Don't Panic — Cloud Computing Fundamentals

Cloud computing is the habit of obtaining computing resources as services over a network instead of first acquiring every machine that will run them. The machines have not vanished. They are still very much there, performing their traditional role of needing power, cooling, and opinions about maintenance. The change is that a provider operates defined layers while you request and configure a service.

The useful test is not whether a server lives somewhere else. A cloud service has on-demand self-service, network access, pooled resources, elasticity, and measured use. Those five characteristics explain why cloud can shorten provisioning. They also explain why the bill has a detailed memory of every resource that was left running for sentimental reasons.

The first large decision is the service model, meaning which layers you control. IaaS gives you compute, storage, and networking, plus more work on the operating system and application. PaaS operates more of the platform so you focus on the application and configuration. SaaS supplies the application itself. More management from the provider removes particular tasks; it does not remove responsibility for data, identities, access, or configuration.

The second decision is the deployment model, which says who uses the infrastructure and how environments connect. Public, private, community, and hybrid answer that question. They do not answer the service-model question, because cloud terminology enjoys having two labels for two different boundaries.

Then comes placement. A region is a geographic area, and a zone is a separate location within one. Two zones give you choices during a failure, not automatic resilience. Traffic must move, data must remain correct, dependencies must survive, and recovery needs capacity. A replica is not automatically a backup, either. It has merely agreed to be nearby when trouble starts.

The course path unpacks the rest. Read the Intro when you need the full operating model and responsibility boundaries. Use Slides to see the decisions in order. Keep the Cheatsheet nearby when comparing service models, scopes, cost dimensions, and failure questions. Field Notes covers the awkward operational consequences that diagrams tend to leave in small print. The Quiz checks whether the boundaries have settled into place.

Don't Panic — Cloud Computing Fundamentals

Relevant careers