Cloud

How to use this topic

The pages start with the ideas underneath the cloud — virtualization, containers, and the service and deployment models — and then walk through the building blocks: regions, compute, storage, networking, identity and databases. The later pages cover how modern teams work with them: serverless, infrastructure as code, Kubernetes, availability, DevOps, monitoring, costs and security. Three of these overviews have a topic of their own that goes much deeper: Containers & Kubernetes, Infrastructure as Code & Automation and Observability & SRE.

The explanations are vendor-neutral. Where it helps, a table shows what Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud call the same thing, so you can move between providers and their documentation. Calculations — availability, costs, address plans — are shown as short Python examples that print exactly the result on the page.

Pages are tagged with the certifications they help with: AZ-900 (Microsoft Azure Fundamentals), AWS Cloud Practitioner and CompTIA Cloud+. The virtualization page also covers CompTIA A+ material.

Learning path

1. 01What Is Cloud Computing?What the cloud really is, the five characteristics that define it, and why organizations move to it — and sometimes move back.BeginnerAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
2. 02Virtualization and HypervisorsHow one physical computer runs many virtual ones: hypervisors of type 1 and type 2, virtual machines, snapshots, and what a host needs.BeginnerAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+A+
3. 03ContainersPackaging an application with everything it needs: images and containers, Docker, registries, and how containers differ from virtual machines.BeginnerAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
4. 04Service Models: IaaS, PaaS, SaaSWho manages what: infrastructure, platform and software as a service, functions as a service, and the shared responsibility model.BeginnerAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
5. 05Deployment ModelsWhere the cloud runs and who uses it: public, private, hybrid and multi-cloud, and how to choose.BeginnerAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
6. 06Regions and Availability ZonesHow cloud providers organize their data centers worldwide, and how regions and zones affect latency, resilience and where your data lives.BeginnerAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
7. 07Compute in the CloudRunning servers in the cloud: instances and instance types, images, autoscaling, and pricing options such as spot capacity.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
8. 08Cloud StorageObject, block and file storage in the cloud, storage classes from hot to archive, and what durability really promises.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
9. 09Cloud NetworkingBuilding networks in the cloud: virtual networks and subnets, security groups, internet and NAT gateways, peering, and private connections to your own network.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
10. 10Identity and Access ManagementControlling who can do what in the cloud: identities, roles and policies, least privilege, MFA, and federation with your organization's accounts.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
11. 11Managed DatabasesDatabases the provider runs for you: managed relational databases, NoSQL options, backups, replicas and when to choose which.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
12. 12ServerlessRunning code without managing servers: functions, events and triggers, cold starts, limits, and when serverless is — and isn't — a good fit.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
13. 13Infrastructure as CodeDescribing cloud resources in files: declarative templates, Terraform and native tools, state, plans and reviews.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
14. 14Kubernetes BasicsRunning containers at scale: why orchestration, clusters and nodes, pods, deployments and services, and managed Kubernetes.AdvancedCloud+
15. 15High Availability, Scaling and Disaster RecoveryKeeping services up: redundancy and load balancing, the meaning of availability percentages, and planning for disaster recovery.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
16. 16DevOps and CI/CDHow teams build and ship software continuously: DevOps culture, continuous integration and delivery pipelines, and safe deployment strategies.IntermediateCloud+
17. 17Monitoring, Logging and ObservabilityKnowing what your cloud systems are doing: metrics, logs and traces, dashboards and alerts, and cloud-native monitoring services.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
18. 18Cloud Costs and FinOpsUnderstanding and controlling cloud spending: pricing models, reservations and savings plans, data transfer costs, tagging, budgets and FinOps.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+
19. 19Cloud Security and ComplianceSecuring cloud environments: the shared responsibility model in practice, encryption and key management, common misconfigurations, and compliance.IntermediateAZ-900AWS Cloud PractitionerCloud+

Cloud glossary

Short definitions of the terms used in this topic. The full glossary covers every topic.