Category 6 software profiles
Cloud & Infrastructure Software
Cloud computing, content delivery and the network services the internet runs on.
Cloud and infrastructure services provide the computing power, storage and networking that other software runs on. Rather than buying and operating their own servers, companies rent capacity from providers and pay according to use, which lets them scale up for a product launch and back down afterwards.
This category covers large-scale cloud platforms offering virtual machines, GPUs and managed databases, as well as the global edge networks that cache websites close to users and absorb malicious traffic. Price, geographic reach, AI capacity and network performance are the main points of competition.
Cloud & Infrastructure: software on SoftwareLore
- Cloudflare CDNGlobal content delivery network with built-in DDoS protection Cloudflare 2010 Freemium
- Oracle Cloud InfrastructureOracle’s public cloud for computing, databases and large AI clusters Oracle 2016 Usage-based
- 1.1.1.1Cloudflare’s free, privacy-focused public DNS resolver and app Cloudflare 2018 Freemium
- Cloudflare OneCloudflare’s SASE platform for zero trust access and network security Cloudflare 2020 Freemium
- Cloudflare WorkersServerless platform for running code across Cloudflare’s global network Cloudflare 2018 Usage-based
- MongoDB AtlasFully managed MongoDB database service on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure MongoDB 2016 Usage-based
Who makes Cloud & Infrastructure Software?
What to look for
Questions worth answering before choosing a tool in this category.
- 01
Workload fit
General-purpose clouds suit broad application hosting, while specialized providers may offer better price or performance for GPUs, databases or content delivery.
- 02
Network reach and latency
Edge networks with locations close to users reduce latency for websites, APIs and streaming. Check coverage in the regions that matter most to your audience.
- 03
Pricing and egress fees
Compare compute and storage prices, but also fees for moving data out of a provider, which can dominate costs for bandwidth-heavy applications.
- 04
Resilience and security
Look for multi-region redundancy, DDoS mitigation, compliance certifications and service-level agreements that match the application’s availability needs.
Cloud & Infrastructure: frequently asked questions
What is a CDN?
A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed set of servers that store copies of website content in many locations. When someone visits a site, the CDN serves files from a nearby server, which speeds up loading, reduces load on the origin server and helps absorb traffic spikes and attacks.
What is the difference between IaaS, PaaS and SaaS?
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) rents raw computing resources such as virtual machines and storage. Platform as a service (PaaS) adds managed runtimes and databases so developers can deploy code without managing servers. Software as a service (SaaS) delivers complete applications, such as email or CRM, over the internet.
What is edge computing?
Edge computing runs code on servers located close to end users, often inside a CDN’s global network, instead of in a few central data centers. Platforms such as Cloudflare Workers let developers run application logic at the edge to reduce latency for users around the world.
Other categories
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