Stage 2 · Lesson 1 of 8

IaaS, PaaS and SaaS

Cloud services come in three broad models. (infrastructure as a service) rents you , disks and networks, and you manage the operating system upwards. PaaS (platform as a service) runs your code or database while the handles the servers underneath.

SaaS (software as a service) is finished software you simply use, like hosted email. The model decides how much patching, scaling and securing is your job, and it is the first question in almost every design choice later in this roadmap. As a rule, choose the most managed option that meets your needs.

Common trapputting everything on virtual machines out of habit and spending your weeks patching servers a would run for you.

A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 1 cheat sheet entry come with the full roadmap. Unlock

Resources for this stage

Start with

CourseFree
AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
Amazon Web Services · Beginner
Free official course: cloud concepts, core services, security and pricing, in the order this stage uses

Keep handy

AWS Documentation
Keep the Billing and Cost Management guide open while you set up your account and budget
AWS Well-Architected Framework
Skim the six pillars now; you will use them to review your capstone

Also worth your time

Shared Responsibility Model (opens in a new tab)Read
Security of the cloud versus security in the cloud, with examples by service type
Learn to CloudGo deeper
A free, open curriculum for the whole path to a cloud role, to see where this stage fits