Cloud computing

Terms related to cloud computing, including definitions about on-demand, distributed computing and words and phrases about software-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service and storage-as-a-service.

utility storage - Utility storage is a service model in which a provider makes storage capacity available to an individual, organization or business unit on a pay-per-use basis.
vendor lock-in - Vendor lock-in is a situation in which a customer using a product or service cannot easily transition to a competitor's product or service.
vertical cloud - A vertical cloud, also known as an industry cloud platform, is a set of cloud computing services optimized for use in a particular industry or for a specific business model.
virtual firewall - A virtual firewall is a firewall device or service that provides network traffic filtering and monitoring for virtual machines (VMs) in a virtualized environment.
virtual private cloud (VPC) - A virtual private cloud (VPC) is the logical division of a service provider's public cloud multi-tenant architecture to support private cloud computing.
wake word - A wake word is a phrase spoken to the Amazon Echo hands-free speaker and virtual assistant that causes the device to "wake up" and process a user's request.
WAN optimization (WAN acceleration) - WAN optimization -- also known as WAN acceleration -- is a collection of technologies and techniques used to improve the efficiency of data transfer across a wide area network (WAN) between organizations' centralized data centers and their remote locations.
What are availability zones? - Availability zones (AZs) are isolated or separated data centers located within specific regions in which public cloud services originate and operate.
What are data silos and what problems do they cause? - A data silo is a repository of data that's controlled by one department or business unit and isolated from the rest of an organization, much like grass and grain in a farm silo are closed off from outside elements.
What is 3PL (third-party logistics)? - A 3PL (third-party logistics) provider offers outsourced logistics services, which encompass anything that involves management of one or more facets of procurement and fulfillment activities.
What is a cloud access security broker (CASB)? - A cloud access security broker (CASB) is a software tool or service that sits between an organization's on-premises infrastructure and a cloud provider's infrastructure.
What is a cloud architect and how do you become one? - A cloud architect is an IT professional who is responsible for overseeing a company's cloud computing strategy.
What is a cloud database? An in-depth cloud DBMS guide - A cloud database is an organized and managed collection of data in an IT system that resides on a public, private or hybrid cloud computing platform.
What is a cloud engineer? Key skills and how to become one - A cloud engineer is an IT professional responsible for any technological duties associated with cloud computing, including design, planning, management, maintenance and support.
What is a cloud server? - A cloud server is a virtual server that operates in a cloud computing environment and makes its resources accessible to users remotely over a network.
What is a cloud-native application? - A cloud-native application is a program that is designed for a cloud computing architecture.
What is a private cloud? - Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture.
What is a software-defined data center (SDDC)? - A software-defined data center (SDDC) is a server management concept in which all infrastructure elements -- networking, storage and compute -- are virtualized and delivered as a service.
What is Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR)? - Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR) is an Amazon Web Service (AWS) product that stores, manages and deploys Docker images, which are managed clusters of Amazon EC2 instances.
What is an Amazon EC2 Instance? Types, features and pricing - An Amazon EC2 instance is a virtual server in Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) scalable compute platform for running applications on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.
What is artificial intelligence as a service (AIaaS)? - Artificial intelligence as a service (AIaaS) is a cloud-based service that enables organizations to access artificial intelligence (AI) through a third-party offering.
What is AWS Lambda? - AWS Lambda is an event-driven cloud computing service from Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows developers to run code without having to provision, administer, or manage compute resources.
What is AWS? Ultimate guide to Amazon Web Services - AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a comprehensive, evolving cloud computing platform provided by Amazon.
What is cloud application performance management (cloud APM)? - Cloud application performance management (cloud APM) is the process of monitoring resources that support software application performance in public cloud, private cloud and hybrid cloud environments.
What is cloud architecture? Design and implementation - Cloud architecture is how infrastructure components are connected and configured to create a suitable cloud computing environment for the performance, reliability and scalability needed to host user workloads and data.
What is cloud automation? - Cloud automation is a broad term that refers to processes and tools that reduce or eliminate manual efforts used to provision and manage cloud computing workloads and services.
What is cloud backup and how does it work? - Cloud backup, also known as online backup or remote backup, is a strategy for sending a copy of a physical or virtual file or database to a secondary, off-site location for preservation in case of equipment failure, site catastrophe or human malfeasance.
What is cloud compliance and why is it important? - Cloud compliance ensures the safe and secure use and storage of data through strict adherence to existing cloud computing rules and guidelines, including applicable federal or international laws and regulatory compliance, as well as industry frameworks and best practices.
What is cloud computing? Types, examples and benefits - Cloud computing is a general term for the delivery of hosted computing services and IT resources over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.
What is cloud consulting? Everything you should know - Cloud consulting assists organizations with the complexity of cloud computing including building, deploying, managing and securing applications and infrastructure in the cloud.
