Cloud Service Models
This model delivers a complete, fully functioning software application over the internet, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
What is SaaS (Software as a Service)?
This cloud infrastructure is available to anyone on the internet and is owned and managed by a third-party cloud provider.
What is a Public Cloud?
This specialized software acts as the management layer that creates, runs, and oversees virtual machines.
What is Hypervisor?
To run multiple virtual machines smoothly on a local desktop, your PC generally needs an abundance of this fast, volatile memory component.
What is RAM?
This essential cloud characteristic allows customers to provision additional server time and network storage automatically without human interaction.
What is On-Demand Self-Service?
This model provides the underlying hardware resources like virtual servers and storage, leaving the customer to install and manage their own operating systems.
What is IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)?
This cloud infrastructure is operated solely for a single organization, offering maximum security and control, often hosted on-premises.
What is a Private Cloud?
In a virtualized environment, the physical computer system on which the virtualization software is installed is known by this term.
What is the host machine?
Before a hypervisor can run virtual machines at hardware-level speeds, this CPU feature (like VT-x or AMD-V) must usually be enabled in the BIOS/UEFI.
What is Hardware Virtualization?
This billing characteristic ensures organizations only pay for the exact amount of cloud resources they actually consume, similar to a water or electricity bill.
What is a Metered Service (or Pay-as-you-go)?
This model provides a framework allowing developers to build, run, and manage applications without dealing with the underlying operating system or hardware.
What is PaaS (Platform as a Service)?
This deployment model is a combination of two or more distinct cloud infrastructures bound together by technology that enables data and application portability.
What is a Hybrid Cloud?
The virtualized operating system running inside the hypervisor is referred to by this term.
What is the Guest OS?
This term describes the single large file on the host machine that acts as the physical hard drive for the guest operating system.
What is a Virtual Disk (or VHD / VMDK)?
The provider’s computing resources are aggregated to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, dynamically assigning hardware as needed.
What is Resource Pooling?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) EC2 instances and Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines are classic examples of this specific cloud service model.
What is Iaas?
This type of cloud is shared by several organizations with common goals or compliance requirements, such as a group of universities or hospitals.
What is a Community Cloud?
This type of hypervisor runs directly on the system's bare metal hardware without requiring a host operating system.
What is a type 1 hypervisor?
Client-side virtualization is highly useful when a company needs to run specialized software designed for an older, obsolete OS—a concept known as this.
What is legacy software support (or backward compatibility)?
This characteristic allows cloud capabilities to quickly scale outward to handle a sudden traffic spike, and then scale inward when the traffic subsides.
What is Rapid Elasticity?
This specialized cloud model allows complete virtualized desktop environments to be hosted in the cloud and accessed remotely by thin clients or mobile devices.
What is DaaS (Desktop as a Service)?
When a private cloud reaches 100% capacity during high demand, it can dynamically overflow extra traffic into a public cloud—a process known as this.
What is cloud bursting?
Applications like Oracle VirtualBox and VMware Workstation, which run as programs inside a normal desktop operating system, are classified as this.
What is a type 2 hypervisor?
This native Microsoft Type 1 hypervisor can be enabled through "Windows Features" on Windows 10/11 Pro and Enterprise editions for local virtualization.
What is Hyper-V?
This security system requires users to authenticate just once to gain access to multiple independent cloud applications and software services.
What is SSO (Single Sign-On)?