Cloud computing systems today, whether open-source or used inside companies, are built using a common set of core techniques, algorithms, and design philosophies – all centered around distributed systems. Learn about such fundamental distributed computing "concepts" for cloud computing.
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Cloud Computing SpecializationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignAbout this Course
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Course 1 of 6 in the
Beginner Level
Approx. 23 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, Korean, German, Russian, English, Spanish
Skills you will gain
- Distributed Algorithm
- Distributed Computing
- C++
- Cloud Computing
Flexible deadlines
Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
Shareable Certificate
Earn a Certificate upon completion
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Course 1 of 6 in the
Beginner Level
Approx. 23 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, Korean, German, Russian, English, Spanish
Offered by
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a world leader in research, teaching and public engagement, distinguished by the breadth of its programs, broad academic excellence, and internationally renowned faculty and alumni. Illinois serves the world by creating knowledge, preparing students for lives of impact, and finding solutions to critical societal needs.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
6 hours to complete
Week 1: Orientation, Introduction to Clouds, MapReduce
This course is oriented towards learners with similar backgrounds as juniors and seniors in a CS undergraduate curriculum. Since learners come from various backgrounds, it is critical you view this lecture AND pass the prerequisite test. This will ensure you have many of the assumed prerequisite pieces of knowledge required to enjoy this course.
6 hours to complete
16 videos (Total 155 min), 8 readings, 3 quizzes
3 hours to complete
Week 2: Gossip, Membership, and Grids
Lesson 1: This module teaches how the multicast problem is solved by using epidemic/gossip protocols. It also teaches analysis of such protocols. Lesson 2: This module covers the design of failure detectors, a key component in any distributed system. Membership protocols, which use failure detectors as components, are also covered. Lesson 3: This module covers Grid computing, an important precursor to cloud computing.
3 hours to complete
14 videos (Total 122 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
3 hours to complete
Week 3: P2P Systems
P2P systems: This module teaches the detailed design of two classes of peer to peer systems: (a) popular ones including Napster, Gnutella, FastTrack, and BitTorrent; and (b) efficient ones including distributed hash tables (Chord, Pastry, and Kelips). Besides focusing on design, the module also analyzes these systems in detail.
3 hours to complete
10 videos (Total 105 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
4 hours to complete
Week 4: Key-Value Stores, Time, and Ordering
Lesson 1: This module motivates and teaches the design of key-value/NoSQL storage/database systems. We cover the design of two major industry systems: Apache Cassandra and HBase. We also cover the famous CAP theorem. Lesson 2: Distributed systems are asynchronous, which makes clocks at different machines hard to synchronize. This module first covers various clock synchronization algorithms, and then covers ways of tagging events with causal timestamps that avoid synchronizing clocks. These classical algorithms were invented decades ago, yet are used widely in today’s cloud systems.
4 hours to complete
12 videos (Total 147 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM CLOUD COMPUTING CONCEPTS, PART 1
by VTAug 21, 2016
Very useful course. It built my Cloud Computing basis from scratch. Fisrt course gives me the enthusiasm to start the later ones. A good place for studying and sharing with course mates. Thank you!
by LGOct 6, 2020
Solid distributed systems' fundamentals class. The programming assignment was really evaluating my reverse and software engineering skills rather than my grasp of distributed systems' fundamentals
by KPDec 5, 2016
Great lectures. However, the starter code for the programming assignment is quite atrocious. Overall, would highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn high level concepts in distributed systems.
by MRJul 15, 2017
Great course, I would recommend to everyone who wants to understand the basics of cloud computing. The course material is excellent, the instructor Indy is phenomenal and the exams are marvelous.
About the Cloud Computing Specialization
The Cloud Computing Specialization takes you on a tour through cloud computing systems. We start in in the middle layer with Cloud Computing Concepts covering core distributed systems concepts used inside clouds, move to the upper layer of Cloud Applications and finally to the lower layer of Cloud Networking. We conclude with a project that allows you to apply the skills you've learned throughout the courses.
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