Characteristics of Cloud Computing

Characteristics of Cloud Computing

As cloud computing services mature both commercially and technologically, it will be easier for companies to maximize the potential benefits. Knowing what cloud computing is and what it does, however, is just as important. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as it is known today through five particular characteristics. 

1.On-demand self-service

2.Broad network access

3.Multi-tenancy and resource pooling

4.Rapid elasticity and scalability

5.Measured service

follows the Characteristics of Cloud Computing.

1.On-demand self-service:

Cloud computing resources can be provisioned without human interaction from the service provider. In other words, a manufacturing organization can provision additional computing resources as needed without going through the cloud service provider. This can be a storage space, virtual machine instances, database instances, and so on.

2.Broad network access:

Cloud computing resources are available over the network and can be accessed by diverse customer platforms. It other words, cloud services are available over a network—ideally high broadband communication link—such as the internet, or in the case of a private clouds it could be a local area network (LAN).

3.Multi-tenancy and resource pooling:

Cloud computing resources are designed to support a multi-tenant model. Multi-tenancy allows multiple customers to share the same applications or the same physical infrastructure while retaining privacy and security over their information. It’s similar to people living in an apartment building, sharing the same building infrastructure but they still have their own apartments and privacy within that infrastructure. That is how cloud multi-tenancy works.

4.Rapid elasticity and scalability:

One of the great things about cloud computing is the ability to quickly provision resources in the cloud as manufacturing organizations need them. And then to remove them when they don’t need them. Cloud computing resources can scale up or down rapidly and, in some cases, automatically, in response to business demands. It is a key feature of cloud computing. The usage, capacity, and therefore cost, can be scaled up or down with no additional contract or penalties.

5.Measured service:

Cloud computing resources usage is metered and manufacturing organizations pay accordingly for what they have used. Resource utilization can be optimized by leveraging charge-per-use capabilities. This means that cloud resource usage—whether virtual server instances that are running or storage in the cloud—gets monitored, measured and reported by the cloud service provider. The cost model is based on "pay for what you use"—the payment is variable based on the actual consumption by the manufacturing organization.