Cloud Architecture

Module 1: Fundamental Cloud Architecture

This course provides a highly technical drill-down into the inner workings and mechanics of foundational cloud computing platforms. Private and public cloud environments are dissected into concrete, componentized building blocks (referred to as "patterns") that individually represent platform feature-sets, functions and/or artifacts, and are collectively applied to establish distinct technology architecture layers.

Building upon these foundations, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) environments are further explored as compound patterns, comprised of unique and shared building blocks.

The course is structured as a guided tour through these architectural layers, describing primary components, highlighting shared components and explaining how building blocks can be assembled and implemented via cloud computing mechanisms and practices. The following primary topics are covered:

  • Technology Architectural Layers of Cloud Environments
  • Public and Private Cloud Technology Architecture
  • laaS, PaaS and SaaS Technology Architecture
  • Cloud Computing Mechanisms as part of Platform and Solution Technology Architectures
  • Bare-Metal and Elastic Disk Provisioning
  • Multipath Resource Access, Broad Access and Intelligent Automation Engines
  • Usage and Pay-as-You-Go Monitoring
  • Platform Provisioning and Rapid Provisioning
  • Resource Management and Realtime Resource Availability
  • Shared Resources, Resource Pools and Resource Reservation
  • Self-Service and Usage and Administration Portals
  • Workload Distribution and Service State Management

Module 2: Advanced Cloud Architecture

This course builds upon CCP Module 4 to provide a deep dive into elastic, resilient and multitenant technology architectures, as well as specialized solution architectures, such as cloud bursting and cloud balancing.

Through the study of architectural mechanisms, industry technologies and design patterns, both core and extended components are described that combine to realize elasticity, resiliency and multitenancy as primary characteristics of cloud platforms. By leveraging these native and enhanced scalability and failover-related feature-sets, specialized solution architectures are described to enable bursting between clouds and on-premise and cloud environments, as well as the balancing of runtime loads across clouds for performance and failover purposes.

As with Module 4, the course organizes content so that architectural layers are explored sequentially and, where appropriate, in relation to each other. Newly introduced primary components are described and shared components across architectural layers are highlighted. The following primary topics are covered:

  • Elastic Environment
  • Resilient Environment
  • Multitenant Environment
  • Direct I/O Access and Direct LUN Access
  • Dynamic Data Normalization
  • Zero Downtime and Storage Maintenance Window
  • Load Balanced Virtual Servers
  • Burst In, Burst Out and Cloud Bursting
  • Cloud Balancing
  • Redundant Storage and Storage Workload Management
  • Elastic Disk Provisioning, Elastic Resource Capacity and Elastic Network Capacity
  • Intra-Storage and Cross-Storage Device Vertical Tiering
  • Redundant Physical Connections for Virtual Servers and Persistent Virtual Network Configurations
  • Load Balanced Virtual Switches and Service Load Balancing
  • Hypervisor Cluster
  • Dynamic Failure and Recovery
  • Synchronized Operating State
  • Resource Reservation
  • Module 3: Cloud Architecture Lab

This course module presents participants with a series of exercises and problems that are designed to test their ability to apply their knowledge of topics covered previously in course modules 4 and 5. Completing this lab will help highlight areas that require further attention and will further prove hands-on proficiency in cloud computing design patterns, technology architecture layers, mechanisms, industry technologies and practices as they are applied and combined to solve real-world problems involving IaaS, PaaS and SaaS environments.

As a hands-on lab, this course provides a set of detailed exercises, that require participants to solve a number of inter-related problems, with the ultimate goal of evaluating, designing and correcting technology architectures to fulfill specific sets of solution and business automation requirements.

For instructor-led delivery of this lab course, the Certified Cloud Trainer works closely with participants to ensure that all exercises are carried out completely and accurately. Attendees can voluntarily have exercises reviewed and graded as part of the class completion.