Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services like servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence over the internet to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.
Instead of owning their own computing infrastructure or data centers, companies can rent access to anything from applications to storage from a cloud service provider.
It allows you to access files and applications from any device that can connect to the internet.
Simple Example: Google Drive for file storage, Gmail for email, Netflix for video streaming
Benefits of Cloud Computing
Cost Saving: You don’t have to spend money on buying and maintaining hardware and software. Pay-as-you-go pricing helps save costs.
Scalability: Easily scale resources up or down depending on business needs. Useful for seasonal or unpredictable demands.
Accessibility: Access your services and data from anywhere at any time using the internet.
Performance: Major cloud providers regularly update their services with the latest hardware for improved performance.
Security: Many cloud providers offer a set of policies, technologies, and controls that strengthen security.
Flexibility: Cloud computing gives you the option to test and deploy new applications quickly.
Characteristics of Cloud Computing
On-demand Self-Service: Users can access computing resources as needed, without human interaction.
Broad Network Access: Services are available over the network and accessible through standard devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Resource Pooling: The provider’s resources are pooled to serve multiple users using a multi-tenant model.
Rapid Elasticity: Capabilities can be scaled up or down quickly and efficiently.
Measured Service: Resource usage is monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency.
Cloud Service Model
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
Provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.
Includes virtual machines, storage, and networks.
Users manage the OS, storage, and deployed applications.
Example: Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine
PaaS(Platform as a Service)
Provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications.
Developers don’t have to worry about the underlying infrastructure.
Example: Heroku, Google App Engine
SaaS (Software as a Service)
Delivers software applications over the internet, on a subscription basis.
Managed by the provider including updates and security.
Example: Gmail, Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox
Cloud Deployment Model
Public Cloud
Operated by third-party providers and deliver services over the internet.
Shared infrastructure among multiple customers.
Example: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud
Private Cloud
Used exclusively by one organization.
Can be physically located at the company’s on-site data center or hosted by a third-party.
Offers more control and security
Hybrid Cloud
Combines public and private clouds.
Allows data and applications to move between the two environments.
Offers greater flexibility and optimization of existing infrastructure.
What is AWS?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a secure cloud services platform offered by Amazon.
Launched in 2006, AWS offers compute power, database storage, content delivery, and other functionality.
AWS is used by millions of customers including startups, enterprises, and public sector organizations.
AWS offers more than 200 fully featured services from data centers globally.
AWS Use Cases
Web Hosting: Host dynamic websites or web applications.
Data Backup and Recovery: Store backups safely and recover them quickly.
Big Data Analytics: Analyze large datasets and make informed decisions.
Mobile and Web App Development: Build and deploy applications.
Machine Learning and AI: Use pre-trained AI models or build your own.
Gaming-Support game development with scalable infrastructure.
AWS Global Infrastructure
Regions: AWS divides the world into geographic areas called Regions. Each region has multiple data centers.
Availability Zones (AZs): Each Region consists of several AZs that are physically separated.
Edge Locations: These are content delivery endpoints that help reduce latency. Used by Amazon CloudFront.
This structure ensures high availability, fault tolerance, and low latency.
AWS Free Tier
A way for new customers to explore AWS services for free for 12 months. • Free Tier offers limited access to many popular services.
Examples:
EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)– 750 hours/month of t2.micro or t3.micro instances
S3 (Simple Storage Service)– 5 GB of standard storage
RDS (Relational Database Service)– 750 hours/month of db.t2.micro or db.t3.micro
Lambda–1M free requests/month
CloudWatch– Basic monitoring
Ideal for students, developers, and testers.
Questions
Introduction to Cloud Computing – Definition, Benefits, Characteristics.
What are the Cloud Service Models? Explain in details with real-time example.
What are the Deployment Models? Explain in details.
Explain Overview of AWS (e.g. - History, Use Cases, AWS Global Infrastructure).
Define steps of AWS Free Tier – Creating AWS Account.