Understanding the Cloud

What is the cloud? If you have trouble answering this question, you are not alone. In this course, you will explore how the cloud works, what drives its incredible growth, and how you can use cloud services. You will start by looking at the building blocks of the cloud, where it started, and how it transitioned. You will gain a clear understanding of IaaS (infrastructure), SaaS (software), and PaaS (platforms), and examine why each may be attractive to some businesses, but not to others. You will learn about the different kinds of clouds (public, private, and hybrid). You will also look inside the engine rooms of the cloud: data centers. You will examine the concept of big data and how the cloud infrastructure enables data to zip across the globe at lightning speed. You will look at how Facebook and Twitter contribute to the cloud, and how apps go from idea to app store. You will gain an understanding of how mobile devices and major mobile ecosystems continue to shape the cloud. Whatever your technical background, by the end of this course, you will be thoroughly cloud-savvy.

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