What is Platform as a Service | PaaS ?
Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a runtime environment. It allows programmers to easily create, test, run, and deploy web applications. You can purchase these applications from a cloud service provider on a pay-as-per use basis and access them using the Internet connection. In PaaS, back end scalability is managed by the cloud service provider, so end- users do not need to worry about managing the infrastructure.
PaaS includes infrastructure (servers, storage, and networking) and platform (middleware, development tools, database management systems, business intelligence, and more) to support the web application life cycle.
The main benefits of Platform as a Service | PaaS are-
One of the major benefits of platform as a service (PaaS) is its ability to improve a developer’s productivity. PaaS provides direct support for business agility by enabling rapid development with faster and more frequent delivery of functionality. It does this through continuous integration techniques and automatic application deployment. PaaS also enables developers to realize the cloud’s broader benefits.
This includes:
- Scalability, including rapid allocation and deallocation of resources with a pay-as-you-use model (noting that the use of individual resources can vary greatly over the life cycle of an application)
- Reduced capital expenditure
- Reduced lead times with on-demand availability of resources
- Self-service with reduced administration costs
- Reduced skill requirements
- Support of team collaboration
- Ability to add new users quickly
The automation support one receives in a PaaS environment also provides productivity improvements and consistency in delivery. Along with automation is the ability for closer equivalence of the development, test and production environments, again improving consistency and reliability of delivery. This is one aspect of a DevOps/agile development approach that is ideal for a PaaS environment.