INTRODUCTION TO CLOUD

COGNITIVECLASS.AI

I. WELCOME
II. MODULE 1 – OVERVIEW OF CLOUD COMPUTING
III. MODULE 2 – CLOUD ADOPTION AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
IV. MODULE 3 – CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICE AND DEPLOYMENT MODELS
V. MODULE 4 – COMPONENTS OF CLOUD COMPUTING
VI. MODULE 5 – CLOUD COMPUTING STORAGE AND CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKS
VII. MODULE 6 – EMERGENT TRENDS, CLOUD NATIVE, DEVOPS AND APPLICATION
VIII. MODULE 7 [BONUS] - CLOUD SECURITY, CASE STUDIES AND JOBS IN CLOUD COMPUTING
IX. FINAL EXAM
X. COURSE SURVEY AND FEEDBACK
XI. CERTIFICATE AND BADGE
XII. WHAT’S NEXT AND RESOURCES
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WELCOME
Part of 4 series cloud computing training : Introduction to Cloud Computing, IBM Cloud Essentials,
Introduction to Containers & Kubernetes, Cloud Native & Multi-cloud Applications. Key emerging
technologies: AI, Internet of Things, and Blockchain & analytics --> all of these technologies work with
massive amounts of data and need huge storage space and computational power in order to work-
making cloud possibly the only viable platform for these technologies. Core concepts of Cloud
Computing: Emerging technologies, cloud architecture, essential characteristics, career opportunities,
security & monitoring, service & deployment modules.
MODULE 1 – OVERVIEW OF CLOUD COMPUTING
Introduction and Learning Objectives
Objectives: define cloud computing, describe the essential characteristics of cloud computing, briefly
recount the history and evolution of cloud computing, describe the key considerations that
organizations can use as a guide while creating their cloud strategy, describe the key cloud service
providers and their services, create an account on a public cloud platform.
Video: Definition and essential characteristics of cloud computing
Cloud computing, also referred to as “the cloud,” is the delivery of on-demand computing resources—
everything from applications to data centers—over the internet on a pay-for-use basis. To get a common
understanding of cloud computing, let’s start with the US National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST’s) definition of cloud computing. NIST defines cloud computing as a model for enabling
convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can
be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
Examples of computing resources include networks, servers, storage, applications, and services.
This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three deployment models, and three
service models.

Let’s start with understanding the five essential characteristics of the cloud—which include on-demand
self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service.
On-demand Self-service, the 1st characteristic, means that you get access to cloud resources such as the
processing power, storage, and network you need, using a simple interface, without requiring human
interaction with each service provider.

The 2nd characteristic, Broad Network Access, means that cloud computing resources can be accessed
via the network through standard mechanisms and platforms such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops,
and workstations.
The 3rd characteristic, Resource Pooling, is what gives cloud providers economies of scale, which they
pass on to their customers, making cloud cost-efficient. Using a multi-tenant model, computing
resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers; cloud resources are dynamically assigned and
reassigned, according to demand, without customers needing to concern themselves with the physical
location of these resources.

Rapid Elasticity, the 4th characteristic, implies that you can access more resources when you need them,
and scale back when you don’t—because resources are elastically provisioned and released.
And the 5th characteristic, Measured Service, means that you only pay for what you use or reserve as
you go; if you’re not using resources, you’re not paying. Resource usage is monitored, measured, and
reported transparently based on utilization.

As we see, cloud computing is really about utilizing technology “as a service”—leveraging remote
systems on-demand over the open internet, scaling up and scaling back, and paying for what you use.
It is a revolution in that it has changed the way the world consumes compute services by making them
more cost-efficient while also making organizations more agile in responding to changes in their
markets.

+ As I mentioned earlier in this talk, the cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three
deployment models, and three service models. We just went over the five essential characteristics.
While we will go into greater depth of the deployment and the service models in the later videos, let me
leave you with a brief overview of these models.
There are three types of cloud deployment models—Public, Private, and Hybrid. Public cloud is when
you leverage cloud services over the open internet on hardware owned by the cloud provider, but its
usage is shared by other companies.

Private cloud means that the cloud infrastructure is provisioned for exclusive use by a single
organization. It could run on-premises or it could be owned, managed, and operated by a service
provider.
And when you use a mix of both public and private clouds, working together seamlessly, that is classified
as the Hybrid model.

