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.
The first four courses in this Specialization form the lecture component of courses in our online Master of Computer Science Degree in Data Science. You can apply to the degree program either before or after you begin the Specialization.
Cloud Computing Specialization
Clouds, Distributed Systems, Networking. Learn about and build distributed and networked systems for clouds and big data.
Offered By
About this Specialization
Skills you will gain
Software-Defined NetworkingDistributed ComputingBig DataCloud Computing
How the Specialization Works
Take Courses
A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.
Hands-on Project
Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.
Earn a Certificate
When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.
There are 6 Courses in this Specialization
Course1
Cloud Computing Concepts, Part 1
4.5
691 ratings
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.
Some of these concepts include: clouds, MapReduce, key-value/NoSQL stores, classical distributed algorithms, widely-used distributed algorithms, scalability, trending areas, and much, much more!
Know how these systems work from the inside out. Get your hands dirty using these concepts with provided homework exercises. In the programming assignments, implement some of these concepts in template code (programs) provided in the C++ programming language. Prior experience with C++ is required.
The course also features interviews with leading researchers and managers, from both industry and academia.
Course2
Cloud Computing Concepts: Part 2
4.6
214 ratings
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.
Some of these concepts include: clouds, MapReduce, key-value/NoSQL stores, classical distributed algorithms, widely-used distributed algorithms, scalability, trending areas, and much, much more!
Know how these systems work from the inside out. Get your hands dirty using these concepts with provided homework exercises. In the programming assignments, implement some of these concepts in template code (programs) provided in the C++ programming language. Prior experience with C++ is required.
The course also features interviews with leading researchers and managers, from both industry and academia.
This course builds on the material covered in the Cloud Computing Concepts, Part 1 course.
Course3
Cloud Computing Applications, Part 1: Cloud Systems and Infrastructure
4.1
383 ratings
Welcome to the Cloud Computing Applications course, the first part of a two-course series designed to give you a comprehensive view on the world of Cloud Computing and Big Data!
In this first course we cover a multitude of technologies that comprise the modern concept of cloud computing. Cloud computing is an information technology revolution that has just started to impact many enterprise computing systems in major ways, and it will change the face of computing in the years to come.
We start the first week by introducing some major concepts in cloud computing, the economics foundations of it and we introduce the concept of big data. We also cover the concept of software defined architectures, and how virtualization results in cloud infrastructure and how cloud service providers organize their offerings. In week two, we cover virtualization and containers with deeper focus, including lectures on Docker, JVM and Kubernates. We finish up week two by comparing the infrastructure as a service offering by the big three: Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Week three moves to higher level of cloud offering, including platform as a service, mobile backend as a service and even serverless architectures. We also talk about some of the cloud middleware technologies that are fundamental to cloud based applications such as RPC and REST, JSON and load balancing. Week three also covers metal as a service (MaaS), where physical machines are provisioned in a cloud environment.
Week four introduces higher level cloud services with special focus on cloud storage services. We introduce Hive, HDFS and Ceph as pure Big Data Storage and file systems, and move on to cloud object storage systems, virtual hard drives and virtual archival storage options. As discussion on Dropbox cloud solution wraps up week 4 and the course.
Course4
Cloud Computing Applications, Part 2: Big Data and Applications in the Cloud
4.2
185 ratings
Welcome to the Cloud Computing Applications course, the second part of a two-course series designed to give you a comprehensive view on the world of Cloud Computing and Big Data!
