Essential Characteristics of Cloud Computing
- Sabrina Zimara, Eric Chabrow
- Nov 2, 2015
- 3 min read
To employ new technologies effectively, such as cloud computing, organizations must understand what exactly they're getting. With this in mind, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued its 16th and final version of The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing.
"When agencies or companies use this definition, they have a tool to determine the extent to which the information technology implementations they are considering meet the cloud characteristics and models," says Peter Mell, a NIST computer scientist who coauthored the report, also known as Special Publication 800-145.
"This is important because by adopting an authentic cloud, they are more likely to reap the promised benefits of cloud: cost savings, energy savings, rapid deployment and customer empowerment," Mell says. "And, matching an implementation to the cloud definition can assist in evaluating the security properties of the cloud."
The special publication includes the five essential characteristics of cloud computing:
1. On-demand self-service: A consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
A business will secure cloud-hosting services through a cloud host provider which could be your usual software vendor. You have access to your services and you have the power to change cloud services through an online control panel or directly with the provider. You can add or delete users and change storage networks and software as needed. Typically, you are billed with a monthly subscription or a pay-for-what-you-use scenario. Terms of subscriptions and payments will vary with each software provider.
2. Broad network access: Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, laptops and workstations).
Your team can access business management solutions using their smartphones, tablets, laptops, and office computers. They can use these devices wherever they are located with a simple online access point. This mobility is particularly attractive for businesses so that during business hours or on off-times, employees can stay on top of projects, contracts, and customers whether they are on the road or in the office. Broad network access includes private clouds that operate within a company’s firewall, public clouds, or a hybrid deployment.
3. Resource pooling: The provider's computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the customer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state or datacenter). Examples of resources include storage, processing, memory and network bandwidth.
The cloud enables your employees to enter and use data within the business management software hosted in the cloud at the same time, from any location, and at any time. This is an attractive feature for multiple business offices and field service or sales teams that are usually outside the office.
4. Rapid elasticity: Capabilities can be elastically provisioned and released, in some cases automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with demand. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be appropriated in any quantity at any time.
If anything, the cloud is flexible and scalable to suit your immediate business needs. You can quickly and easily add or remove users, software features, and other resources.
5. Measured service: Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled and reported, providing transparency for the provider and consumer.
Going back to the affordable nature of the cloud, you only pay for what you use.
You and your cloud provider can measure storage levels, processing, bandwidth, and the number of user accounts and you are billed appropriately. The amount of resources that you may use can be monitored and controlled from both your side and your cloud provider’s side which provides transparency.
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