Introduction To Cloud Computing Course

Lesson 1 • Business Drivers for Cloud Adoption

Examines the economic and operational motivations behind cloud migration decisions. Connects technical capabilities to measurable business outcomes.

Lesson 2 • What Cloud Computing Actually Is

Defines cloud computing using the NIST essential characteristics framework. Grounds the chapter by distinguishing cloud from traditional on-premises IT.

Lesson 3 • Key Cloud Terminology and Concepts

Introduces vocabulary used throughout the course, including tenancy, regions, and availability zones. Ensures students share a common language before advancing.

Lesson 1 • Infrastructure as a Service Deep Dive

Covers IaaS components—virtual machines, storage, and networking—and the shared responsibility model. Shows how IaaS replaces physical data centre assets.

Lesson 2 • Choosing the Right Model

Applies a decision framework to match service and deployment models to workload requirements. Reinforces chapter concepts through scenario-based analysis.

Lesson 3 • Software as a Service and Beyond

Analyses SaaS delivery, licensing, and integration patterns, then introduces emerging models such as FaaS and CaaS. Positions each model on the abstraction spectrum.

Lesson 4 • Platform as a Service Explained

Examines PaaS environments where developers deploy code without managing underlying infrastructure. Highlights managed databases, runtimes, and middleware.

Lesson 1 • Virtual Networking Fundamentals

Explains virtual private clouds, subnets, route tables, and gateways as the network fabric. Establishes the networking knowledge required for security and architecture chapters.

Lesson 2 • Cloud Storage Types and Use Cases

Distinguishes block, file, and object storage and maps each to appropriate workloads. Introduces durability, availability, and retrieval cost trade-offs.

Lesson 3 • Load Balancing and Traffic Management

Introduces load balancers, health checks, and traffic routing policies for high availability. Demonstrates how traffic management supports resilient application design.

Lesson 4 • Content Delivery and Edge Services

Explains CDN architecture, edge caching, and points of presence for performance optimisation. Links edge services to the global reach discussed in earlier chapters.

Lesson 1 • Data Protection and Encryption

Addresses encryption at rest and in transit, key management, and data classification. Connects encryption practices to regulatory compliance requirements.

Lesson 2 • Network Security Controls

Introduces security groups, network ACLs, firewalls, and private connectivity options. Reinforces virtual networking concepts from the previous chapter with a security lens.

Lesson 3 • Monitoring, Logging, and Threat Detection

Explains cloud-native logging, audit trails, and automated threat detection services. Prepares students to detect and respond to security incidents in cloud environments.

Lesson 4 • Identity and Access Management

Covers IAM users, roles, policies, and the principle of least privilege as the first line of defence. Builds the access control foundation needed for all subsequent security topics.

Lesson 1 • Billing Visibility and Cost Allocation

Covers tagging strategies, cost allocation reports, and chargeback models for multi-team environments. Enables accurate attribution of cloud spend to business units.

Lesson 2 • FinOps Culture and Practices

Introduces the FinOps framework for aligning engineering, finance, and business teams around cloud spend. Establishes governance processes that sustain cost discipline over time.

Lesson 3 • Right-Sizing and Resource Efficiency

Teaches how to identify over-provisioned resources and select optimal instance types. Directly reduces waste without requiring architectural changes.

Lesson 1 • Microservices and Serverless Patterns

Introduces microservices decomposition and serverless execution models as modern architectural approaches. Connects these patterns to the PaaS and FaaS concepts introduced earlier.

Lesson 2 • Scalability Patterns

Examines horizontal and vertical scaling, queue-based decoupling, and event-driven architectures. Equips students to design systems that handle variable and unpredictable load.

Lesson 3 • Well-Architected Framework Pillars

Introduces the five pillars—operational excellence, security, reliability, performance, and cost—as a design evaluation lens. Provides a structured vocabulary for architecture reviews.

Lesson 4 • High Availability and Fault Tolerance

Covers redundancy, replication, and failover strategies to achieve defined availability targets. Builds on networking and compute knowledge to design resilient topologies.

Lesson 1 • Migration Readiness Assessment

Evaluates organisational, technical, and financial readiness before committing to migration. Identifies gaps that must be closed to reduce migration risk.

Lesson 2 • Migration Execution and Wave Planning

Covers wave-based migration sequencing, cutover planning, and rollback procedures. Translates strategy into an executable project plan with defined milestones.

Lesson 3 • Post-Migration Optimisation

Defines the activities required after cutover to tune performance, reduce cost, and retire legacy systems. Closes the migration lifecycle and transitions to steady-state operations.

Lesson 4 • Data Migration Techniques

Addresses online and offline data transfer methods, schema conversion, and data validation. Ensures data integrity is maintained throughout the migration process.

Lesson 1 • GitOps and Policy as Code

Extends IaC with GitOps workflows and automated policy enforcement for governance at scale. Prepares students to manage cloud environments with auditability and consistency.

Lesson 2 • Containerisation and Orchestration

Explains container images, registries, and orchestration platforms for portable workload deployment. Builds on compute and networking knowledge to support container-based architectures.

Lesson 3 • Continuous Integration and Delivery

Covers source control integration, automated testing (CI), and artifact management in a CI/CD pipeline. Connects code changes to reliable, repeatable cloud deployments.

Lesson 4 • Monitoring, Observability, and Alerting

Introduces metrics, logs, and traces as the three pillars of observability for cloud workloads. Enables proactive detection and resolution of operational issues.