Draft NIST Working Definition of Cloud Computing Authors: Peter Mell and Tim Grance 6-18-19-09 National Institute

of Standards and Technolo !" Information Technolo ! #a$orator! Note 1: %loud com&utin is still an e'ol'in &aradi m( Its definitions" use cases" underl!in technolo ies" issues" ris)s" and $enefits *ill $e refined in a s&irited de$ate $! the &u$lic and &ri'ate sectors( These definitions" attri$utes" and characteristics *ill e'ol'e and chan e o'er time( Note +: The cloud com&utin industr! re&resents a lar e ecos!stem of man! models" 'endors" and mar)et niches( This definition attem&ts to encom&ass all of the 'arious cloud a&&roaches( Definition of Cloud Computing: %loud com&utin is a model for ena$lin u$i,uitous" con'enient" on-demand net*or) access to a shared &ool of confi ura$le com&utin resources -e( (" net*or)s" ser'ers" stora e" a&&lications" and ser'ices. that can $e ra&idl! &ro'isioned and released *ith minimal mana ement effort or ser'ice &ro'ider interaction( This cloud model &romotes a'aila$ilit! and is com&osed of fi'e essential characteristics, three deliveryservice models" and four deployment models(
Essential Characteristics:

On-demand self-service. A consumer can unilaterall! &ro'ision com&utin ca&a$ilities" such as ser'er time and net*or) stora e" as needed automaticall! *ithout re,uirin human interaction *ith each ser'ice/s &ro'ider( UbiquitousBroad network access. %a&a$ilities are a'aila$le o'er the net*or) and accessed throu h standard mechanisms that &romote use $! hetero eneous thin or thic) client &latforms -e( (" mo$ile &hones" la&to&s" and P0As.( Location independent resourceResource pooling. The &ro'ider/s com&utin resources are &ooled to ser'e allmulti&le consumers usin a multi-tenant model" *ith different &h!sical and 'irtual resources d!namicall! assi ned and reassi ned accordin to consumer demand( The There is a sense of location inde&endence in that the customer enerall! has no control or )no*led e o'er the e1act location of the &ro'ided resources $ut ma! $e a$le to s&ecif! location at a hi her le'el of a$straction -e( (" countr!" state" or datacenter.( 21am&les of resources include stora e" &rocessin " memor!" net*or) $and*idth" and 'irtual machines( Rapid elasticity. %a&a$ilities can $e ra&idl! and elasticall! &ro'isioned" in some cases automaticall!" to ,uic)l! scale u&out and ra&idl! released to ,uic)l! scale do*n(in( To the consumer" the ca&a$ilities a'aila$le for &ro'isionin often a&&ear to $e infiniteunlimited and can $e &urchased in an! ,uantit! at an! time( Measured ervice. %loud s!stems automaticall! control and o&timi3e resource use $! le'era in a meterin ca&a$ilit! at some le'el of a$straction a&&ro&riate to the t!&e of ser'ice -e( (" stora e" &rocessin " $and*idth" and acti'e user accounts.(

4esource usa e can $e monitored" controlled" and re&orted &ro'idin trans&arenc! for $oth the &ro'ider and consumer of the utili3ed ser'ice( Note: %loud soft*are ta)es full ad'anta e of the cloud &aradi m $! $ein ser'ice oriented *ith a focus on statelessness" lo* cou&lin " modularit!" and semantic intero&era$ilit!(
0eli'er!Service Models:

!loud oftware as a ervice " aa #. The ca&a$ilit! &ro'ided to the consumer is to use the &ro'ider/s a&&lications runnin on a cloud infrastructure and( The a&&lications are accessi$le from 'arious client de'ices throu h a thin client interface such as a 5e$*e$ $ro*ser -e( (" *e$-$ased email.( The consumer does not mana e or control the underl!in cloud infrastructure" includin net*or)" ser'ers" o&eratin s!stems" stora e" or e'en indi'idual a&&lication ca&a$ilities" *ith the &ossi$le e1ce&tion of limited user-s&ecific a&&lication confi uration settin s( !loud $latform as a ervice "$aa #( The ca&a$ilit! &ro'ided to the consumer is to de&lo! onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or ac,uired a&&lications created usin &ro rammin lan ua es and tools su&&orted $! the &ro'ider -e( (" 6a'a" &!thon" (Net.(( The consumer does not mana e or control the underl!in cloud infrastructure" includin net*or)" ser'ers" o&eratin s!stems" or stora e" $ut the consumer has control o'er the de&lo!ed a&&lications and &ossi$l! a&&lication hostin en'ironment confi urations( !loud %nfrastructure as a ervice "%aa #. The ca&a$ilit! &ro'ided to the consumer is to &ro'ision &rocessin " stora e" net*or)s" and other fundamental com&utin resources *here the consumer is a$le to de&lo! and run ar$itrar! soft*are" *hich can include o&eratin s!stems and a&&lications( The consumer does not mana e or control the underl!in cloud infrastructure $ut has control o'er o&eratin s!stems" stora e" de&lo!ed a&&lications" and &ossi$l! limited control of select net*or)in com&onents -e( (" host fire*alls" load $alancers.(
Deployment Models:

$rivate cloud. The cloud infrastructure is o&erated solel! for an or ani3ation( It ma! $e mana ed $! the or ani3ation or a third &art! and ma! e1ist on &remise or off &remise( !ommunity cloud. The cloud infrastructure is shared $! se'eral or ani3ations and su&&orts a s&ecific communit! that has shared concerns -e( (" mission" securit! re,uirements" &olic!" and com&liance considerations.( It ma! $e mana ed $! the or ani3ations or a third &art! and ma! e1ist on &remise or off &remise( $ublic cloud. The cloud infrastructure is made a'aila$le to the eneral &u$lic or a lar e industr! rou& and is o*ned $! an or ani3ation sellin cloud ser'ices( &ybrid cloud( The cloud infrastructure is a com&osition of t*o or more clouds -&ri'ate" communit!" or &u$lic. that remain uni,ue entities $ut are $ound to ether $! standardi3ed or &ro&rietar! technolo ! that ena$les data and a&&lication &orta$ilit! -e( (" cloud $urstin .( for load-$alancin $et*een clouds.(