Azure Basic - Definitions

Reference
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/hh509051.aspx

Essential Characteristics:

• On-demand self-service -- A consumer can independently and unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as compute time, network connectivity and storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service’s provider
• Broad network access --Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms
• Resource pooling -- The provider’s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the customer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources, but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, region or datacenter). Examples of computing resources include storage, processing (compute), memory, network bandwidth, and virtual machines
• Rapid elasticity -- Capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out, and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time
• Measured Service -- Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, compute, bandwidth, active user accounts, etc.). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service

Service Models - Define Saas, PaaS, IaaS

• Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)--The capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of provider-defined user-specific application configuration settings
• Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS)--The capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. 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 application hosting environment configurations
• Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)--The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud physical infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components

Deployment Models:

• Private cloud -- The cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise
• Community cloud --The cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise
• Public cloud --The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services
• Hybrid cloud-- The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load balancing between clouds)