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Blog

# Engineering

Architecture decisions, performance, and how we build ZCP.

Engineering

May 16, 2026

### [A sample Montreal cloud rack: the hardware, the cost, and the 5-10 year payback](https://zsoftly.ca/blog/sample-cloud-rack-montreal)

A walkthrough of a four-server rack in a Montreal colocation delivering a full public or private cloud, with the OpEx / CapEx math against running the same workload on a hyperscaler.

Engineering

May 16, 2026

### [What is cloud computing?](https://zsoftly.ca/blog/what-is-cloud-computing)

A short primer on the NIST definition of cloud computing, the five essential characteristics, and why "cloud" does not mean "public cloud only".

Engineering

May 16, 2026

### [What is Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)?](https://zsoftly.ca/blog/what-is-iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service)

IaaS is the raw compute, storage, and networking layer of cloud. Here is the NIST definition, the three pillars, and how ZCP delivers real IaaS.

Engineering

May 16, 2026

### [What is Metal-as-a-Service (MaaS)?](https://zsoftly.ca/blog/what-is-maas-metal-as-a-service)

Metal-as-a-Service turns a rack of physical servers into an API-driven pool. Here is when bare-metal provisioning matters and how ZCP delivers it.

Engineering

May 16, 2026

### [What is Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)?](https://zsoftly.ca/blog/what-is-paas-platform-as-a-service)

PaaS abstracts the runtime so you ship code, not servers. Here is the NIST definition, the trade-offs, and how ZCP delivers managed Kubernetes and Observability.

Engineering

May 16, 2026

### [What is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)?](https://zsoftly.ca/blog/what-is-saas-software-as-a-service)

A technical decision-maker guide to the SaaS layer: NIST SP 800-145, the CAPEX-to-OPEX shift, and how SaaS providers run on IaaS underneath.