Which of the following is NOT one of the five essential characteristics of cloud defined by NIST?

The characteristic that is indicated as not being one of the five essential characteristics of cloud computing defined by NIST is indeed dynamic scalability. The five essential characteristics as outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) include on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service.

Dynamic scalability, while important in cloud environments, does not appear in the NIST definition. Instead, the correct term used by NIST is "rapid elasticity," which emphasizes the capability of the cloud to quickly scale resources up or down as needed, providing flexibility to accommodate changing workloads. Understanding these precise terms is crucial, as they reflect the defined standards for cloud computing that are recognized in the industry.