Cloud Computing Notes
Subject Overview
Cloud Computing covers computing paradigms and cloud fundamentals (deployment models, migration strategies, virtualization, capacity planning), SLA management and cloud security, cloud storage and advanced topics (fog computing, mobile cloud, federated cloud), and the major cloud platforms — AWS, Google App Engine and Microsoft Azure. A 4-credit core theory paper.
Subject at a glance
4
Units
33
Topics
4
Credits
4
Infographics
Unit-wise Syllabus
4 units — open any unit for detailed topic-wise notes, diagrams and important exam questions
- Grid/cluster/distributed/utility/cloud computing trends
- cloud vision
- reference model
- deployment models
- characteristics
- benefits and challenges
- cloud vs cluster vs grid computing
- migrating into a cloud (approaches, seven-step model)
- virtualization characteristics and taxonomy
- Xen/VMware/Hyper-V
- capacity planning and scaling
- SaaS
Ready software: Gmail, Salesforce
- PaaS
Platform to build apps: App Engine
- IaaS
Virtual machines, storage, networks: AWS EC2
Study guide
This unit covers trends from grid and cluster to utility and cloud computing, the cloud reference model, deployment models, characteristics, benefits, challenges, cloud versus cluster versus grid, migration (seven-step model), virtualisation (Xen, VMware, Hyper-V) and capacity planning. Understand IaaS, PaaS and SaaS with real products.
- SLA management approaches
- types and life cycle
- automated policy-based management
- cloud security
- brokered cloud storage access
- storage location and tenancy
- encryption
- auditing and compliance
Availability
Uptime of the service
99.9% (about 8.8 hours downtime a year)
Response time
Speed of replies
Under 200 ms
Throughput
Work done per second
1,000 requests/second
Support
Time to respond to incidents
Within 1 hour for critical issues
Study guide
You study SLA management (types, life cycle, automated policy-based management) and cloud security: brokered storage access, tenancy, encryption, auditing and compliance. Read a real cloud SLA to see what is promised.
- Provisioning cloud storage
- virtual storage containers
- cloud storage interoperability (CDMI, OCCI)
- database storage and resource management
- energy efficiency
- market-oriented and federated cloud computing
- mobile cloud computing
- fog computing
- big data analytics and IoT basics
Cloud
Central data centres
Heavy analytics, storage
Fog
Local gateways near devices
Aggregating IoT data
Edge
On the device itself
Ultra-low latency
Study guide
You study cloud storage provisioning, virtual storage containers, interoperability (CDMI, OCCI), database storage, energy efficiency, market-oriented and federated clouds, mobile cloud, fog computing, big data analytics and IoT basics. Understand fog computing as computing closer to devices.
- Amazon Web Services compute/storage/communication services
- Google App Engine architecture and application lifecycle
- Microsoft Azure core concepts
- SQL Azure
- Windows Azure Platform Appliance
AWS
EC2, Lambda
S3, EBS
Google Cloud
Compute Engine, App Engine
Cloud Storage
Microsoft Azure
Virtual Machines, App Service
Blob Storage, SQL Azure
Study guide
You study Amazon Web Services (compute, storage, communication), Google App Engine, Microsoft Azure core concepts, SQL Azure and the Windows Azure Platform Appliance. Create free-tier accounts and try each platform.
Why Cloud Computing Matters
Cloud skills are among the most in-demand in IT, and certifications from AWS, Azure and Google Cloud build directly on this knowledge.
How to Prepare for Cloud Computing
- Use free tiers to deploy a small application on at least one cloud.
- Learn IaaS, PaaS and SaaS with real examples.
- Follow cloud provider certification paths.
Cloud Computing: Frequently Asked Questions
What is virtualisation?
Virtualisation runs multiple virtual machines on one physical machine by abstracting the hardware, which is the technology behind cloud computing.