Everyone these days throws the word “cloud” around like it’s seasoning. Slap it on your resume, your startup, or even your router and boom — you’re a tech wizard. But sorry, just calling your old-school server “cloud” doesn’t make it one. That’s like putting a mustache on a potato and calling it Einstein.

If you’re serious about learning AWS or anything cloud-related, you need to know what actually qualifies as cloud computing. And thankfully, we don’t need to guess. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has already done the hard work.

They came up with 5 characteristics. Miss even one? Sorry, you’re not cloud — you’re just pretending to be cool at the IT lunch table.

Let’s dive in to knowing what they are.

1. On-Demand Self-Service

You can create virtual machines, databases, or even a whole network without talking to a human.

No calling support.
No “please approve this request” emails.
Just click and boom — your resources are live.

If your company still makes you raise a ticket to get a VM, that’s not cloud. That’s a helpdesk with delusions of grandeur.

2. Broad Network Access

Real cloud services work over the internet and can be used from anywhere, on any device — phone, tablet, laptop, or even your smart fridge (if you’re into that).

Access happens through standard protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, RDP, etc.
If you need a weird, custom, private network to even reach your server, congratulations: you’ve reinvented the mainframe.

3. Resource Pooling

Cloud providers like AWS don’t spin up a dedicated server just for you. They share resources across customers using something called a multi-tenant model.

You don’t know where your app runs.
You don’t care which hardware it’s on.
You just know it works. Until you mess it up.

And no, you can’t pick a specific hard drive in a specific rack in a specific datacenter. That’s not how grown-up cloud works.

4. Rapid Elasticity

The cloud can scale. Like, really fast.

Need 1 server? Sure.
Need 10,000 more in 3 minutes because your app went viral? Go for it.
Need to scale back down because nobody cares anymore? Done.

To you, it feels like infinite capacity. To AWS, it feels like dollar signs.

5. Measured Service

The cloud keeps score.

Every second your server runs, it’s logged.
Every byte of storage, every API call — counted.
You can see usage, get billed accordingly, and feel the pain when your "free tier" experiment forgets to turn itself off.

Nothing is hidden. Nothing is free. Everything is tracked and billed — kind of like your annoying gym membership, but smarter.

Quick Reality Check: Just Because It’s Online Doesn’t Mean It’s Cloud

If you set up a server in your basement and make it accessible on the internet, that’s not cloud computing.

Final Words (aka, Please Stop Misusing the Word "Cloud")

If your system doesn’t have all five NIST features, it’s not cloud. Period. No debates. No exceptions.

Understanding these basics will not only help you pass the AWS exam, but also keep you from looking clueless in your next tech interview.

So the next time someone says, “We moved to the cloud,” ask them one simple question:

“You sure you know what’s Cloud? Let's test in 5 minutes”

For a deeper dive into Cloud, check out another 5-minute guide about Cloud types.

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You sure you know what's Cloud? Let's test in 5 minutes