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.

- homomorphic encryption - Homomorphic encryption is the conversion of data into ciphertext that can be analyzed and worked with as if it were still in its original form.
- hosted virtual desktop (HVD) - A hosted virtual desktop (HVD) is a user interface that connects to applications and data that are stored on a cloud provider's servers rather than on the user's computer or the corporate network.
- hybrid cloud storage - Hybrid cloud storage is an approach to managing cloud storage that uses both local and off-site resources.
- hybrid IT - Hybrid IT is an approach to enterprise computing in which an organization provides and manages some information technology (IT) resources in-house but uses cloud-based services for others.
- IBM Cloud (formerly IBM Bluemix and IBM SoftLayer) - IBM Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services from IBM that offers both platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
- IBM SoftLayer - IBM SoftLayer is a public cloud computing platform that offers a range of services for compute, networking, storage, security and application development.
- iCloud - Apple's free iCloud service stores subscribers' photos, videos, documents, apps and more and updates everything across users' synced devices.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a form of cloud computing that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.
- Integration as a Service (IaaS) - Integration as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud-based delivery model that strives to connect on-premise data with data located in cloud-based applications.
- Jitterbit - Jitterbit is a commercial software integration product that facilitates transport between legacy, enterprise, and on-demand computing applications.
- Kubernetes - Kubernetes, also referred to as K8s, is an open source system used to manage Linux Containers across private, public and hybrid cloud environments.
- lift and shift - Lift and shift is a strategy for moving an application or operation from one environment to another – without redesigning the app.
- Lustre - Lustre is an open source parallel distributed file system (DFS) specialized for large-scale cluster computing.
- managed hosting - Managed hosting is an IT provisioning model in which a service provider leases dedicated servers and associated hardware to a single customer and manages those systems on the customer's behalf.
- MapReduce - MapReduce is a core component of the Apache Hadoop software framework.
- metered services (pay-per-use) - Metered services (also called pay-per-use) are any type of payment structure in which a customer has access to potentially unlimited resources but only pays for what they actually use.
- Microsoft Azure Data Lake - Microsoft Azure Data Lake is a highly scalable public cloud service that allows developers, scientists, business professionals and other Microsoft customers to gain insight from large, complex data sets.
- Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute - Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute is a service that provides a private connection between an organization's on-premises infrastructure and Microsoft Azure data centers.
- Microsoft Azure Key Vault - Microsoft Azure Key Vault is a cloud-hosted management service that allows users to encrypt keys and small secrets like passwords or answers to security questions that are used in their cloud applications and services.
- Microsoft Azure Marketplace - The Microsoft Azure Marketplace is an online store that offers applications and services either built on or designed to integrate with Microsoft's public cloud.
- Microsoft Azure monitoring tools - Azure monitoring tools are software meant to assist in the different aspects of cloud infrastructure management and monitoring, centering around Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Azure.
- Microsoft Azure Resource Manager - Microsoft Azure Resource Manager (ARM) is a management framework that allows administrators to deploy, manage and monitor Azure resources.
- Microsoft Azure Security Center - Microsoft Azure Security Center is a set of tools and services for securing virtual machines that run on the Azure public cloud.
- Microsoft Azure VM Scale Sets - A Microsoft Azure VM Scale Set is a group of individual virtual machines (VMs) within the Microsoft Azure public cloud that IT administrators can configure and manage as a single unit.
- Microsoft Cloud Witness - Microsoft Cloud Witness is a high availability feature for failover clusters that uses storage in the Microsoft Azure cloud platform to ensure clusters continue to function if there is a site outage.
- Microsoft Intune - Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based unified endpoint management (UEM) tool that aims to help organizations manage the mobile devices employees use to access corporate data and applications, such as email.
- Microsoft Office 365 suite - Microsoft Office 365 suite is a hosted, online version of Microsoft Office software.
- Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct - Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct is a feature in Windows Server 2016 that uses local server storage to build highly available and scalable software-defined storage systems for Hyper-V virtual machines.
- mobile cloud - The mobile cloud is Internet-based data, applications and related services accessed through smartphones, laptop computers, tablets and other portable devices.
- MuleSoft - MuleSoft is a Salesforce company that provides numerous tools to build automations and integrations for various enterprise use cases.
- multi-cloud strategy - A multi-cloud strategy is the use of two or more cloud computing services.
- multi-tenant cloud - A multi-tenant cloud is a cloud computing architecture that allows customers to share computing resources in a public or private cloud.
- noisy neighbor (cloud computing performance) - Noisy neighbor is a phrase that describes a cloud computing infrastructure co-tenant that monopolizes bandwidth, disk I/O, CPU and other resources which can negatively affect other users' cloud performance.
- NoOps - NoOps (no operations) is the concept that an IT environment can become so automated and abstracted from the underlying infrastructure that there is no need for a dedicated team to manage software in-house.
- 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.
- on-demand computing - On-demand computing (ODC) is an enterprise computing delivery model in which computing resources are made available to the user as needed.
- 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.
- Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) - The Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) is a set of standards defining the way in which information is shared among diverse components of large, heterogeneous grid systems.
- Open Virtualization Format (OVF) - The Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is an open source standard for packaging and distributing software applications and services for virtual machines (VMs).
- OpenStack - OpenStack is a collection of open source software modules and tools that provide a framework to create and manage both public cloud and private cloud infrastructure.
- OpenStack Block Storage (Cinder) - OpenStack Block Storage (Cinder) is open source software designed to create and manage a service that provides persistent data storage to cloud computing applications.
