Cloud Computing · L1 Foundation
Cloud Foundations
Compute, storage, networking and identity — the four blocks every cloud is built from.
Free
No card required during the launch period.
About this course
A first course in cloud computing that stays deliberately provider-neutral. You will learn the four building blocks every platform shares, so the understanding transfers whether your organisation runs Azure, AWS or Google Cloud. Every lesson follows the Full Brain template: a real problem, a visual model, the structured explanation, a hands-on exercise, a quiz and a reflection.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what the cloud is, and say precisely where the provider's responsibility ends and yours begins.
- Choose between virtual machines, containers and serverless for a given workload, and justify the choice.
- Match object, block and file storage to the right job, and design a lifecycle policy that controls cost.
- Tell durability from availability, and explain why replication is not a backup.
- Read a cloud bill and identify which building block is driving it.
Syllabus
Cloud and compute
What the cloud actually is, and the three ways to run code on it.
- What the cloud actually isSomeone else's computer is a joke, not a definition. This lesson gives you the real one, and the shared responsibility line that decides who fixes what.14m
- Virtual machines: your first serverWhat a virtual machine really is, how to size one without guessing, and the settings that quietly decide your bill and your blast radius.18m
- Containers and serverless: beyond the VMWhy a container starts in a second when a virtual machine takes a minute, and when handing the server away entirely is the right call.16m
Storage and data
Where bytes live, what keeps them safe, and what it costs to keep and to read them.
- Object, block and file storageThree storage types that are not interchangeable, and the cost of discovering that after you have built on the wrong one.15m
- Durability, availability and backupWhy eleven nines of durability still will not save you from a deletion, and what a restore test proves that a backup job does not.17m
- Storage lifecycle and costTiers, lifecycle rules and the two charges that surprise people most — retrieval fees and egress.13m
Networking in the cloud
Releases NovemberVirtual networks, getting traffic in safely, and connecting back to the office.
- Virtual networks and subnetsDesigning an address space you will not regret, and what a subnet actually buys you.16m
- Getting traffic in: DNS, load balancers and public addressesHow a request reaches your application, and the three places it commonly stops.18m
- Connecting back to the office: VPN and private linksSite-to-site connectivity, private endpoints, and why public data planes are avoidable.15m
Identity and access
Releases NovemberWho may do what — the building block that decides how bad a breach becomes.
- Accounts, users and the root problemWhy the first account you are given is the one you should almost never use.14m
- Roles, policies and least privilegeGranting exactly enough access, and proving later that you did.17m
- MFA, conditional access and keeping it safeThe controls that stop a stolen password from becoming an incident.15m
Capstone
Design a small deployment for a departmental web application — choose the compute model, the storage types, the network layout and the access model, then write one page justifying each decision and estimating the monthly cost.