Now, let’s look at the three service models that are based on the three layers in a computing stack -
Infrastructure, Platform, and Applications. These cloud computing models are aptly referred to as
Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). In an
Infrastructure as a Service model, you get access to infrastructure and physical computing resources
such as servers, networking, storage, and data center space - without the need to manage or operate
them. In a Platform as a Service model, you get access to the platform, that is the hardware and
software tools, usually those needed to develop and deploy applications to users over the Internet.
Software as a Service is a software licensing and delivery model in which software and applications are
centrally hosted and licensed on a subscription basis, and sometimes also referred to as "on-demand
software."

In the next video, we will go over some of the key evolutions that brings us to what cloud computing is
today.

Video: A brief history and evolution of cloud

Cloud computing is an evolution of technology over time. The concept of cloud computing dates to the
1950s when large-scale mainframes with high-volume processing power became available. In order to
make efficient use of the computing power of mainframes, the practice of time sharing, or resource
pooling, evolved. Using dumb terminals, whose sole purpose was to facilitate access to the mainframes,
multiple users were able to access the same data storage layer and CPU power from any terminal. In the
1970s, with the release of an operating system called Virtual Machine (VM), it became possible for
mainframes to have multiple virtual systems, or virtual machines, on a single physical node.
The virtual machine operating system evolved the 1950s application of shared access of a mainframe by
allowing multiple distinct compute environments to exist on the same physical hardware. Each virtual
machine hosted guest operating systems that behaved as though they had their own memory, CPU, and
hard drives, even though these were shared resources.

Virtualization thus became a technology driver and a huge catalyst for some of the biggest evolutions in
communications and computing. Even 20 years ago, physical hardware was quite expensive. With the
internet becoming more accessible, and the need to make hardware costs more viable, servers were
virtualized into shared hosting environments, virtual private servers, and virtual dedicated servers, using
the same types of functionality provided by the virtual machine operating system. So, for example, if a
company needed ‘x’ number of physical systems to run their applications, they could take one physical
node and split it into multiple virtual systems. This was enabled by hypervisors.

A hypervisor is a small software layer that enables multiple operating systems to run alongside each
other, sharing the same physical computing resources. A hypervisor also separates the Virtual Machines
logically, assigning each its own slice of the underlying computing power, memory, and storage,
preventing the virtual machines from interfering with each other. So, if, for example, one operating
system suffers a crash or a security compromise, the others keep working.
As technologies and hypervisors improved and were able to share and deliver resources reliably, some
companies decided to make the cloud’s benefits accessible to users who didn’t have an abundance of
physical servers to create their own cloud computing infrastructure. Since the servers were already
online, the process of spinning up a new instance was instantaneous. Users could now order cloud
resources they needed from a larger pool of available resources, and they could pay for them on a per-
use basis, also known as Pay-As-You-Go.

This pay-as-you-go or utility computing model became one of the key drivers behind cloud computing
taking off. The pay-per-use model allowed companies and even individual developers to pay for the
computing resources as and when they used them, just like units of electricity.

This allowed them to switch to a more cash-flow friendly OpEx model from a CapEx model. This model
appealed to all sizes of companies, those who had little or no hardware, and even those that had lots of
hardware, because now, instead of making huge capital expenditures in hardware, they could pay for
compute resources as and when needed. It also allowed them to scale their workloads during usage
peaks, and scale down when usage subsided.
And this gave rise to modern-day cloud computing. The impact of the evolution of the cloud has been
immense. In the next training, we will go over some key considerations for cloud adoption.

