Term
Definition
Cloud computing
A model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (eg networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort, or service provider interaction.
Private Cloud
A cloud infrastructure provisioned for exclusive use by a single organization comprising multiple consumers (eg business units).
It may be owned, managed, and operated by the organization, a third party, or some combination of the two, and it may exist on or off premises.
Community Cloud
A cloud infrastructure provisioned for exclusive use by a specific community of consumers from organizations that have shared concerns (eg mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations).
It may be owned, managed, and operated by one or more of the organizations in the community, a third party, or some combination of the two, and it may exist on or off premises.
Public Cloud
A cloud infrastructure provisioned for open use by the general public. It may be owned, managed, and operated by a business, academic, or government organization, or some combination of these parties.
It exists on the premises of the cloud provider.
Hybrid Cloud
A composition of two or more distinct cloud infrastructures (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities, but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (eg cloud bursting for load balancing between clouds).
Software as a Service (SaaS)
A service providing applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through either a thin client interface, such as a web browser (eg web-based email), or a program interface.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
A service allowing users to cloud-deploy applications created using programming languages, libraries, services, and tools supported by the provider.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
A service allowing the user to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources and deploy/run arbitrary software. This can include operating systems and applications.
Source: NCSC
