Cloud Computing — SLAM OG¶

Building on the cloud, the way the cloud is actually built.

This course is the cloud-services-specific companion to the System Design course. System Design covers how to architect software. Cloud Computing covers how to use AWS / Azure / GCP — services, providers, IAM, networking, cost, security model.

If a topic is "how do I architect software?" → look in System Design. If it's "how do I use this cloud platform?" → here.

Each topic delivers:

A 1-line hook — why this matters
The core concept in 8–12 minutes
A diagram (Mermaid) you can sketch on a napkin
A real-world example (concrete services, real prices, real failure modes)
A "test yourself" quiz embedded in the page metadata

The same content powers the SLAM OG app — same source, two consumers.

Foundation tier¶

The five things every cloud engineer should know cold before specializing.

Cloud Computing 101 — Cloud isn't a place. It's a ladder of abstractions — pick the right rung.
Cloud Networking — VPC, Subnets, Security Groups — Your cloud workload lives in a VPC. Understanding that is non-negotiable.
Identity & Access Management (IAM) — Most cloud breaches aren't zero-days. They're a wide-open IAM policy.
Cloud Storage Services (Block, File, Object) — Three storage families, three jobs — pick by access pattern, not by default.
Cloud Security & The Shared Responsibility Model — AWS protects the cloud. You protect what's in it.

Patterns tier¶

Cloud-services-specific patterns — what's unique to running things on AWS / Azure / GCP.

Serverless & FaaS — Stop running servers. Bring code, leave operations.
Edge Computing — Push the code closer to the user, not just the content.
Managed Database Services — Trade money for time. At most company sizes that's the right trade.
AI/ML Cloud Services — Stop training. Start calling. The API is the new architecture primitive.

Real systems tier¶

Strategy and operating reality — the topics that decide whether the cloud saves you money or eats you alive.

Cloud Cost Management & FinOps — The surprise bill is a feature, not a bug.
Multi-cloud & Hybrid Strategies — Multi-cloud is what you say in board meetings. Single-cloud is what you ship in production.
Cloud Migration Patterns (the 6 R's) — Lift-and-shift is one of six options — pick the wrong R and you'll waste years.

All 12 topics complete. 🎉

How this is built¶

Source PDFs (Zen of Cloud, etc.) are extracted to a private study/ folder (gitignored), read for context, then rewritten in SLAM OG voice with new diagrams. Original phrasing is never republished. See STUDY.md for the workflow.

Cross-references back to the System Design course handle topics covered there: containers, Kubernetes, microservices, cloud-native architecture, CI/CD.