What is multi-tenancy in cloud computing?

Multi-tenancy in cloud computing refers to the architecture where a single instance of software serves multiple clients or tenants while maintaining strict data privacy and security measures. This means that although the underlying application and infrastructure are shared among various users, each client's data is kept separate and protected from others. This model enhances resource efficiency and cost-effectiveness, as it allows service providers to optimize their resources by serving many customers from a single software framework.

This option correctly captures the essence of multi-tenancy by highlighting the dual focus on shared resources and the importance of ensuring data privacy for each tenant. In contrast, the other choices describe different models or methods in cloud computing but do not accurately reflect the concept of multi-tenancy. For instance, having isolated software instances would imply a single-tenant model rather than a multi-tenant one. Sharing server resources is a general principle of cloud computing but does not specifically address the unique data protection that multi-tenancy requires. Lastly, a strategy for optimizing cloud data backup is unrelated to the core principle of multi-tenancy. Thus, the emphasis on serving multiple clients with assured privacy clearly identifies why this understanding of multi-tenancy is essential.