Computer Science: Cloud Computing Prerequisites

Computer Components:

• CPU (Central Processing Unit): The CPU, or "brain" of the computer, performs the computational tasks necessary to execute software programs. It consists of a control unit (CU), an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), and registers for data storage. The CPU's performance is measured by how many instructions it can perform per second (IPS).

RAM (Random Access Memory): RAM is where the computer stores data that's actively being worked on. It's volatile memory, meaning it loses its content when the power goes off. The speed of the CPU and RAM affects how fast a system can perform tasks, as they often work in tandem.

Hard Drive: A hard drive is a non-volatile storage device used to store digital information. It consists of spinning disks (platters) coated with magnetic material, where data is read and written by a read/write head. Hard drives are slower than RAM but offer much greater data capacity at a lower cost per byte.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit): The GPU is specifically designed for the accelerated computation of geometry, image manipulation and video playback. GPUs are highly parallel processors that can execute numerous processes simultaneously, making them excellent for tasks like 3D rendering, scientific calculations, and machine learning.

GPU vs CPU: While CPUs are good at handling a variety of different tasks efficiently, GPUs excel at performing the same task repeatedly and in parallel. This makes GPUs more powerful for certain types of applications that require heavy graphical processing or can be broken into parallel tasks (like machine learning).

Networks and Networking:

• Idea and Components: A network is a set of interconnected devices that can communicate with each other. These devices include computers, servers, routers, switches, and storage devices. The most common types are Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs).

• Data Coding and Transfer: Data is transmitted over a network using binary codes that can be understood by all devices on the network. Encryption may also be used to secure data during transfer.

• Protocols: Protocols are rules for data exchange. They define how data is formatted, transmitted, and received over the network. Examples include HTTP, FTP, SMTP, etc.

• OSI/TCP IP Models: The OSI model is a conceptual framework for understanding and designing the functionality of network systems in seven layers. The TCP/IP model is another framework with four layers that's widely used in the real world.

• IP Addressing (IPv4, IPv6, IPx): IP addresses are unique identifiers for devices on a network. IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, while IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses to accommodate more devices. IPX is used in Novell NetWare networks.

• Switch and Switching: Switches operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model and can filter and forward frames based on their destination MAC address.

• Router and Routing Protocols: Routers connect different network segments and use routing protocols like BGP, OSPF, or RIP to determine the best path for data packets.

• Firewall/IPS/IDS: Firewalls control incoming and outgoing network traffic based on an applied rule set, and can protect against certain attacks. An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) actively prevents attacks, while an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) only detects them.

• Servers: Servers are computers that provide resources, data, or services to other computers in a network. Examples include web servers, file servers, and database servers.

• DNS (Domain Name System): DNS translates domain names into IP addresses to locate servers on the internet.

• DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol): DHCP automatically assigns IP addresses to devices on a network.

• NAT (Network Address Translation): NAT translates the private IP addresses used within a LAN into global IP addresses, allowing multiple devices to share a single public IP address.

AWS Cloud Dashboard and Services:

• The AWS Management Console is the web-based user interface that provides access to AWS services.

• EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud): EC2 allows users to run virtual servers in the AWS cloud, providing scalable and flexible computing resources.

Course Fundamentals on Practical AWS Services:

• The course will provide hands-on experience with creating an EC2 instance, configuring security groups, setting up storage options, and managing networking aspects such as Elastic IP addresses.

Finishing:

• A tour of the AWS dashboard to familiarize you with its layout and capabilities.

• Practical exercises to apply the course fundamentals using actual AWS services. This will likely involve setting up and configuring AWS resources, understanding their pricing, and managing identities and access management with AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management).

JSON, YAML, and XML: These are data interchange formats commonly used for configuration, state management, and data transmission in cloud computing environments like AWS. JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write. YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) is a human-readable data serialization standard, and XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. They are widely used for defining infrastructure as code (IaC), such as AWS CloudFormation templates.