The course in detail

This course enables participants to acquire the following skills:

Understand the key terminology and concepts for working with Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Learn about and compare the many computing and storage services available via Google Cloud Platform, including Google App Engine, Google Compute Engine and Google Container Engine.

Module 1: Introduction to Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud Platform offers four main types of services: computing, storage, big data and machine learning. This course focuses mainly on the first two, with Google Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networking. This module guides participants through the basics of the Google Cloud Platform. It traces the evolution of cloud computing and explains what is unique about Google’s approach. The module introduces the key structural concepts of regions and zones.

Module 2: Getting started with Google Cloud Platform

This module covers the following topics: Employing projects to organise the resources you use;
Using Google Cloud Identity and Access Management, also known as IAM, to control who can do what with these resources; Connecting to GCP with several technologies. The module also introduces the Cloud Launcher service to quickly get you started with GCP.

Module 3: Virtual machines in the cloud

Compute Engine allows you to run virtual machines on Google’s global infrastructure. This module covers the operation of Compute Engine, with a focus on Google Virtual Networks.

Module 4: Cloud storage

All applications store data, but different applications and workloads require different storage and database solutions. This module describes and differentiates between the main GCP storage options: Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, Cloud Datastore and Google Bigtable.

Module 5: Containers in the cloud

Containers are packages of software that contain all of the necessary elements to run in any environment. Simple and interoperable, they allow rapid and automatic scaling. Kubernetes is an orchestration layer for containers. Kubernetes Engine is Kubernetes as a service: a scalable managed offering that runs on Google’s infrastructure. You manage the creation of a cluster and Kubernetes Engine schedules your containers in the cluster and manages them automatically, based on the requirements you define. This module explains how Kubernetes Engine works and how it helps to deploy your applications in the containers.

Module 6: Applications in the cloud

App Engine is a Platform-as-a-Service (‘PaaS’) offering. The App Engine platform manages the hardware and network infrastructure required to run your code. App Engine provides the integrated services that many web applications need. This module describes how the App Engine works.

Module 7: Development, deployment and monitoring in the cloud

This module covers a selection of popular development, deployment and monitoring tools that run natively in GCP, allowing clients a choice of technologies that are still closely integrated with GCP.

Module 8: Big data and machine learning in the cloud

GCP’s big data and machine learning offerings are designed to help customers get the most out of data. These tools are designed to be simple and practical to integrate into your applications. This module describes the big data and machine learning services available and explains the usefulness of each.

Module 9: Summary and review

This module reviews the GCP services covered in this course and revises the differences between them. It also compares the most important GCP compute services, GCP storage services and VPC networking capabilities.