Introduction
Cloud computing is fundamentally changing the way organizations think about Information Technology (IT). Demand is growing for specialists who understand the benefits as well as the challenges of moving computing workloads from on-premises servers to the cloud, and who possess the skills needed to deploy virtual machines (VMs), databases, and other cloud resources and manage those resources in a manner that minimizes cost while maximizing security, scalability, and availability. Cloud computing is a rapidly evolving field. There has never been a better time to skill up by learning what cloud computing is and how to build and manage sophisticated cloud solutions.
The first module of this course introduces the big picture of cloud computing, explains how it has evolved to its current state, and introduces some of the motivating factors behind it. Among other things, we will:
- Introduce some of the fundamental ideas behind cloud computing
- Explore the evolution of computing and the emergence of the cloud
- Introduce and explain commonly used terms such as IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS
- Compare and contrast different service models and types of clouds
- Discuss some cloud use cases and popular cloud stacks
Cloud computing can be thought of as an evolved response to the computing needs of today. Our world is increasingly connected and data-driven. Users, whether at home or work, generate and consume large amounts of data. A massive challenge has arisen in terms of managing and exploiting this data. Let's see how cloud computing plays a central role in meeting this challenge.