Summary of Day-1 | Basics of Cloud Computing | Fundamentals of Azure #freeazurecourse

Summary of "Day-1 | Basics of Cloud Computing | Fundamentals of Azure #freeazurecourse"

This video is an introductory lesson in a series aimed at teaching Azure from beginner to advanced levels. The focus is on foundational cloud computing concepts and terminology, serving as a prerequisite before diving into platform-specific tutorials like Azure, AWS, or GCP.

Main Ideas and Concepts Covered

1. Introduction to Cloud Computing

Cloud computing basics explained using real-world examples like Instagram, Twitter, Google.
Applications are developed on developers' machines but deployed on servers for accessibility.
Servers are computers with CPU, RAM, and storage but without rich UI features like laptops.

2. Data Centers and Server Management

Companies traditionally maintained their own data centers with racks of servers managed by system administrators.
Challenges of managing private data centers:
- 24x7 power supply
- Continuous maintenance and patching
- High operational costs
This traditional setup is now referred to as Private Cloud.

3. Public Cloud Concept

Amazon AWS introduced Public Cloud by owning and operating data centers globally.
Companies can rent virtual servers (Virtual Machines) on demand without worrying about maintenance.
Public Cloud resources are shared and abstracted, hence the term “cloud”.

4. Types of Cloud Deployments

Private Cloud: Dedicated infrastructure owned and managed by a single organization.
Public Cloud: Shared infrastructure provided by cloud vendors like AWS, Azure, GCP.
Hybrid Cloud: Combination of private and Public Cloud, e.g., sensitive data on Private Cloud, other workloads on Public Cloud.
Multi-Cloud: Using multiple Public Cloud providers simultaneously (different from hybrid cloud).

5. Virtualization

Physical servers have large resources (CPU, RAM).
Virtualization uses a software called a hypervisor to split physical servers into multiple logical servers called Virtual Machines (VMs).
VMs allow multiple users or applications to share the same physical hardware efficiently.
Cloud providers use virtualization extensively to serve millions of VM requests daily.

6. API (Application Programming Interface)

APIs allow programmatic access to cloud resources.
Besides user interfaces (UI), cloud resources can be managed via APIs using scripts or code.
This enables automation, such as requesting hundreds of VMs without manual UI interaction.

7. Regions and Availability Zones

Cloud providers organize data centers into regions (geographic areas) and availability zones (isolated data centers within regions).
This design ensures fault tolerance and disaster resilience.
Applications can be deployed across multiple availability zones to ensure High Availability.
Load Balancers distribute incoming traffic across multiple VM replicas to handle large user loads and provide failover.

8. Load Balancer

Distributes incoming requests across multiple servers or VMs.
Supports various algorithms (round-robin, weighted, etc.) to balance load.
Detects unhealthy servers and reroutes traffic to healthy ones.
Critical for handling millions of users on platforms like Instagram.

9. Key Cloud Features

Scalability: Ability to increase or decrease resources to handle varying loads.
- Manual scaling: Admins add/remove resources manually.
- Auto scaling (Elasticity): Automatic adjustment of resources based on demand.
Elasticity: Synonymous with dynamic or auto scaling.
High Availability: Designing infrastructure to minimize downtime.
Disaster Recovery (DR): Backup and recovery plans to restore services after failures, often involving replication of data across regions.

Methodology / Key Takeaways in Bullet Points

Understand the difference between private, public, hybrid, and multi-cloud.
Learn the role of virtualization and hypervisors in creating Virtual Machines.
Recognize APIs as the programmatic way to interact with cloud resources.
Comprehend the geographical organization of cloud infrastructure into regions and availability zones.
Know the importance and function of load balancers in distributing traffic and ensuring availability.
Grasp the concepts of scalability, elasticity, high availability, and disaster recovery as critical cloud features.
Use provided notes and repositories for revision and further study.
Familiarize yourself with cloud vocabulary before practical Azure tutorials.

Speakers / Sources Featured

Abishek — The sole presenter and instructor in the video.

This video lays a comprehensive foundation for beginners to understand cloud computing fundamentals, preparing them for deeper Azure-specific training in subsequent lessons.