OVH fire

The distinction I would use is you are “cloud” if you have no idea where the data is, as you’re not pointing at a server. If you rely on named servers, you’re simply using a hosted service. The former is backed up by the provider, the later is not.

That’s a very black-and-white distinction while reality offers a continuum between cloud environments and hosted services.

One of my virtual servers e.g. includes complete management of the OS and several software packages (updates, security patches) and daily backup along with guaranteed availability. From the same provider, I could alternatively rent a dedicated server with or without management services. I could bring my own server hardware to their data centre (colocation/server housing). There are also typical cloud services available, again with or without management or backup services. There are endless variations, and the distinctions are blurred.

These photos amaze me.