What is meant by “multi-tenancy” in cloud services?

Multi-tenancy in cloud services refers to an architecture where multiple users or tenants share the same physical resources while keeping their data isolated and secure. This design maximizes resource utilization and reduces costs, as it allows cloud providers to serve multiple customers with a single, shared infrastructure. Each tenant operates in an independent environment, ensuring that their specific data and applications are protected from access by other tenants.

This approach contrasts with scenarios where resources are allocated specifically to single users, such as with dedicated resources or single-user access. Although resource limitations may be applied to ensure fair usage among tenants, these limitations do not define the essence of multi-tenancy. The key characteristic lies in the shared environment, enabling effective scaling and flexibility in resource management for cloud service providers.