- OpenStack Horizon - OpenStack Horizon is a web-based graphical interface that cloud administrators and users can access to manage OpenStack compute, storage and networking services.
- Oracle Cloud - Oracle Cloud is a subscription-based public cloud services offering from database company Oracle.
- Oracle Customer Experience Cloud (Oracle CX Cloud) - The Oracle Customer Experience Cloud (Oracle CX Cloud) is a suite of cloud-based tools for CRM and sales, marketing, customer service, e-commerce and other tools.
- pay-as-you-go cloud computing (PAYG cloud computing) - Pay-as-you-go cloud computing (PAYG cloud computing) is a payment method for cloud computing that charges based on usage.
- PC as a service (PCaaS) - PC as a service (PCaaS) is a device lifecycle management model in which an organization pays a monthly subscription fee to lease endpoint hardware and management services from a vendor.
- personal cloud storage (PCS) - Personal cloud storage (PCS) is a local network-attached storage (NAS) device that lets users store data, photos, music, videos and other files and is optimized for media streaming.
- portable application - A portable application (portable app) is a software product designed to be easily moved from one computing environment to another.
- private cloud appliance - A private cloud appliance is a hardware device that provides software-defined converged infrastructure functions for an organization’s proprietary network.
- private cloud storage (internal cloud storage) - Private cloud storage, also called internal cloud storage, is a service delivery model for storage within a large enterprise.
- private platform as a service (private PaaS) - Private platform as a service (private PaaS) is software that facilitates development, deployment and operations for IT on a private infrastructure or behind a firewall.
- provisioning - In general, provisioning means "providing" or making something available.
- public cloud storage - Public cloud storage, also called online storage, is a service model that provides data storage on a pay-per-use basis.
- Rackspace Cloud - Cloud provider Rackspace offers several different cloud storage services including Cloud Files, Cloud Block Storage and Cloud Backup.
- Rackspace Fanatical Support - Rackspace Fanatical Support is Rackspace's customer service program, which provides support for customers using its managed hosting services and cloud platforms.
- SaaS ERP - SaaS ERP is a type of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that runs on the vendor's or cloud provider's servers, is sold through subscription and delivered as a service over the internet.
- Salesforce - Salesforce, Inc.
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud - Salesforce Commerce Cloud, formerly called Demandware, is a cloud-based service for unifying the way businesses engage with customers over any channel or device.
- SAP Analytics Cloud - SAP Analytics Cloud (or SAP Cloud for Analytics) is a software as a service (SaaS) business intelligence (BI) platform designed by SAP.
- SAP Cloud Platform - SAP Cloud Platform (SCP) is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) product that provides a development and runtime environment for cloud applications.
- Scalr - Scalr is an information technology (IT) vendor that offers a management platform for cloud computing.
- SDDC (software-defined data center) - An SDDC (software-defined data center) is a data storage facility in which networking, storage, CPU and security are virtualized and delivered as a service.
- serverless computing - Serverless computing is a cloud computing execution model that lets software developers build and run applications and servers without having to provision or manage the back-end infrastructure.
- sharding - Sharding is a type of database partitioning that separates large databases into smaller, faster, more easily managed parts.
- Simian Army - The Simian Army is a collection of open source cloud testing tools created by the online video streaming company, Netflix.
- single-tenancy - Single-tenancy is an architecture in which a single instance of a software application and supporting infrastructure serves one customer.
- SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) - SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) is the concept that the convergence of four technologies is currently driving business innovation.
- SnapLogic - SnapLogic is a software company that offers cloud integration products to allow customers to connect cloud-based data and applications with on-premise business systems.
- Software as a Service (SaaS) - Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet.
- software-defined perimeter (SDP) - A software-defined perimeter, or SDP, is a security technique that controls access to resources based on identity and forms a virtual boundary around networked resources.
- SPI model - SPI is an acronym for the most common cloud computing service models, software as a service, platform as a service and infrastructure as a service.
- SQL-on-Hadoop - SQL-on-Hadoop is a class of analytical application tools that combine established SQL-style querying with newer Hadoop data framework elements.
- stateless app - A stateless app is an application program that does not save client data generated in one session for use in the next session with that client.
- subscription-based pricing model - A subscription-based pricing model is a payment structure that allows a customer or organization to purchase or subscribe to a vendor's IT services for a specific period of time for a set price.
- Testing as a Service (TaaS) - Testing as a service (TaaS) is an outsourcing model in which testing activities associated with some of an organization's business activities are performed by a service provider rather than in-house employees.
- The Boomi Platform - The Boomi Platform, previously known as Boomi AtomSphere, is a low-code and cloud-native integrated Platform as a Service (iPaaS).
- TOSCA (Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications) - The Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) is an open-source language used to describe the relationships and dependencies between services and applications that reside on a cloud computing platform.
- unified computing system (UCS) - A unified computing system (UCS) is is a converged data center architecture that integrates computing, networking and storage resources to increase efficiency and enable centralized management.
- usage-based pricing - Usage-based pricing is a consumption-based pricing model in which customers are charged only when they use a product or 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 is a set of cloud computing services optimized for use in a particular industry, or for a specific business model.
- Vertical SaaS (Software as a Service) - Vertical SaaS describes a type of Software as a Service cloud computing solution created for a specific industry.
- 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.
- VM hardware version (virtual machine hardware version) - The VM hardware version (virtual machine hardware version) designates the virtual hardware functions supported by a virtual machine (VM), which relates to the hardware on the host server.
- VMware vCloud Suite - VMware vCloud Suite is a collection of applications built on VMware's vSphere platform for building a private cloud infrastructure.
- 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.