstraction
layers can also be viewed as a layered
architecture where services of a higher layer can be
composed of services of the underlying layer i.e, SaaS
can provide Infrastructure.

Software as a Service(SaaS)

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a way of delivering

services and applications over the Internet. Instead of
installing and maintaining software, we simply access it
via the Internet, freeing ourselves from the complex
software and hardware management. It removes the
need to install and run applications on our own
computers or in the data centers eliminating the
expenses of hardware as well as software maintenance.
SaaS provides a complete software solution that you
purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service
provider. Most SaaS applications can be run directly from
a web browser without any downloads or installations
required. The SaaS applications are sometimes
called Web-based software, on-demand software, or
hosted software.
Advantages of SaaS
1. Cost-Effective: Pay only for what you use.
2. Reduced time: Users can run most SaaS apps directly
from their web browser without needing to download
and install any software. This reduces the time spent in
installation and configuration and can reduce the
issues that can get in the way of the software
deployment.
3. Accessibility: We can Access app data from
anywhere.
4. Automatic updates: Rather than purchasing new
software, customers rely on a SaaS provider to
automatically perform the updates.
5. Scalability: It allows the users to access the services
and features on-demand.
The various companies providing Software as a
service are Cloud9 Analytics, Salesforce.com, Cloud
Switch, Microsoft Office 365, Big Commerce, Eloqua,
dropBox, and Cloud Tran.
Disadvantages of Saas :
1. Limited customization: SaaS solutions are typically
not as customizable as on-premises software, meaning
that users may have to work within the constraints of
the SaaS provider’s platform and may not be able to
tailor the software to their specific needs.
2. Dependence on internet connectivity: SaaS
solutions are typically cloud-based, which means that
they require a stable internet connection to function
properly. This can be problematic for users in areas
with poor connectivity or for those who need to access
the software in offline environments.
3. Security concerns: SaaS providers are responsible for
maintaining the security of the data stored on their
servers, but there is still a risk of data breaches or
other security incidents.
4. Limited control over data: SaaS providers may have
access to a user’s data, which can be a concern for
organizations that need to maintain strict control over
their data for regulatory or other reasons.

Platform as a Service
PaaS is a category of cloud computing that provides a
platform and environment to allow developers to build
applications and services over the internet. PaaS services
are hosted in the cloud and accessed by users simply via
their web browser.
A PaaS provider hosts the hardware and software on its
own infrastructure. As a result, PaaS frees users from
having to install in-house hardware and software to
develop or run a new application. Thus, the development
and deployment of the application take
place independent of the hardware.
The consumer does not manage or control the underlying
cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating
systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed
applications and possibly configuration settings for the
application-hosting environment. To make it simple, take
the example of an annual day function, you will have two
options either to create a venue or to rent a venue but
the function is the same.
Advantages of PaaS:
1. Simple and convenient for users: It provides much
of the infrastructure and other IT services, which users
can access anywhere via a web browser.
2. Cost-Effective: It charges for the services provided on
a per-use basis thus eliminating the expenses one may
have for on-premises hardware and software.
3. Efficiently managing the lifecycle: It is designed to
support the complete web application lifecycle:
building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating.
4. Efficiency: It allows for higher-level programming with
reduced complexity thus, the overall development of
the application can be more effective.
The various companies providing Platform as a
service are Amazon Web services Elastic Beanstalk,
Salesforce, Windows Azure, Google App Engine, cloud
Bees and IBM smart cloud.
Disadvantages of Paas:
1. Limited control over infrastructure: PaaS providers
typically manage the underlying infrastructure and take
care of maintenance and updates, but this can also
mean that users have less control over the
environment and may not be able to make certain
customizations.
2. Dependence on the provider: Users are dependent
on the PaaS provider for the availability, scalability, and
reliability of the platform, which can be a risk if the
provider experiences outages or other issues.
3. Limited flexibility: PaaS solutions may not be able to
accommodate certain types of workloads or
applications, which can limit the value of the solution
for certain organizations.

