There's common consent that the lowest bar for some hosting to qualify for the "cloud" moniker is that it must abstract from the physical hardware. Most people

There's common consent that the lowest bar for some hosting to qualify for the "cloud" moniker is that it must abstract from the physical hardware. Most people would even add that it is necessary for some kind of management system to exist which allows for _automated_ provision of your resources. Renting bare metal instead of owning does not meet this lowest bar. Getting some remote hands service on top with your rental does not change this classification.