Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. According to NIST, this cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics: On-demand self-service, Broad network access, Resource pooling, Rapid elasticity, Measured Service). Moreover, there are several common characteristics such as scalability, virtualization, service orientation, resilient coStoramputing, advanced security, geographic distribution, …
Next, the five essential characteristics are shortly described