"Cloud" has become a very over-hyped term over the last few years. One of the characteristics of over-hyped words is that they have little or no definition to them .
As it turns out there is an excellent definition of cloud computing available, from none other that https://www.nist.gov/. It's available by a wonderfully short and easy to understand standards document. (https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-145/final)
NIST defines cloud as access to a pool of computing resources (servers, storage, networks, services etc) that can be rapidly provisioned and made available with minimal overhead.
It briefly defines:
- Five essential characteristics: on demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service.
- Three service models: software, platform, and infrastructure (all as a service).
- Four deployment models: private, community, public, and hybrid.
Cloud Computing For NIST:
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared
pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that
can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment
models.
