ITEC 4020 - L8: Cloud and Deployment Technologies

Cloud Computing

Delivery of computing resources (servers, storage, databases, networking) over the internet with on-demand access and pay-as-you-go pricing.

On-Demand Self-Service

Ability for users to provision and manage resources automatically without human intervention from the provider.

Ubiquitous Network Access

Cloud services are reachable from any device with internet connectivity.

Resource Pooling

Cloud provider shares pooled resources across multiple clients using multi-tenancy.

Rapid Elasticity

Ability to automatically scale resources up or down based on workload.

Measured Service

Cloud usage is monitored, controlled, and billed based on consumption.

IaaS

Infrastructure as a Service; provides virtual machines, storage, and networking while the user manages OS and applications.

PaaS

Platform as a Service; provides runtime environments, tools, and libraries while the provider manages infrastructure.

SaaS

Software as a Service; complete applications delivered through a browser, fully managed by provider.

Public Cloud

Cloud resources offered to the general public over the internet.

Private Cloud

Cloud environment dedicated to a single organization, offering more control and privacy.

Hybrid Cloud

Combination of public and private cloud connected together for flexibility.

Microservices

Architecture where applications are made of small, independent services that communicate over APIs.

Monolithic Architecture

A single large unified application where all components are tightly coupled.

Cloud-Native Applications

Applications designed specifically for the cloud environment with scalability, automation, and resilience built in.

Container

A lightweight isolated environment that packages code and its dependencies for consistent execution across systems.

Docker

Platform used to build, run, and manage containers efficiently.

Docker Image

A read-only template containing application code and dependencies; used to create containers.

Docker Container

A running instance of a Docker image.

Dockerfile

A script containing instructions to build a Docker image.

Docker Compose

Tool for defining and running multi-container applications using a YAML configuration file.

Virtual Machine

A full OS virtualization environment running on a hypervisor, heavier and slower than containers.

Kubernetes

Container orchestration platform used to manage deployment, scaling, and reliability of containerized apps.

Pod

Smallest deployable unit in Kubernetes, containing one or more containers.

Deployment

Kubernetes object that manages replicas of pods and handles rolling updates.

Service

Stable network endpoint in Kubernetes that routes traffic to pods.

etcd

Distributed key-value store used by Kubernetes to store cluster configuration data.

Kubelet

Node agent that ensures containers in pods are running properly.

Kube-Proxy

Handles networking and traffic routing on each Kubernetes node.

Ingress

Kubernetes object that manages external access (usually HTTP/HTTPS) to services.

ReplicaSet

Kubernetes controller ensuring a specific number of pod replicas are always running.

API Gateway

Single entry point that handles routing, authentication, rate limiting, and monitoring across microservices.

CI/CD

Pipeline for continuous integration and continuous deployment to automate building, testing, and delivering applications.

Blue-Green Deployment

Deployment strategy with two identical environments, enabling zero downtime and instant rollback.

Rolling Deployment

Gradual replacement of old application instances with new versions, reducing risk and downtime.

Serverless (FaaS)

Model where the cloud provider manages servers; functions run on demand and scale automatically.

Cold Start

Delay when invoking a serverless function that has been idle, due to container startup time.

Vendor Lock-In

Difficulty migrating apps due to provider-specific services used in cloud environments.

Infrastructure as Code

Managing and provisioning infrastructure using code (Terraform, CloudFormation).

Autoscaling

Automatic adjustment of compute resources based on real-time load.

Load Balancing

Distributing traffic across multiple instances or services for performance and reliability.

High Availability

Design approach that minimizes downtime using redundancy and failover mechanisms.

Immutable Infrastructure

Pattern where servers/containers are replaced instead of modified, ensuring consistency.

Event-Driven Architecture

System design where components react to events rather than polling or continuous interaction.