Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the cloud service model that provides fundamental computing resources on demand. This model offers virtualized components such as servers (compute), storage (e.g., block storage), and networking. It allows organizations to rent IT infrastructure from a cloud provider on a pay-as-you-go basis, giving them the highest level of control to build and manage their own custom IT solutions. The consumer does not manage the underlying physical hardware but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications. This directly matches the description of accessing "basic building blocks."

A. Networking as a service (NaaS) is a more specific model that focuses exclusively on providing network resources and is considered a component within the broader IaaS category.

B. Platform as a service (PaaS) abstracts the underlying infrastructure, providing a platform (e.g., operating systems, databases) for developers to build and run applications without managing servers.

C. Software as a service (SaaS) delivers ready-to-use software applications over the internet, where the provider manages the entire stack, from infrastructure to the application itself.

1. Mell

P.

& Grance

T. (2011). The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing (NIST Special Publication 800-145). National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-145.

Section 2

"Definitions

" page 3: "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."

2. Amazon Web Services (AWS). (n.d.). What is IaaS? AWS Documentation.

Paragraph 1: "Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) contains the basic building blocks for cloud IT. It typically provides access to networking features

computers (virtual or on dedicated hardware)

and data storage space."

3. Microsoft Azure. (n.d.). What is IaaS? Infrastructure as a service. Azure Documentation.

Overview Section: "Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a type of cloud computing service that offers essential compute

storage

and networking resources on demand

on a pay-as-you-go basis."

4. Armbrust

M.

Fox

A.

Griffith

R.

Joseph

A. D.

Katz

R.

Konwinski

A.

... & Zaharia

M. (2010). A view of cloud computing. Communications of the ACM

53(4)

50-58. https://doi.org/10.1145/1721654.1721672

Section 3

"Classes of Utility Computing

" page 51: "IaaS is the lowest-level

offering basic server and storage... The service provider owns the equipment and is responsible for housing

running

and maintaining it. The user

in turn

pays for what they use."