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Cloud computing hosting means running applications, websites, data, or other workloads on computing resources delivered through a cloud model: customers access a shared pool of configurable resources over a network and can provision or release them rapidly, with little management effort or provider interaction. Simply being hosted online does not, by itself, make a service cloud hosting.
NIST’s SP 800-145, published September 28, 2011, defines the cloud model through five characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.
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What does cloud computing hosting mean?
In plain language, a cloud provider operates underlying hardware and software, while customers use computing capabilities over a network. They can request resources as needed rather than arranging every change through an individual conversation with the provider. The provider pools resources, assigns them as needed, allows capacity to expand or contract, and measures usage.
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Cloud hosting commonly means using this model to host a website, application, database, or another workload. The formal definition matters because a service can be hosted online without demonstrating all the characteristics NIST uses to define cloud computing.
What are the five characteristics of cloud computing?
NIST SP 800-145 identifies five essential characteristics. Taken together, they distinguish the cloud model from services that merely provide remote access to computing.
- On-demand self-service: A customer can provision computing capabilities when needed without requiring direct human interaction with each provider request.
- Broad network access: Capabilities are available over a network and can be reached through different kinds of client devices.
- Resource pooling: The provider pools computing resources to serve multiple customers, assigning and reassigning resources according to demand.
- Rapid elasticity: Capacity can be provisioned and released rapidly as requirements change. To the customer, available capacity may appear adjustable to demand.
- Measured service: The system monitors and measures resource use, supporting transparency about consumption.
A useful way to assess a hosting claim is to ask whether the customer can provision resources on demand, access them over a network, draw from pooled resources, scale capacity, and have usage measured. NIST’s SP 500-322, published February 23, 2018, provides guidance for evaluating services against SP 800-145.
What are SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS?
These are service models: they describe the computing capability supplied and, in broad terms, what the customer manages. They are not deployment types.
- Software as a Service (SaaS): The customer uses a finished application supplied as a service.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): The customer deploys their own application on a platform managed by the provider.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): The customer provisions computing infrastructure, such as virtual servers and storage, and manages more of the software stack.
The distinction is about the level of capability being consumed, not whether the service is online. NIST SP 500-322 explains how to assess whether a service fits the cloud definition and how to classify it as SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS.
What are the cloud deployment models?
Deployment models describe how a cloud environment is organized and for whom it is provisioned. NIST lists four:
- Public cloud: The cloud environment is provisioned for use by the general public.
- Private cloud: The environment is provisioned for the exclusive use of a single organization.
- Community cloud: The environment is shared by organizations with common concerns.
- Hybrid cloud: The arrangement combines distinct cloud infrastructures that remain separate but are connected to enable data or application portability.
Service and deployment models are separate classification axes. “IaaS” describes the kind of capability supplied; “public” describes a deployment arrangement. One label does not determine the other.
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How is cloud hosting different from ordinary web hosting?
“Web hosting” says that a provider hosts a website; it does not, on its own, establish how resources are provisioned, pooled, scaled, or measured. Cloud hosting describes hosting through a cloud-computing model. To evaluate a particular service, look for evidence of the five NIST characteristics rather than relying on the word “cloud” in its marketing.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchNIST’s 2011 definition and its 2018 evaluation guide offer a consistent framework for making that distinction. A provider-specific claim requires checking that provider’s current documentation; the general definition alone cannot establish that a particular plan meets it.
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Why use a formal definition?
NIST’s definition provides a shared basis for comparing services and deployment strategies. Its 2011 publication sets out the characteristics and models; the 2018 guide explains how to apply them when evaluating a service. NIST’s announcement of the definition was updated February 3, 2025: Final Version of NIST Cloud Computing Definition Published.
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