Popular PaaS Providers
The PaaS market is competitive, with many service providers offering unique solutions for businesses to build customized applications.
Here, we'll discuss five major PaaS providers:
AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Elastic Beanstalk is an AWS PaaS solution that lets you build, deploy, and manage services and applications in Java, Go, Docker, PHP, Node.js, .Net, Python, and Ruby on familiar servers like IIS, Apache, Nginx, and Passenger.
This PaaS platform does the heavy lifting for you by automatically handling capacity provisioning, load balancing,application health monitoring, and auto-scaling so that your application is up and running immediately.
It offers ample customization opportunities, improves developer productivity, and helps businesses improve their efficiency.
Google App Engine
Google App Engineenables developers to create and host web applications in Google-managed cloud data centers.
It supports different programming languages such as C#, PHP, Python, Go, Java, and Ruby. You can also use other languages through custom runtimes.
You can run your app using a flexible environment, standard environment, or a combination of both settings. You won't need to install or manage any infrastructure or physical servers.
Some key features of Google App Engine are:
- Firewall and IAM capabilities
- Managed SSL/TLS certificates
- App versioning and partitioning
- Managed patching and traffic splitting
- Fully managed and server less offerings
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift is a security-focused, supported Kubernetes platform that simplifies building and deploying open-source applications.
OpenShift offers enterprise-grade Linux operating system, networking, container runtime, registry, monitoring, and authentication and authorization solutions. It also has extensive API support to fit other products in your workflowwithout any worries.
Besides that, OpenShift has multiple safeguards built into the development environment, which step in if someone tries to perform unexpected actions like running containers with incorrect permissions.
SAP Cloud
Part of SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Cloud is an open cloud platform designed to help development teams build applications easily, providing both breadth and depth of service.
SAP Cloud enables the integration of cloud and on-premise apps. It offers many supporting services due to SAP’s partner ecosystem, which delivers a great library of over 1,300 apps created on the same platform.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is a fully managed PaaS service that helps you build, deploy, and scale web applications, REST APIs, and mobile backends quickly. Azure supports different programming languages and frameworks such as Node.js, .NET, Python, PHP, Java, .NET Core, and Ruby.
You can also use Azure’sDevOpsfeatures such as custom domain, staging environments, package management, TLS/SSL certifications, and GitHub.
IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS
‘as-a-service’ typically means a second party provides a service so you can focus on what’s crucial to your business, such as customer relationships and product development.
Apart from PaaS, other as-a-service options are Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) andSoftware-as-a-Service (SaaS).
IaaS
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) means the vendor provides you with the infrastructure via the cloud, and you access it through an API or dashboard.
You can manage apps, runtime, OS, and middleware, and the provider takes care of networking, hardware, servers, and storage. This solution helps large companies control how they run their business processes while still benefiting from a scalable, cost-effectivesolution.
Some examples ofIaaS platforms include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and IBM Cloud.
SaaS
Software as a Service (SaaS) covers services where a provider manages an application for you. SaaS companies deliver their products to end-users via a web browser or application portal.
You can use these tools as aweb application (such as Google Docs) or download and install them on your device (such as Adobe Creative Cloud).
Some examples of SaaS platforms include HubSpot, DocuSign, and Dropbox.
Final Thoughts: What Is PaaS? The Ultimate Guide to Platform as a Service
Most startups and small businesses find PaaS services convenient as they empower them to create apps and access a wide range of tools without buying and maintaining physical servers. PaaS solutions can increase your company's productivity and let you grow more effectively.
