Cloud Computing Course Syllabus

Introduction To Cloud Computing

• Defining cloud computing
• Components of a computing cloud
• Differentiating types of clouds: public, private, hybrid
• Delivering services from the cloud
• Categorizing service types
• Comparing vendor cloud products: Amazon, Google, Microsoft and others

Adopting The Cloud

• Key drivers of cloud computing solutions
• Instantaneous provisioning of computing resources
• Handling varied loads with elasticity and seamless scalability
• Tapping into an infinite storage capacity
• Cost-effective pay-as-you-use billing models
• Evaluating barriers to cloud computing
• Handling sensitive data
• Aspects of cloud security
• Assessing governance solutions

Exploiting Software As A Service ( SaaS )

• Characterizing SaaS
• Minimizing the need for local hardware and software
• Streamlining administration with centralized installation and updates
• Optimizing cost and performance with the ability to scale on demand
• Comparing service scenarios
• Improving collaboration with business productivity tools
• Simplifying business process creation by integrating existing components
• Inspecting SaaS technologies
• Deploying Web applications
• Implementing Web services: SOAP, REST
• Choosing a development platform

Delivering Platform As A Service (PaaS)

• Exploring the technical foundation for PaaS
• Specifying the components of PaaS
• Analyzing vendor PaaS provisions
• Selecting an appropriate implementation
• Building services with solution stacks
• Evaluating the architecture of vendor specific platforms
• Becoming familiar with service platform tools
• Leveraging the power of scalable middleware
• Managing cloud storage
• Controlling unstructured data in the cloud
• Deploying relational databases in the cloud
• Improving data availability
• Employing support services
• Testing in the cloud
• Monitoring cloud-based services
• Analyzing portability across platforms

Deploying Infrastructure As A Service ( IaaS )

• Enabling technologies
• Scalable server clusters
• Achieving transparency with platform virtualization
• Elastic storage devices
• Accessing IaaS
• Provisioning servers on demand
• Handling dynamic and static IP addresses
• Tools and support for management and monitoring

Building A Business Case

• Calculating the financial implications
• Analyzing current and future computing requirements
• Comparing in-house facilities to the cloud
• Estimating economic factors downstream
• Preserving business continuity
• Selecting appropriate service-level agreements
• Safeguarding access to assets in the cloud
• Security, availability and disaster recovery strategies

Migrating To The Cloud

• Technical considerations
• Rearchitecting applications for the cloud
• Integrating the cloud with existing applications
• Avoiding vendor lock-in
• Planning the migration
• Incremental vs
• one-step solution
• Selecting a vendor
• Establishing staff skill requirements