Cloud Computing Basics (Cloud 101) on Coursera
Scalable computing and storage services is an offering of Cloud computing. Virtualization makes it possible to scale up computing resources on-demand. This allows firms to add new computing resources just when they need it, and manage costs. The same is true for storage. Cloud makes it possible for firms to obtain more disk for storage, when it is needed.
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Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system is a system whose components are located on different networked computers, which communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages to one another. The components interact with one another in order to achieve a common goal. Three significant characteristics of distributed systems are: concurrency of components, lack of a global clock, and independent failure of components. Examples of distributed systems vary from SOA-based systems to massively multiplayer online games to peer-to-peer applications.
A computer program that runs within a distributed system is called a distributed program (and distributed programming is the process of writing such programs). There are many different types of implementations for the message passing mechanism, including pure HTTP, RPC-like connectors and message queues.
Open the links below to learn more about the features and services provided by Azure.
Video: Azure APIs. Please watch the video below. The video is Microsoft's introduction to the Azure API.
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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a category of Cloud Computing where computing infrastructure is used by customers on a "pay-as-you-go" basis. Often IaaS is considered outsourcing. IaaS is scalable to meet the needs of customers. With IaaS, customers can have all the same computing services as very large firms.
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Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a category of Cloud Computing that delivers development environments and tools for developing applications. PaaS delivers a pay-as-you-go suite of tools to firms of any size. The development tools can be the top line products that are very expensive.
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Software as a Service (SaaS) is a category to of Cloud Computing where a 3rd party hosts software products, and makes them available to users over the internet. SaaS offers a pay-by-user, and pay-by-month options. These options are much more efficient than the perpetual license model offered by many software vendors.
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Function as a Service (FaaS) is a very specialized category of Cloud Computing. FaaS delivers real time functionality to firms, when the functionality is needed. With FaaS, the customer does not pay for idle time. During idle time the processing stops. The processing starts again when the user requests the functionality. Only paying for "up time" is a major difference between FaaS, and IaaS. With IaaS, customer pay for the computing infrastructure with it is active, or inactive.
The Private Cloud is Cloud computing services offered by an enterprise on its private internal network and only to select users instead of the general public. Also referred to as an internal or corporate cloud, private cloud computing gives businesses many of the benefits of Cloud computing such as: self-service, scalability, and elasticity. However, a private Cloud offered the enterprise control and customization of the data and hardware resources. The enterprise also has control over the computing infrastructure hosted on-premises. In addition, private clouds deliver a higher level of security and privacy through both company firewalls and internal hosting to ensure operations and sensitive data are not accessible to third-party providers. One disadvantage is that the enterprise's IT department is held responsible for the cost and accountability of managing the private cloud. So private clouds require the same staffing, management, and maintenance expenses as traditional data center ownership.
A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is an on-demand configurable pool of shared computing resources allocated by a public Cloud provider, within a public cloud, delivering Cloud computing services over a virtual private network (VPN). The VPN permits or creates a sub-network that is part of the enterprise's network. However, the VPN uses the internet as a medium for the enterprise connection. The VPN permits the enterprise to virtually work virtually in private.
A Public Cloud is a 3rd party provider that makes computing services available to any individual or business that seeks to purchase the services. The services are delivered over the public internet. Public Clouds make services available in a "pay as you go" model, where customers can scale up, or down as needed.
A Hybrid Cloud is a mix between on-premises private Cloud and services from a public Cloud provider. The mix allows the enterprise to reduce some of the disadvantages, and risks of the public Cloud. The enterprise can use the private portion of the solution to manage private or sensitive data. This can also keep control of the critical data. The private component can also reduce the reliance on a 3rd party provider.
The public component of the Hybrid Cloud typically adds infrastructure as a service. The public component delivers processing, networking, test environments, and other items. A Hybrid Cloud delivers all the advantages of Cloud computing, while still managing the downsides and risks.
High Performance Computing (HPC) is a computing strategy involving parallel processing. The parallel processing is enabled by a cluster. A cluster is a group of computers acting as one computer. The processing is shared by all the computers in the cluster. This strategy allows more calculations per second.
Big Data is the concept of analyzing complex data sets. The data sets are so complex, that only powerful computing resources can identify trends and further analyze the data. Big data also require large amounts of storage for the complex data sets. Cloud computing can deliver the computing resources to storage and process Big Data's complex data sets.
Take a few minutes to read the following overview of AWS and look through the many services offered by Amazon Web Services:
To learn more about Google Cloud Platform, check out their YouTube Channel. Select and watch a few of the videos to delve a little deeper into GCP:
For a list of what services GCP offers, read the following:
Take a few minutes to read the following article about serverless computing:
Read the following article for more about the differences between Distributed Apps and Decentralized Apps (DApps):