Understanding the Cloud

Explore how the cloud works, what drives its incredible growth and how you can use cloud services. Relating the cloud to things you encounter every day, in practical, non-technical language, we will look at the building blocks of the cloud, where it started, and how it transitioned from experiment into unstoppable force. You will also gain a clear understanding of LaaS (infrastructure), SaaS (software), and PaaS (platforms), and see why each may be attractive to some businesses, but not others. You will also learn about the different kinds of clouds (public, private and hybrid).

Look inside the engine rooms of the cloud: data centers. Examine the concept of big data and how the cloud infrastructure enables data to zip across the globe at lightning speed. Gain insight on how Facebook and Twitter contribute to the cloud, and how apps go from idea to app store. Understand how mobile devices and major mobile ecosystems continue to shape the cloud. 

Lesson List:

• Lesson 1 - What the Cloud Is
  Learn the building blocks of the cloud to use as a foundation for the rest of the course. The lesson will also discuss what the cloud means to you, its impact on your life, and why it'll be helpful for you to understand how it works.
  
• Lesson 2 - How the Cloud Started and What It Solves
  Start with the history of the cloud and how it was a natural evolution of networked computers and Internet connectivity. The lesson will discuss why the cloud is so important, and then the business challenges and opportunities that the cloud addresses.
  
• Lesson 3 - Different Kinds of Clouds: Public, Private, Hybrid
  Discuss the different types of clouds: public, private, and hybrid. Get a glimpse inside the big business technology world and find out why the cloud can be such a compelling move for large organizations.
  
• Lesson 4 - How the Cloud Grows
  Learn what virtualization is and why it's so fundamental in how the cloud operates. The lesson discusses the issue of scaling and how it relates to virtualization. See how endpoints make all the connections work.
  
• Lesson 5 - Cloud Services
  Look at three categories of cloud services: infrastructure (or Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS), platforms (or Platform as a Service, or PaaS), and software (or Software as a Service, or SaaS). The lesson will discuss how these three categories compare and individuals and business can take advantage of them.
  
• Lesson 6 - Data Centers: Where the Cloud Computes
  This lesson covers data centers—how they operate, what they look like, where they're located, and what makes them tick. Learn what makes one data center more efficient than another, and get perspective on what it costs to make them operate. 
  
• Lesson 7 - Understanding Data, Including Big Data
  The lesson will discuss how all the data in the cloud moves across continents, across the ocean, and over airwaves. Look at a clear definition of big data and see some examples of where big data may be headed.
  
• Lesson 8 - Understanding Cloud Providers
  See how a well-established cloud provider organizes and presents its offerings. Go through each group of the cloud provider's offered services and map them to what you've already learned about the cloud and the categories you're familiar with.
  
• Lesson 9 - Cloud Providers and Big Platforms
  Learn where websites fit into the cloud and what other elements, offerings, or activities are driving the adoption and popularity of the cloud and its varied services. 
  
• Lesson 10 - Getting Into the Cloud
  Learn about what goes into creating a cloud app, and how the three (plus one) ecosystems dominate the world of cloud applications. There are different types of devices, how they are categorized, and how they align with the types of cloud apps that are available. You'll also cover ecosystems, and why they define how cloud apps are created, distributed, and sold.
  
• Lesson 11 - The Cloud and #You
  Cover how social media sites let software developers interact with their sites, create apps and games that operate within and outside their sites, and why they do this. Learn about social media tools on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, including why the hashtag was created (#), how it's used, and how to use these sites yourself.
  
• Lesson 12 - Conclusions, Connections, and the Future of the Cloud
  Learn how you can view the cloud from two primary perspectives—consumer and business—and about the primary benefits (and drivers) that have propelled cloud adoption from participants of both perspectives. Finally, look into the future of what the cloud may hold and what that future might mean.
  

Course Dates and Times

Course Hours: 24 Hours

This workshop is offered through our continuing education online partner.