Video: Key considerations for cloud computing

Every organization’s transformation journey is unique, and therefore every organization’s cloud
adoption strategy is also unique to them. Agility, flexibility, and competitiveness are key drivers for
moving to the cloud, provided it is done without creating business disruption or issues related to
security, compliance, and performance. Let’s look at some key considerations that organizations can use
as a guide while working through their cloud strategy. The first consideration is infrastructure and
workloads. The cost of building and operating data centers can become astronomical. On the other
hand, low initial costs and pay-as-you-go attributes of cloud computing can add up to significant cost
savings. Also, a point to consider is that not all workloads may be ready for the cloud, as-is. The second
consideration is around SaaS and development platforms. Organizations need to consider if paying for
application access is a more viable option than purchasing off-the-shelf software and subsequently
investing in upgrades. Organizations also need to consider speed and productivity—what it means for
them to get a new application up and running in ‘x’ hours on the cloud versus a couple of weeks, even
months on traditional platforms. And the person-hour cost efficiencies they gain from using cloud
dashboards, real-time statistics, and active analytics. Lastly, organizations need to consider the impact of
making a wrong decision—their risk exposure. Is it riskier, for example, for them to invest in the
hardware and software or rent by the hour? Is it safer for them to work on a 12-month plan to build,
write, test, and release the code if they’re uncertain about adoption? And is it better for them to “try”
something new paying-as-you-go rather than making long-term decisions based on little or no trial or
adoption? Let’s look at some of the benefits of cloud adoption, categorized broadly into Flexibility,
Efficiency, and Strategic Value. Cloud gives us flexibility. Users can scale back or scale up services to fit
their needs, customize applications, and access cloud services from anywhere with an internet
connection. Cloud infrastructure scales on demand to support fluctuating workloads. Organizations can
determine their level of control with as-a-service options. Users can select from a menu of pre-built
tools and features to build a solution that fits their specific needs. And Virtual Private Clouds,
encryption, and API keys help keep data secure. Cloud also brings great efficiency. Enterprise users can
get applications to market quickly without worrying about underlying infrastructure costs or its
maintenance. Cloud-based applications and data are accessible from virtually any internet-connected
device. Hardware failures do not result in data loss because of networked backups. Cloud computing
uses remote resources, saving organizations the cost of servers and other equipment, and paying on
use-basis. Cloud services give enterprises a competitive advantage by providing the most innovative
technologies available while managing the underlying infrastructure, thus enabling organizations to
focus on their priorities. While cloud brings great opportunity, it also introduces challenges for business
leaders and IT departments. Some of these perceived risks include: Data security, associated with loss or
unavailability of data causing business disruption; Governance and sovereignty issues; Legal, regulatory,
and compliance issues; Lack of standardization in how the constantly evolving technologies integrate
and interoperate; Choosing the right deployment and service models to serve specific needs; Partnering
with the right cloud service providers; Concerns related to business continuity and disaster recovery.
Organizations can no longer think of cloud adoption as something that is to be looked at in the future.
With the right cloud adoption strategies, technologies, services, and service providers, these risks can be
mitigated. In the next training, we’re going to look at some of the key cloud service providers of our
times, and the services they offer.

Video: Key cloud service providers and their services

Hands-on Lab: Create a cloud account
Module Summary
Graded Quiz
MODULE 2 – CLOUD ADOPTION AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Introduction and Learning Objectives
Video: Cloud Adoption - No longer a choice
Video: Cloud Adoption - Some case studies
Video: Internet of Things on the Cloud
Video: Artificial Intelligence on the Cloud
Video: Blockchain and Analytics on the Cloud
Module Summary
Graded Quiz
MODULE 3 – CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICE AND DEPLOYMENT MODELS
Introduction and Learning Objectives
Video: Overview of Cloud Service Models
Video: Infrastructure-as-a-Service
Video: Platform-as-a-Service
Video: Software-as-a-Service
Video: Public Cloud
Video: Private Cloud
Video: Hybrid Cloud
Module Summary
Graded Quiz
MODULE 4 – COMPONENTS OF CLOUD COMPUTING
Introduction and Learning Objectives
Video: Overview of Cloud Infrastructure
Video: Virtualization and Virtual Machines Explained
Video: Types of Virtual Machines
Video: Bare Metal Servers
Video: Secure Cloud Networking
Video: Containers
Module Summary
Graded Quiz
MODULE 5 – CLOUD COMPUTING STORAGE AND CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKS
Introduction and Learning Objectives
Video: Basics of Cloud Storage
Video: File Storage
Video: Block Storage
Video: Object Storage Overview
Video: Object Storage - Tiers and APIs
Video: Content Delivery Networks
Module Summary
Graded Quiz
MODULE 6 – EMERGENT TRENDS, CLOUD NATIVE, DEVOPS AND APPLICATION
Introduction and Learning Objectives
Video: Hybrid Multicloud
Video: Microservices
Video: Serverless Computing
Video: Cloud Native
Video: DevOps on the Cloud
Video: Application Modernization
Module Summary
Graded Quiz
MODULE 7 [BONUS] - CLOUD SECURITY, CASE STUDIES AND JOBS IN CLOUD COMPUTING
FINAL EXAM
COURSE SURVEY AND FEEDBACK
CERTIFICATE AND BADGE
WHAT’S NEXT AND RESOURCES