Cloud Platform Overview

Cloud platforms provide on-demand computing resources over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing models. This section covers major cloud providers and when to choose each one.

Major Cloud Providers

Provider	Market Share	Strengths	Best For
AWS	32%	Largest service portfolio, mature ecosystem	Enterprise, startups, innovation-first
Azure	23%	Microsoft integration, hybrid cloud	Enterprise, Microsoft shops, hybrid
GCP	10%	Data/AI focus, Kubernetes expertise	Data-intensive, ML workloads

When to Use Which Platform

Choose AWS When

• You need the most mature and comprehensive service catalog
• Your team has AWS expertise
• You want access to cutting-edge features (first to market)
• You need extensive third-party integrations

Choose Azure When

• You're already using Microsoft technologies (Active Directory, Office 365)
• You need strong hybrid cloud capabilities
• Your organization has Enterprise Agreements with Microsoft
• You need Windows-based workloads

Choose GCP When

• Your workload is data-intensive or ML-focused
• You're building Kubernetes-first applications
• You need BigQuery for analytics
• Your team prefers open-source tools

Cloud Services Overview

Compute Services

Service Type	AWS	Azure	GCP	Use Case
VMs	EC2	Virtual Machines	Compute Engine	Traditional workloads
Serverless	Lambda	Functions	Cloud Functions	Event-driven apps
Containers	EKS/ECS	AKS	GKE	Container orchestration

Storage Services

Service Type	AWS	Azure	GCP	Use Case
Object Storage	S3	Blob Storage	Cloud Storage	Files, backups
Block Storage	EBS	Disk	Persistent Disk	Database storage
File Storage	EFS	Files	Filestore	Shared file systems

Database Services

Service Type	AWS	Azure	GCP	Use Case
Managed SQL	RDS	SQL Database	Cloud SQL	Relational databases
NoSQL	DynamoDB	Cosmos DB	Firestore	Key-value/document
Caching	ElastiCache	Cache for Redis	Memorystore	Session storage

Networking Services

Service Type	AWS	Azure	GCP	Use Case
VPC	VPC	VNet	VPC	Network isolation
Load Balancer	ELB	Load Balancer	Cloud Load Balancing	Traffic distribution
CDN	CloudFront	CDN	Cloud CDN	Content delivery

Cloud Networking Fundamentals

Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

Isolated network environment in the cloud where you can deploy resources.

Key Components:

• Subnets: IP address ranges within VPC
• Route Tables: Define network traffic routing
• Security Groups: Firewall rules for instances
• NAT Gateways: Enable private instances to access internet

Cloud Deployment Models

Model	Description	Example
Public Cloud	Resources owned by cloud provider, shared infrastructure	AWS, Azure, GCP
Private Cloud	Dedicated resources, single organization	On-premise data center
Hybrid Cloud	Combination of public and private cloud	Azure Stack, AWS Outposts

Cost Management

Pricing Models

• On-Demand: Pay as you go (highest cost, most flexibility)
• Reserved: Commit to 1-3 years (50-75% discount)
• Spot: Unused capacity (up to 90% discount, can be interrupted)

Cost Optimization Tips

1. Use reserved instances for steady workloads
2. Auto-scale resources based on demand
3. Clean up unused resources
4. Choose the right storage class for data lifecycle
5. Monitor costs with cloud-native tools

Multi-Cloud Strategies

When to Use Multi-Cloud

• Avoid vendor lock-in
• Meet regional compliance requirements
• Leverage best services from each provider
• Disaster recovery across providers

Challenges

• Complexity increases significantly
• Requires skills in multiple platforms
• Data transfer costs between clouds
• Different APIs and tooling

Multi-Cloud Tools

• Terraform: IaC across multiple providers
• Kubernetes: Consistent runtime across clouds
• Consul: Service discovery across environments

Getting Started Guides

• Cloud Networking - Network design and implementation
• Cost Management - Cloud cost optimization and monitoring
• AWS - AWS services and CLI
• Azure - Azure services and CLI
• Google Cloud - GCP services and CLI
• Terraform Cloud - Terraform-managed infrastructure