{"id":20223,"date":"2020-01-29T13:08:57","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T13:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/cloud-computing"},"modified":"2026-09-18T16:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T16:51:13","slug":"cloud-computing","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/cloud-computing","title":{"rendered":"Cloud Computing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"boxpad alignright wp-image-14063 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cloud_computing.jpg\" alt=\"Cloud Computing\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cloud_computing.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cloud_computing-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cloud Computing<\/strong> is a model that provides on-demand access to shared computing resources, such as processing capacity, networks, storage, platforms and applications. These resources are delivered over a network, can be provisioned or released rapidly and are measured according to the service being used.<\/p>\n<p>The cloud is not limited to software used through a browser. It also includes virtual infrastructure, application-development environments, managed databases and other services running in the provider&#8217;s data centres, the organisation&#8217;s own facilities or both.<\/p>\n<p><code><\/code><\/p>\n<h2>How Cloud Computing works<\/h2>\n<p>The provider pools physical resources and manages them through virtualisation, containers, software-defined networks and automation systems. Users request the capacity they need through a dashboard, API or management tool, and the service allocates resources without requiring manual intervention on each physical server.<\/p>\n<p>Access can take place over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/internet\">Internet<\/a> or through private networks. Some applications run entirely on the web, while others require local clients, specific connections or installed components. <strong>Cloud Computing describes how resources are delivered and managed, not a requirement to use a browser in every case.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not every service hosted on a remote server is necessarily cloud computing. Traditional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/hosting\">hosting<\/a> may allocate fixed capacity, whereas a cloud service commonly includes on-demand provisioning, resource pooling, elasticity and usage measurement.<\/p>\n<h2>Cloud Computing characteristics<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nist.gov\/publications\/nist-definition-cloud-computing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NIST definition of Cloud Computing<\/a> identifies five essential characteristics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>On-demand self-service:<\/strong> Users can request processing capacity, storage or other resources without the provider performing a manual action for each request.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Broad network access:<\/strong> Services are available through network mechanisms and protocols compatible with different types of device and application.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Resource pooling:<\/strong> The infrastructure serves several users and dynamically allocates physical or virtual resources according to demand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rapid elasticity:<\/strong> Capacity can be expanded or reduced quickly, manually or automatically, within the service&#8217;s limits.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Measured service:<\/strong> The provider monitors and records consumption, for example through processing time, storage, requests or data transfer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These properties distinguish the cloud from remote infrastructure with fixed capacity. <strong>Elasticity does not mean that resources are unlimited or that every expansion occurs without configuration, limits or additional costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Service models<\/h2>\n<p>Service models indicate which layer the provider manages and which remains the user&#8217;s responsibility:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):<\/strong> Provides virtual machines, networks and resources such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/cloud-storage\">cloud storage<\/a>. The user commonly manages the operating system, applications and their data.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platform as a Service (PaaS):<\/strong> Provides a managed environment for developing, running and deploying applications, with components such as runtimes, databases or queues.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Software as a Service (SaaS):<\/strong> Delivers a complete application managed by the provider. The user manages its configuration, access and data within the available features.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Boundaries can vary between providers. A managed service may take over tasks that belong to the customer in another product. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/ipaas\">iPaaS<\/a>, for example, is a platform specialised in connecting applications and automating data exchanges, not a synonym for every PaaS.<\/p>\n<h2>Deployment models<\/h2>\n<p>The location and control of the infrastructure support several deployment models:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Public cloud:<\/strong> A provider supplies shared resources to different customers from its own infrastructure, with logical isolation between them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Private cloud:<\/strong> Infrastructure is dedicated to one organisation and may be hosted on its premises or managed by a third party.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hybrid cloud:<\/strong> Combines distinct infrastructures and allows data and workloads to move or be coordinated between them through compatible technologies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Community cloud:<\/strong> Several organisations with shared requirements use infrastructure prepared for that community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The term multicloud describes the use of services from more than one provider. It is not necessarily equivalent to hybrid cloud: a multicloud strategy can exist without integration between private and public clouds.<\/p>\n<h2>Cloud Computing advantages<\/h2>\n<p>Cloud computing can provision resources more rapidly than conventional infrastructure purchasing and installation. It also helps adjust capacity, use managed services and deploy applications in different locations. <strong>These advantages depend on the architecture, configuration and provider conditions.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Usage-based charging can reduce upfront investment and align part of the cost with actual consumption. However, the cloud is not always cheaper. Overprovisioned capacity, forgotten resources, data transfer, licences and managed services can increase expenditure.<\/p>\n<h2>Cloud Computing limitations<\/h2>\n<p>Availability depends on connectivity, the regions being used, the architecture and service agreements. Backups, redundancy and disaster recovery require specific configuration. <strong>Hosting an application in the cloud does not automatically make it self-healing or highly available.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An organisation also needs to manage identities, permissions, encryption, logs, data location, regulatory compliance and provider dependency. The provider protects particular platform layers, while the customer retains responsibilities for accounts, configuration, applications and data according to the selected model.<\/p>\n<p>Portability can be limited by proprietary services, formats, exit costs or platform differences. Before moving a workload, a team needs to assess performance, latency, continuity, recovery capability and the migration process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Definition: Cloud Computing is a model that provides on-demand access to shared computing resources, such as processing capacity, networks, storage, platforms and applications. These resources are delivered over a network, can be provisioned or released rapidly and are measured according to the service being used. The cloud is not limited to software used through a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":80073,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1267],"class_list":["post-20223","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-web-infrastructure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/20223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=20223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}