Cloud Computing Introduction: Part 1
Welcome back.
In this video we're diving into an
exciting topic, cloud computing.
I'll walk you through what cloud computing
is.
Cloud computing is all around us, whether
you're using Facebook, Twitter, Gmail,
Zoom
for video calls, or connecting to your
workplace remotely through a Citrix
server.
These are just a few of the countless
examples powered by cloud computing.
Modern cloud platforms are built entirely
on the principles of cloud computing.
So if you want a strong foundation in any
cloud environment, understanding the core
concepts
of cloud computing is the essential first
step.
So what exactly is cloud computing?
Simply put, cloud computing is the
delivery of services such as
infrastructure, platforms
or software.
Over the internet.
The term cloud in cloud computing is used
as a metaphor for the internet.
Cloud computing simply means computing
delivered over the internet.
In cloud computing, resources such as
servers, storage, networking, and software
applications are delivered over the
internet.
In simple terms, cloud computing is the
delivery of services over the internet.
The phrase over the internet is key when
it comes to understanding cloud computing.
The key difference is that cloud
architecture allows providers to organize
and consolidate
massive amounts of hardware, such as
compute resources, storage, networking
and software, and make them accessible
over the internet.
Let's take our understanding of cloud
computing a step further.
By keeping the concepts of virtualization,
virtual machines, and hypervisors in
mind.
You can create more than one virtual
machine on the same physical server.
Now, let's say you've provided your users
with access to an API to create virtual
machines
VMs on a physical server.
It doesn't matter where that physical
server is located.
This represents the fundamental concept of
cloud computing.
This specific example of cloud computing
is known as infrastructure as a service,
IAAS
In the same way, when a cloud provider
offers APIs to access various services
such as
compute, storage or databases over the
internet, regardless of where those
services
are hosted, that's essentially what cloud
computing is all about.
We've explored cloud computing in a
simplified manner.
Now, let's take a look at how AWS defines
it.
Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery
of IT resources over the internet with pay
as you
go pricing.
Instead of buying, owning and maintaining
physical data centers and servers, you can
access technology services such as
computing power, storage and databases on
an as-needed basis from a cloud provider
like Amazon Web Services, AWS.
This slide highlights how AWS describes
the broad adoption of cloud computing.
So, who's using cloud computing?
The answer is just about everyone.
Organizations of every type, size and
industry are turning to the cloud for a
wide range
of needs.
These include data backup, disaster
recovery, email, virtual desktops
software development and testing, big data
analytics, and customer facing web
applications
Let's look at a few examples.
Healthcare companies are using the cloud
to create more personalized treatment
plans.
Financial services firms rely on it for
real-time fraud detection and prevention.
And video game developers use cloud
platforms to deliver online games to
millions of players around
the world.
No matter the industry, the cloud is
helping organizations innovate faster,
lower costs
and scale more easily than ever before.
Cloud computing is a model that allows
convenient, on-demand access to a shared
pool of configurable
computing resources like networks,
servers, storage, applications, and
services
These resources can be quickly provisioned
and released with minimal effort or
interaction with the service
provider.
This definition provided by NIST,
highlights a few important keywords
on-demand
access shared resource pool and the
ability to rapidly provision and release
resources.
Now, let's contrast this with the
traditional on-premises data center.
In a classic setup, organizations purchase
and permanently configure computing,
storage
and networking resources at maximum
capacity, regardless of whether those
resources
are actually needed at all times.
During low demand periods, much of that
capacity sits unused, resulting in wasted
investment, and during peak times, the
available resources may fall short,
leading
to performance issues or even customer
dissatisfaction.
In short, traditional infrastructure lacks
flexibility.
There's no on-demand scalability, no
shared pool of resources, and no rapid
provisioning
Cloud computing changes this.
It's built on the idea of delivering IT as
a service, available when you need it
scalable to match demand, and easy to shut
down when you're done.
You pay only for what you use.
That's the true power of the cloud,
efficiency, flexibility, and agility.
Now that we understand the term cloud
computing, there is another related
concept
the cloud computing platform.
This refers to the backend system that
delivers cloud services.
The next related term is cloud service.
These are services delivered by a back-end
system over the internet and are commonly
referred to
as cloud services.
Another related term is cloud computing
platform provider.
Companies like AWS, Google, and Microsoft
offer cloud services through their
platforms
These companies are referred to as cloud
computing platform providers.
To summarize, cloud computing refers to
the delivery of infrastructure, platforms,
software
and other related services over the
internet.
The system that delivers these services is
known as the cloud computing platform,
while the services
themselves are referred to as cloud
services.
Organizations like AWS, Google, and
Microsoft, and other companies that offer
cloud services through their platforms are
known as cloud computing platform
providers
They're also commonly referred to as cloud
platform providers or simply cloud service
providers.
We've now explored what cloud computing
really means.
On-demand access to shared computing
resources delivered over the internet.
Along the way, we also introduced several
key terms.
So the next time you come across these
terms, you'll not only recognize them,
you'll understand
exactly how they fit into the world of
cloud computing.
