Cloud Elasticity and Service Models: Measuring the Illusion of Infinite Resources

Lecture 3

Cloud computing has been marketed as a revolution, with promises of limitless capacity and effortless scaling. At its foundation are traits that distinguish it from traditional infrastructure: services are provisioned on demand, accessible through broad networks, and backed by pooled resources such as storage, processing, and bandwidth. What truly sets it apart is rapid elasticity and measured service. Consumers see a utility model, where resources are metered and billed transparently, and they expect capacity to expand or contract as needed.