Cloud hosting is a website hosting service that springs from a bunch of servers that are all connected together to extend features. These connected servers are what are called a 'cloud' or 'cluster' and they enable any users on those servers to employ all the resources from all the servers on the cloud.
Features like processing memory, speed, power and hard drives are all shared. These servers can be simply added or removed and the better part is for the users, is if one server goes down an alternative server can be employed. Because cloud hosting suppliers measure what are called compute cycles, which is measure of time it uses to process something, this allows for users of the cloud hosting to really be billed for the resources that they use and need vs the normal website hosting billing strategies.
Besides having the ability to be billed for what they require many users like using cloud hosting for different reasons, some of which include :
Scalability : This permits you to really simply add or take away the resources you want without needing to move to a different server. Such adaptability provides you with more control of your expenditure and also allows you to adjust as you go along.
Uptime : Sometimes with cloud hosting you get a better uptime than you do with the normal web hosting services and this leads directly to your internet site being down less and at last will help to keep money in your pocket. Sometime though cloud hosting can experience down-time if there's a problem in the network of servers and the servers are having difficulty communication with each other.
Traffic increases : occasionally you see where an organization that is profiled in the reports has their site go down because their server could not handle the giant spike in traffic volume. When you use cloud hosting this isn't a problem as the added servers can simply soak up the traffic spike.
Technology integration : Different technologies can be employed together that cannot be used along with regular hosting. As an example, with cloud hosting it is feasible to use .php and .asp files together and even in the same folder as it can draw the technologies required from the cloud. This gives you better flexibility and the power to use about any sort of technology you would like to and know that it'll mesh without a hitch.
No hardware installation : Since you are connected with a full host of servers, rather than downloading hardware or software you can simply connect to a server that's in the cloud that has what you need.More on cloud hosting. Suggested reading