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Introduction to Cloud Computing

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Short overview of the module

This module is an introductory lecture on Cloud Computing. It could be used in a junior-level class, such as Operating Systems, Networking, or Distributed Systems. It is designed as a self-contained module that could be used as is, slides and all. It could also be modified to fit into the course you are teaching. If you decide to use this module, we would highly appreciate if you could simply send us an email letting us know in what course you plan to use this module. Any suggestions for improvement are also very welcome. And if you wish to share your modified version of this module with other instructors, we could host your module on our site (with due credit to you of course).

Required background / Target students

This module is designed for students who are in an undergraduate class that teaches Operating Systems, Networking, Databases, or Computer Architecture, or any junior or senior level course in Computer Science or Computer Engineering. However, there is no required background for this module.

Learning goals

After this module is taught as part of a Computer Science Systems course, students will:

  • be able to explain in broad terms what cloud computing is;
  • understand how the cloud is different from other enterprise computing models;
  • be able to explain the pros and cons of cloud computing;
  • have a high-level knowledge of cloud services and major cloud providers;
  • have been exposed to some of the common uses of the cloud;
  • be able to recognize a few key concepts and characteristics of cloud computing

Reading

Slideset

Resources

  • Peter Mell, Timothy Grance, The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, NIST Special Publication 800-145, September 2011
  • Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, http://aws.amazon.com/ec2, accessed 2015
  • Google Compute Engine, https://cloud.google.com/compute, accessed 2015
  • Windows Azure, http://azure.microsoft.com, accessed 2015