Cloud computing is a centralized computing technology which involves providing dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet. Cloud server hosting services are delivered from a cluster of network connected web servers. Cloud computing technology has eased out the process of individual installation of applications and is more efficient with one of its prime features being centralized storage, memory, processors, and bandwidth allocation.

• Application programming interface (API) accessibility to software that enables machines to  interact with cloud software in the same way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers.

• Cost is claimed to be reduced and in a public cloud  delivery model capital expenditure is converted to  operational expenditure.

• Device and location independence enable users to  access systems using a web browser regardless of their  location or what device they are using (e.g., PC, mobile  phone).

• Virtualization technology allows servers and storage devices to be shared and utilization be increased.  Applications can be easily migrated from one physical  server to another.

• Multitenancy enables sharing of resources and costs  across a large pool of users thus allowing for:  Centralizationn of infrastructure in locations with  lower costs (such as real estate, electricity, etc.)

• Security could improve due to centralization of data, increased security-focused resources, etc., but  concerns can persist about loss of control over certain sensitive data, and the lack of security for stored  kernels.

• Maintenance of cloud computing applications is  easier, because they do not need to be installed on each  user''s computer and can be accessed from different places.

• Performance is monitored, and  consistent and loosely coupled architectures are  constructed using web services as the system interface.

• Peak-load capacity increases (users need not  engineer for highest possible load-levels)

• Reliability is improved if multiple redundant sites  are used, which makes well-designed cloud computing  suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery.

• Scalability and Elasticity via  dynamic ("on-demand") provisioning of resources on a  fine-grained, self-service basis near real-time, without users having to engineer for peak loads.