Module 1: Cloud Fundamentals

Cloud computing has reshaped how organizations build, deploy, and scale software. This module lays the groundwork for the entire Cloud Engineering course by answering three foundational questions: What is the cloud?, Why does it matter?, and How is it structured?

We start with the definition and essential characteristics of cloud computing — on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service — drawn from the NIST model that the industry has standardized around. You will learn how cloud evolved from mainframe time-sharing through virtualization to the hyperscale platforms we rely on today (AWS launched in 2006, GCP in 2008, Azure in 2010) and why the shift from capital expenditure (CAPEX) to operational expenditure (OPEX) changes the economics of infrastructure.

Next we examine deployment models. Public cloud offers the highest elasticity and lowest upfront cost, private cloud provides dedicated control for regulated workloads, hybrid connects both worlds, and multicloud spreads risk across providers. You will learn how the shared responsibility model determines who secures what — the provider secures of the cloud, you secure in the cloud.

Finally, we survey global infrastructure: regions, availability zones, and edge locations. Understanding how providers physically lay out data centers — and how that affects latency, data residency, and disaster recovery — is essential for designing resilient systems.

By the end of Module 1 you will be able to explain cloud computing to a colleague, compare deployment models against real business requirements, and identify the right global topology for a given workload. These concepts appear in every subsequent module — networking, storage, compute, and security all build on this foundation.