Infrastructure as a Service

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a service model that

delivers computer infrastructure on an outsourced basis
to support various operations. Typically IaaS is a service
where infrastructure is provided as outsourcing to
enterprises such as networking equipment, devices,
database, and web servers.
It is also known as Hardware as a Service (HaaS). IaaS
customers pay on a per-user basis, typically by the hour,
week, or month. Some providers also charge customers
based on the amount of virtual machine space they use.
It simply provides the underlying operating systems,
security, networking, and servers for developing such
applications, and services, and deploying development
tools, databases, etc.
Advantages of IaaS:
1. Cost-Effective: Eliminates capital expense and
reduces ongoing cost and IaaS customers pay on a per-
user basis, typically by the hour, week, or month.
2. Website hosting: Running websites using IaaS can be
less expensive than traditional web hosting.
3. Security: The IaaS Cloud Provider may provide better
security than your existing software.
4. Maintenance: There is no need to manage the
underlying data center or the introduction of new
releases of the development or underlying software.
This is all handled by the IaaS Cloud Provider.
The various companies providing Infrastructure as a
service are Amazon web services, Bluestack, IBM,
Openstack, Rackspace, and Vmware.
Disadvantages of laaS :
1. Limited control over infrastructure: IaaS providers
typically manage the underlying infrastructure and take
care of maintenance and updates, but this can also
mean that users have less control over the
environment and may not be able to make certain
customizations.
2. Security concerns: Users are responsible for securing
their own data and applications, which can be a
significant undertaking.
3. Limited access: Cloud computing may not be
accessible in certain regions and countries due to legal
policies.

Anything as a Service

It is also known as Everything as a Service. Most of the

cloud service providers nowadays offer anything as a
service that is a compilation of all of the above services
including some additional services.
Advantages of XaaS:
1. Scalability: XaaS solutions can be easily scaled up or
down to meet the changing needs of an organization.
2. Flexibility: XaaS solutions can be used to provide a
wide range of services, such as storage, databases,
networking, and software, which can be customized to
meet the specific needs of an organization.
3. Cost-effectiveness: XaaS solutions can be more cost-
effective than traditional on-premises solutions, as
organizations only pay for the services.
Disadvantages of XaaS:
1. Dependence on the provider: Users are dependent
on the XaaS provider for the availability, scalability,
and reliability of the service, which can be a risk if the
provider experiences outages or other issues.
2. Limited flexibility: XaaS solutions may not be able to
accommodate certain types of workloads or
applications, which can limit the value of the solution
for certain organizations.
3. Limited integration: XaaS solutions may not be able
to integrate with existing systems and data sources,
which can limit the value of the solution for certain
organizations.
Function as a Service :
FaaS is a type of cloud computing service. It provides a
platform for its users or customers to develop, compute,
run and deploy the code or entire application as
functions. It allows the user to entirely develop the code
and update it at any time without worrying about the
maintenance of the underlying infrastructure. The
developed code can be executed with response to the
specific event. It is also as same as PaaS.
FaaS is an event-driven execution model. It is
implemented in the serverless container. When the
application is developed completely, the user will now
trigger the event to execute the code. Now, the triggered
event makes response and activates the servers to
execute it. The servers are nothing but the Linux servers
or any other servers which is managed by the vendor
completely. Customer does not have clue about any
servers which is why they do not need to maintain the
server hence it is serverless architecture.
Both PaaS and FaaS are providing the same functionality
but there is still some differentiation in terms of
Scalability and Cost.
FaaS, provides auto-scaling up and scaling down
depending upon the demand. PaaS also provides
scalability but here users have to configure the scaling
parameter depending upon the demand.
In FaaS, users only have to pay for the number of
execution time happened. In PaaS, users have to pay for
the amount based on pay-as-you-go price regardless of
how much or less they use.
Advantages of FaaS :
 Highly Scalable: Auto scaling is done by the provider
depending upon the demand.
 Cost-Effective: Pay only for the number of events
executed.
 Code Simplification: FaaS allows the users to upload
the entire application all at once. It allows you to write
code for independent functions or similar to those
functions.
 Maintenance of code is enough and no need to worry
about the servers.
 Functions can be written in any programming
language.
 Less control over the system.
The various companies providing Function as a Service
are Amazon Web Services – Firecracker, Google –
Kubernetes, Oracle – Fn, Apache OpenWhisk – IBM,
OpenFaaS,
Disadvantages of FaaS :
1. Cold start latency: Since FaaS functions are event-
triggered, the first request to a new function may
experience increased latency as the function container
is created and initialized.
2. Limited control over infrastructure: FaaS providers
typically manage the underlying infrastructure and take
care of maintenance and updates, but this can also
mean that users have less control over the
environment and may not be able to make certain
customizations.
3. Security concerns: Users are responsible for securing
their own data and applications, which can be a
significant undertaking.
4. Limited scalability: FaaS functions may not be able
to handle high traffic or large number of requests.