Understanding cloud: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS
This page presents the main cloud service models and SiliVal’s role: an operations partner that keeps your Linux systems and databases running, regardless of the cloud provider you choose.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is about consuming IT resources (servers, storage, network, application services) as services rather than buying and operating the entire hardware infrastructure yourself.
Instead of sizing a server room for the next five years, you rely on an industrial platform operated by a provider and adjust capacity on demand. This applies both to raw resources (virtual machines, volumes) and to higher-level services (managed databases, application platforms, SaaS applications).
Cloud is not necessarily a complete break with existing systems: in many contexts it complements on-premises infrastructure. The challenge is to coordinate these building blocks, keep environments consistent and maintain control over the services that drive your business.
Main benefits organisations look for
- Flexibility: adapt resources to activity levels without heavy capital expenditure on hardware.
- Speed of delivery: quickly provision environments for a new service or project.
- Service continuity: rely on datacentres and services designed for high availability.
- Cost alignment: bring spending closer to actual usage.
SiliVal’s role is not to sell cloud instead of providers, but to help you operate these services in a robust way, especially when they rely on Linux systems and business-critical databases.
Cloud service models
Cloud services are generally grouped into three main families: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. Each corresponds to a different level of abstraction.
On-premises model
Your organisation is responsible for the entire stack: premises, power, networking, servers, storage, systems, middleware, databases, applications. This model gives full autonomy but requires significant teams and budgets to run.
IaaS
Infrastructure as-a-Service (IaaS) provides compute, storage and network resources on demand. You remain responsible for operating systems, databases and applications that run on top of them.
PaaS
Platform as-a-Service (PaaS) provides a complete technical environment for your applications: operating systems, runtimes, databases and integration. You focus on application logic and data.
SaaS
With Software as-a-Service (SaaS), you use the application directly (often via a browser). The vendor delivers a turnkey service: features, updates and underlying infrastructure are managed for you.
Responsibility split
A synthetic view of how responsibilities are split between your organisation and service providers across different models.
| Overview Technical layers |
On-prem
|
IaaS
|
PaaS
|
SaaS
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business applications Features, UX, configuration | ||||
| Data Business content, quality, lifecycle | ||||
| Integration & interfaces APIs, flows, synchronisation with other systems | ||||
| Databases Engines, configuration, logical backups | ||||
| Operating system & middleware Linux, runtimes, application servers | ||||
| Infrastructure Virtualisation, servers, storage, network |
Depending on your choices (on-prem, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), the split of responsibilities changes. SiliVal mainly intervenes on Linux, databases, integration and day-to-day operations, working alongside your teams and your cloud providers.
SiliVal’s place in this ecosystem
Major cloud providers deliver technical building blocks and consumption-based services. SiliVal positions itself as an operations partner: we make these building blocks work in support of your applications, especially when they rely on Linux environments and databases.
Whether infrastructure is on-prem, IaaS, PaaS or some functions are SaaS, we focus on the layers where value matters most to you: systems, databases, integration chains, automation, monitoring and business continuity.
- Linux as a foundation: design, hardening and operation of Linux environments, whether hosted by a cloud provider or in your own datacentre.
- Databases: installation, configuration, monitoring and backups for the database engines that power your applications.
- Integration & industrialisation: scripts, automation, deployment management, documentation and procedures.
- Ongoing support: day-to-day operations, capacity management, change management and continuous improvement.
For organisations that do not have all these skills in-house, SiliVal acts as a specialised managed-services team, able to work with the cloud you choose or with existing environments.
A single point of contact for your environments
We do not impose a single cloud provider: we work on the environments you already use or are considering, with a pragmatic and well-documented approach.
The goal is to give you a clear point of support: a team that understands your Linux systems, your databases and your constraints, and that can talk both to your internal teams and your hosting or cloud partners.
This approach lets you evolve your services in a controlled way, combining cloud capabilities with rigorous operations for your technical environments.
Discuss your cloud & Linux environments
Preparing a cloud project, a migration or an infrastructure consolidation?
SiliVal can help you define a managed-services perimeter adapted to your Linux systems,
databases and critical services.