Welcome to the fundamentals of cloud computing! This tutorial will cover the basics of cloud computing, including its definition, types, benefits, and some common services.

Definition of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet ("the cloud") to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

Types of Cloud Computing

There are three main types of cloud computing services:

  • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This provides virtualized computing resources over the internet. Examples include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS): This provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typically associated with developing and launching an app. Examples include Heroku, Google App Engine, and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.
  • Software as a Service (SaaS): This provides software applications over the internet, eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer's own computers. Examples include Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

  • Scalability: Cloud computing allows you to scale your resources up or down based on your needs.
  • Cost-Effective: It can be more cost-effective than maintaining your own infrastructure.
  • Flexibility: You can access your applications and data from anywhere with an internet connection.
  • Disaster Recovery: Cloud computing provides a reliable and scalable solution for disaster recovery.

Common Cloud Computing Services

  • Storage: Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage
  • Databases: Amazon RDS, Google Cloud SQL, Azure SQL Database
  • Compute: Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine, Azure Virtual Machines
  • Networking: Amazon VPC, Google Cloud VPC, Azure Virtual Network

Cloud Computing Architecture

For more information on cloud computing, check out our cloud computing tutorials.