☁️ Cloud Computing Fundamentals

AWS, Azure, GCP & the future of infrastructure

🎯 Warm-up Discussion

Let's explore what you already know about cloud computing:

What do you know about cloud computing? What have you heard about it?
Have you used cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud? Tell me about your experience.
What cloud services have you worked with (storage, databases, hosting, etc.)?
Have you heard about serverless computing or containers? What do you know about them?
What questions or concerns do you have about using cloud services?

🎧 Video: Introduction to Cloud Computing (AWS)

🎧 Listening: Check Your Understanding

Watch the video and answer the questions below.

1. What does cloud computing provide?

A) On-demand IT resources with pay-as-you-go pricing.

B) Free physical servers for companies.

C) Permanent storage without cost.

2. Which industries are mentioned as using cloud computing?

A) Education and tourism.

B) Healthcare, finance, and gaming.

C) Construction and agriculture.

3. What advantage is NOT mentioned in the video?

A) Faster innovation.

B) Lower hardware costs.

C) Ability to avoid paying taxes.

4. Why do businesses prefer the cloud over traditional servers?

A) Because it requires buying hardware in advance.

B) Because it allows scaling resources instantly and paying only for what is used.

C) Because it eliminates the need for internet connection.

5. What benefit does deploying applications in multiple regions bring?

A) It reduces latency for users.

B) It increases storage capacity.

C) It lowers internet costs.

📖 Reading: The Evolution of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has fundamentally transformed how businesses deploy and scale applications. Instead of maintaining physical servers, companies now rent computing resources on-demand from providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This shift represents one of the most significant changes in enterprise technology over the past two decades.

The three main service models—Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS)—offer different levels of abstraction and control. IaaS provides virtualized computing resources, PaaS offers a platform for application development, and SaaS delivers complete software applications over the internet.

Benefits of cloud computing include scalability, cost efficiency, and global reach. Organizations can scale resources up or down based on demand, paying only for what they use. However, challenges remain, including security concerns, vendor lock-in, and the complexity of managing multi-cloud environments. As serverless computing and edge computing gain traction, the cloud landscape continues to evolve rapidly.

🧩 Reading Comprehension: Locate the Information

Read the text above ("The Evolution of Cloud Computing"). Then, decide in which paragraph each idea is mentioned.

Choose Paragraph 1, 2, 3 — or "None of them" if not mentioned.

1. Cloud computing allows companies to rent technology resources instead of owning servers.

2. It mentions that physical servers are cheaper to maintain than cloud infrastructure.

3. There are three main types of services: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.

4. The text highlights the growing importance of serverless and edge computing.

5. It explains how cloud computing began in the 1990s.

📚 Key Vocabulary & Concepts

Learn these important terms:

Scalability: The ability to increase or decrease computing resources as needed

Virtualization: Creating virtual versions of physical computing resources

Load balancing: Distributing network traffic across multiple servers

Auto-scaling: Automatically adjusting resources based on demand

Serverless: Running code without managing servers directly

Multi-cloud: Using services from multiple cloud providers

Edge computing: Processing data closer to where it's generated

Container orchestration: Automating deployment and management of containers

💬 Speaking Section: Cloud Computing

Discussion cards for meaningful conversation

Have you migrated a project to the cloud?

💡 Discussion tips:

Share your experience: challenges, timeline, results
Use vocabulary: migration, deployment, scalability
Compare on-premise vs cloud infrastructure

AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud: which do you prefer?

💡 Discussion tips:

Compare features, pricing, documentation quality
Discuss specific services you've used
Use comparative forms: "AWS is better for...", "Azure has more..."

What's the biggest advantage of cloud computing?

💡 Discussion tips:

Reference the video: pay-as-you-go, scalability, global reach
Share real examples from your projects
Apply vocabulary: elastic resources, cost optimization

Have you dealt with cloud cost overruns?

💡 Discussion tips:

Discuss unexpected cloud bills and how to prevent them
Talk about monitoring, alerts, budget limits
Share strategies: auto-scaling policies, reserved instances

IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS: which model do you work with?

💡 Discussion tips:

Explain differences: Infrastructure, Platform, Software as Service
Give examples: EC2 (IaaS), Heroku (PaaS), Gmail (SaaS)
Discuss when to use each model

How do you handle cloud security?

💡 Discussion tips:

Apply vocabulary: encryption, IAM policies, VPC, firewall rules
Discuss shared responsibility model
Share security best practices from your experience

Would you go serverless for your next project?

💡 Discussion tips:

Explain serverless concept: Lambda, Cloud Functions
Discuss pros and cons: cost efficiency vs cold starts
Use conditional: "If I built a microservice, I would..."

What's the hardest part of multi-cloud strategy?

💡 Discussion tips:

Apply vocabulary: vendor lock-in, multi-cloud, hybrid cloud
Discuss complexity of managing multiple providers
Compare benefits vs operational overhead

How important is auto-scaling in production?

💡 Discussion tips:

Reference load balancing and auto-scaling vocabulary
Share experiences with traffic spikes, Black Friday scenarios
Discuss metrics and thresholds for scaling

Will edge computing replace traditional cloud?

💡 Discussion tips:

Explain edge computing: processing data closer to users
Discuss use cases: IoT, real-time applications, latency reduction
Use future tense: "Edge will become...", "I think they'll coexist..."

🎯 Conversation Starters:

"When the video mentioned pay-as-you-go pricing, I thought about..."
"In my experience deploying to the cloud..."
"The biggest challenge with cloud computing is..."
"If I had to migrate everything to the cloud tomorrow..."

💡 Remember to use cloud vocabulary: scalability, deployment, auto-scaling, serverless, multi-cloud, edge computing, load balancing!