Essential characteristics of the cloud

The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as follows:

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.

The cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models:

Figure 2.1 – Five essential characteristics of the cloud

In order for a system to be recognized as a cloud, it should have these five essential characteristics:

1. On-demand self-service: A consumer must be able to automatically provision computing resources such as compute capacity, storage, and network as needed without having to interact with a human service provider.
2. Broad network...