What is cloud economics? - Cloud economics analyzes the total cost of ownership, benefits of cloud services and the overall computing costs in an enterprise environment, focusing on the economic principles driving these factors.
What is cloud elasticity? - Cloud elasticity is the ability, in real time, to increase or decrease cloud computing resources, such as central processing unit (CPU) power, memory and storage capacity, as well as input and output bandwidth, to meet unexpected changes in online traffic.
What is cloud infrastructure? - Cloud infrastructure refers to the hardware and software components -- such as servers, storage, networking, virtualization software, services and management tools -- that support the computing requirements of a cloud computing model.
What is cloud management? Definition, benefits and guide - Cloud management refers to the exercise of control over public, private or hybrid cloud infrastructure resources and services.
What is cloud migration? Your guide to moving to the cloud - Cloud migration is the process of moving data, applications or other business elements to a cloud computing environment.
What is cloud networking? - Cloud networking is a type of IT infrastructure in which the cloud hosts some or all of an organization's networking resources.
What is cloud repatriation and what are the leading causes? - Cloud repatriation refers to the practice of relocating public cloud applications to different locations, most often on premises and for financial, performance and regulatory reasons.
What is cloud scalability? - Scalability in cloud computing refers to the ability of a cloud environment to adapt to increasing workloads over time without a noticeable change in performance or reliability.
What is cloud sprawl? - Cloud sprawl is the uncontrolled proliferation of an organization's cloud instances, services or providers.
What is cloud testing? An introduction to testing in the cloud - Cloud testing is the process of using the cloud computing resources of a third-party service provider to test software applications.
What is contact center as a service (CCaaS)? - Contact center as a service (CCaaS) is a framework that combines contact center hosting principles and cloud-based contact center infrastructure.
What is Data as a Service (DaaS)? - Data as a Service (DaaS) is an information provision and distribution model in which data files (including text, images, sounds, and videos) are made available to customers over a network, typically the Internet.
What is distributed cloud and how does it work? - Distributed cloud is public cloud -- any third-party cloud computing service offered over public internet -- deployed in more than one location, ideally in proximity to whoever or whatever wants to access it.
What is FinOps? - FinOps -- a combination of the terms finance and DevOps -- is a framework for managing operational costs across an organization, often in conjunction with cloud computing.
What is fog computing? - Fog computing is a decentralized computing infrastructure in which data, compute, storage and applications are located somewhere between the data source and the cloud.
What is Google Cloud? - Google Cloud is a suite of public cloud computing services offered by Google.
What is hybrid cloud? The ultimate guide - A hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party public cloud services with orchestration among these platforms.
What is hyperscale cloud? Computing and data center uses explained - A hyperscale cloud is an extensive, scalable cloud computing operation that employs numerous hyperscale data centers.
What is infrastructure as a service (IaaS)? - Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a form of cloud computing that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.
What is iPaaS? Guide to integration platform as a service - This guide explains all about integration platform as a service (iPaaS), a set of automated tools that integrate software applications that are deployed in different environments.
What is multi-cloud? Definition, pros and cons - Multi-cloud is an approach to cloud computing that involves combining two or more cloud services from different providers.
What is NoSQL (Not Only SQL database)? - NoSQL is an approach to database management that can accommodate a wide variety of data models, including key-value, document, columnar and graph formats.
What is open API (public API)? - Review this definition to learn about open APIs, also known as a public APIs, including their associated benefits, industry use cases and unique attributes.
What is Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN)? - Oracle PartnerNetwork, also known as OPN, is a channel partner program that provides resources and benefits for value-added resellers (VARs), independent software vendors (ISVs) and other businesses that want to collaborate with Oracle.
What is PaaS? Platform as a service definition and guide - Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools to users over the internet.
What is pay-as-you-go cloud computing (PAYG cloud computing)? - Pay-as-you-go cloud computing, or PAYG cloud computing, is a payment method for cloud computing that charges based on usage.
What is public cloud? A definition and in-depth guide - A public cloud is a third-party managed platform that uses the standard cloud computing model to make resources, applications and services available on demand to remote users around the world.
What is SaaS (software as a service)? - Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a cloud provider hosts applications and makes them available to end users over the internet.
What is Salesforce Platform (formerly Force.com)? - Salesforce Platform (formerly known as Force.
white box server - A white box server is a data center computer that is not manufactured by a well-known name-brand vendor.
Windows containers - Windows containers provide abstracted, isolated, lightweight and portable operating environments for application development on a single system.
XaaS (anything as a service) - XaaS is a collective term that refers to the delivery of anything as a service.
zero client - Zero client, also known as ultrathin client, is a server-based computing model in which the end user's computing device has no local storage.