In this second course we continue Cloud Computing Applications by exploring how the Cloud opens up data analytics of huge volumes of data that are static or streamed at high velocity and represent an enormous variety of information. Cloud applications and data analytics represent a disruptive change in the ways that society is informed by, and uses information. We start the first week by introducing some major systems for data analysis including Spark and the major frameworks and distributions of analytics applications including Hortonworks, Cloudera, and MapR. By the middle of week one we introduce the HDFS distributed and robust file system that is used in many applications like Hadoop and finish week one by exploring the powerful MapReduce programming model and how distributed operating systems like YARN and Mesos support a flexible and scalable environment for Big Data analytics. In week two, our course introduces large scale data storage and the difficulties and problems of consensus in enormous stores that use quantities of processors, memories and disks. We discuss eventual consistency, ACID, and BASE and the consensus algorithms used in data centers including Paxos and Zookeeper. Our course presents Distributed Key-Value Stores and in memory databases like Redis used in data centers for performance. Next we present NOSQL Databases. We visit HBase, the scalable, low latency database that supports database operations in applications that use Hadoop. Then again we show how Spark SQL can program SQL queries on huge data. We finish up week two with a presentation on Distributed Publish/Subscribe systems using Kafka, a distributed log messaging system that is finding wide use in connecting Big Data and streaming applications together to form complex systems. Week three moves to fast data real-time streaming and introduces Storm technology that is used widely in industries such as Yahoo. We continue with Spark Streaming, Lambda and Kappa architectures, and a presentation of the Streaming Ecosystem. Week four focuses on Graph Processing, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. We introduce the ideas of graph processing and present Pregel, Giraph, and Spark GraphX. Then we move to machine learning with examples from Mahout and Spark. Kmeans, Naive Bayes, and fpm are given as examples. Spark ML and Mllib continue the theme of programmability and application construction. The last topic we cover in week four introduces Deep Learning technologies including Theano, Tensor Flow, CNTK, MXnet, and Caffe on Spark.
Course5
Cloud Networking
4.5
187 ratings
In the cloud networking course, we will see what the network needs to do to enable cloud computing. We will explore current practice by talking to leading industry experts, as well as looking into interesting new research that might shape the cloud network’s future.
This course will allow us to explore in-depth the challenges for cloud networking—how do we build a network infrastructure that provides the agility to deploy virtual networks on a shared infrastructure, that enables both efficient transfer of big data and low latency communication, and that enables applications to be federated across countries and continents? Examining how these objectives are met will set the stage for the rest of the course.
This course places an emphasis on both operations and design rationale—i.e., how things work and why they were designed this way. We're excited to start the course with you and take a look inside what has become the critical communications infrastructure for many applications today.
Course6
Cloud Computing Project
4.5
17 ratings
Note: You should complete all the other courses in this Specialization before beginning this course.
This six-week long Project course of the Cloud Computing Specialization will allow you to apply the learned theories and techniques for cloud computing from the previous courses in the Specialization, including Cloud Computing Concepts, Part 1, Cloud Computing Concepts, Part 2, Cloud Computing Applications, Part 1, Cloud Computing Concepts, Part 2, and Cloud Networking.
Instructors
Reza Farivar
Data Engineering Manager at Capital One, Adjunct Research Assistant Professor of Computer ScienceDepartment of Computer Science
Ankit Singla
Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Computer Science, ETH Zürich
Indranil Gupta
ProfessorDepartment of Computer Science
P. Brighten Godfrey
Associate ProfessorDepartment of Computer Science
Roy H. Campbell
Professor of Computer ScienceDepartment of Computer Science
Start working towards your Master's degree
This specialization is part of the 100% online Master in Computer Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
If you are admitted to the full program, your courses count towards your degree learning.
About 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the refund policy?
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
Is financial aid available?
Can I take the course for free?
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
Time to completion can vary widely based on your schedule. Most learners are able to complete the Specialization in 4-5 months.
How often is each course in the Specialization offered?
Each course in the Specialization is offered on a regular schedule with sessions starting about once per month. If you don't complete a course on the first try, you can easily transfer to the next session, and your completed work and grades will carry over.
What background knowledge is necessary?
Basic working knowledge of computers and computer systems
Familiarity with common programming languages (e.g., C, C++, Java)
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
It is recommended that the courses in the Specialization be taken in the order outlined. In the Capstone Project, you will have the opportunity to synthesize your learning in all the courses and apply your combined skills in a final project.
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
MCS courses in Coursera do not carry University of Illinois credit on their own. Each course has an enhanced for-credit component. You can earn academic credit if you combine an MCS Coursera course with the enhanced for-credit component offered on the University of Illinois platform. Some universities may choose to accept Specialization Certificates for credit. Check with your institution to learn more.
What will I be able to do upon completing the Specialization?
There will be hands-on laboratory experiments (Load Balancing and Web Services, MapReduce, Hive, Storm, and Mahout). Case studies will be drawn from Yahoo, Google, Twitter, Facebook, data mining, analytics, and machine learning. We will also explore current practice by talking to leading industry experts, as well as looking into interesting new research that might shape the cloud network’s future.
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