BEGINNING SHAREPOINT? Development 5th Chapter--windows Azure Overview Define the cloud in order to understand Windows Azure, you must first understand the cloud concept. Cloud Computing (a broader description of the cloud) is the Web as a series of resources to develop and deploy your solution. Traditionally, cloud computing has been defined as a service category-such as infrastructure as a service (IAAS), Platform as a service (PAAS), and Software as a service (SAAS). Each category is very different. For example, you might want to use IaaS as a hosted virtual machine for remote management; PAAs wants to be your deployment code, data, binary Large Objects (BLOBs), Web apps, and other applications to a cloud-based environment such as Windows Server R2 and IIS) where SaaS is a subscription-based service that you can subscribe to (for example, Office365).
BEGINNING sharepoint®2013 Development 5th Chapter--windows Azure Overview Defining the Cloud