Precise language drawn from NIST SP 800-145, AWS documentation, Azure cloud dictionary, and Google Cloud glossary — the definitions that appear in certification exams and technical documentation.
📚 These definitions use exact or closely paraphrased language from authoritative sources. Source tags indicate the primary reference. Terms marked NIST appear verbatim in SP 800-145.
On-Demand Self-Service
A consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider. The defining characteristic separating cloud from traditional hosting.
Source: NIST SP 800-145, Essential Characteristic #1 (Mell & Grance, 2011)
Broad Network Access
Capabilities available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms — mobile phones, tablets, laptops, workstations.
Source: NIST SP 800-145, Essential Characteristic #2
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 according to demand. Customers generally have no control or knowledge of the exact location of the provided resources.
Source: NIST SP 800-145, Essential Characteristic #3
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.
Source: NIST SP 800-145, Essential Characteristic #4
Measured Service
Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability. Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported — providing transparency for both the provider and consumer. Typically implemented as pay-per-use.
Source: NIST SP 800-145, Essential Characteristic #5
SLA (Service Level Agreement)
A formal contract defining the expected level of service between provider and customer, typically specifying uptime guarantees (e.g., 99.9% = 8.7 hrs/year downtime), response times, support tiers, and remedies (credits) if the provider fails to meet targets.
Source: AWS, Azure, GCP all publish per-service SLAs at their documentation portals
Multi-Tenancy
A software architecture where a single instance of an application serves multiple customers (tenants), with each tenant's data logically isolated. Enables the economies of scale that make cloud economics possible — fundamental to resource pooling.
Source: NIST SP 800-145 (Resource Pooling); AWS Well-Architected Framework
Hypervisor
Software (or firmware) that creates and runs virtual machines by abstracting physical hardware. Type 1 (bare-metal) hypervisors run directly on hardware (AWS Nitro, VMware ESXi). Type 2 run on a host OS. The foundational technology enabling IaaS cloud computing.
Source: NIST, AWS Nitro System documentation; Azure Hyper-V
Container Orchestration
Automated management of containerized workloads across a cluster — handling scheduling, scaling, networking, storage, and self-healing. Kubernetes (K8s) is the dominant standard; AWS EKS, Azure AKS, and Google GKE are managed Kubernetes services.
Source: CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation); AWS EKS docs
Serverless Computing
A cloud execution model where the provider dynamically manages allocation of server resources. Code runs in stateless, ephemeral containers triggered by events. Developers pay per invocation and execution duration, not for idle servers. Also called Function-as-a-Service (FaaS).
Source: AWS Lambda docs; Azure Functions; Google Cloud Functions
Edge Computing
A distributed computing paradigm that brings computation and data storage closer to the sources of data (edge nodes, IoT devices, regional PoPs) rather than relying on a centralized data center. Reduces latency for time-sensitive applications. Examples: AWS Outposts, Azure Edge Zones, Cloudflare Workers.
Source: NIST SP 800-183; AWS Edge Computing whitepaper
Cloud Bursting
A hybrid cloud configuration where an application runs in a private cloud or on-premises data center and "bursts" into a public cloud when demand for computing capacity spikes beyond what the private environment can handle. Cited explicitly in NIST's hybrid cloud deployment model definition.
Source: NIST SP 800-145 (Hybrid Cloud deployment model definition)
Lift-and-Shift
A migration strategy (also called "rehosting") that moves an application from on-premises to cloud with minimal or no changes to its architecture. Fast to execute but leaves most cloud optimization benefits unrealized. AWS, Azure, and Google all document this as a Tier 1 migration strategy.
Source: AWS Migration Acceleration Program; Azure Cloud Adoption Framework
Cloud-Native
An approach to building and running applications that fully exploits the advantages of the cloud computing delivery model. Cloud-native apps use microservices, containers, declarative APIs, and continuous delivery. The CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation) governs key open-source cloud-native projects including Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy.
Source: CNCF Cloud Native Definition v1.0; Google Cloud Architecture Center
FinOps (Cloud Financial Management)
An operational framework and cultural practice that brings financial accountability to cloud spending by enabling distributed teams to make cost-effective decisions. Combines Engineering, Finance, and Business practices to maximize business value. Governed by the FinOps Foundation (finops.org).
Source: FinOps Foundation; AWS Cost Management; Azure Cost Management
Shared Responsibility Model
AWS's framework defining the division of security and compliance responsibilities between AWS and the customer. AWS is responsible for security "of" the cloud (hardware, global infrastructure, managed services). Customers are responsible for security "in" the cloud (data, IAM, OS configuration, application code). Responsibilities shift by service type (IaaS → PaaS → SaaS).
Source: AWS Shared Responsibility Model (aws.amazon.com/compliance/shared-responsibility-model)
Zero Trust
A security model based on the principle "never trust, always verify" — no user, device, or network segment is trusted by default, even inside the perimeter. Every access request is authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated. NIST SP 800-207 defines the Zero Trust Architecture standard.
Source: NIST SP 800-207 (Zero Trust Architecture, 2020); AWS Zero Trust whitepaper
Cloud Governance
The set of policies, processes, and controls that define how an organization uses cloud services — covering cost management, security, compliance, access control, and performance. AWS Control Tower, Azure Policy, and Google Cloud Organization Policy are the primary governance tooling on each major platform.
Source: AWS Well-Architected Framework; Azure Cloud Adoption Framework; Google Cloud Architecture Framework