The NCTA Cloud Operations course, students will learn how to evaluate and select Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions and deploying applications to the cloud, as well as maintaining, securing, and optimizing cloud solutions to achieve the best Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Return on Investment (ROI).

In this course, you will deploy, configure, and administer Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions as needed to function as a Certified Cloud Master. You will:

• Describe cloud operations.
• Plan cloud services Implementation.
• Deploy a cloud application with Digital Ocean.
• Deploy a cloud application with Heroku.
• Deploy websites with Microsoft Azure.
• Implement Azure Cloud Services and virtual machines.
• Manage Azure applications with Visual Studio.
• Deploy applications to Opscode Chef.
• Manage server state with Puppet.
• Implement Rackspace Cloud Servers.
• Import and export data from cloud services.
• Manage security and compliance in cloud solutions.
• Plan and execute a phased cloud migration.

Lesson 1: Cloud Operations

• Topic A: Overview of Cloud Computing Solutions
• Topic B: Cloud Solution Operational Benefits and Challenges
• Topic C: Requirements for Cloud Service Administration

Lesson 2: Planning Cloud Service Implementation

• Topic A: Determine Hardware, Software, and Network Requirements
• Topic B: Assess Risks of a Cloud Deployment
• Topic C: Coordinate with End-Users and Business Stakeholders
• Topic D: Plan Automation and Configuration Management
• Topic E: Determine Cloud Service Support Resources

Lesson 3: Deploying a Cloud Application with Digital Ocean

• Topic A: Determine Cloud Application Implementation Requirements
• Topic B: Deploying a Droplet on Digital Ocean

Lesson 4: Deploying a Cloud Application with Heroku

• Topic A: Identify Cloud Application Features of Heroku
• Topic B: Deploy a Heroku App
• Topic C: Scale and Update Applications on Heroku
• Topic D: Secure Heroku Applications with Git Bash

Lesson 5: Deploying Websites with Microsoft Azure

• Topic A: Overview of Microsoft Azure
• Topic B: Deploy Websites in Microsoft Azure
• Topic C: Manage Data and Storage in Microsoft Azure

Lesson 6: Implementing Azure Cloud Services and Virtual Machines

• Topic A: Implement Azure Cloud Services
• Topic B: Implement Azure Virtual Machines
• Topic C: Manage Microsoft Azure Cloud Services

Lesson 7: Managing Azure Applications with Visual Studio

• Topic A: Publish Applications to Azure with Visual Studio
• Topic B: Migrate .NET Applications to Azure with Visual Studio

Lesson 8: Deploying Applications to Opscode Chef

• Topic A: Overview of Opscode Chef
• Topic B: Install the Chef Client
• Topic C: Implement Chef Cookbooks
• Topic D: Manage Azure Services with Chef

Lesson 9: Managing Server State with Puppet

• Topic A: Determine How Puppet can Streamline Cloud Management
• Topic B: Deploy Puppet

Lesson 10: Implementing Rackspace Cloud Servers

• Topic A: Overview of OpenStack
• Topic B: Overview of Rackspace Cloud Services
• Topic C: Deploy a Rackspace Cloud Server
• Topic D: Manage Rackspace Cloud Servers with Chef
• Topic E: Manage Quality of Service (QoS)

Lesson 11: Importing and Exporting Data from Cloud Services

• Topic A: Determine Requirements for Cloud Data Import and Export
• Topic B: Import Data to and Export Data from a Cloud Network

Lesson 12: Managing Security and Compliance in Cloud Solutions

• Topic A: Secure Cloud Solutions
• Topic B: Manage Compliance for Cloud Solutions

Lesson 13: Planning and Executing a Phased Cloud Migration

• Topic A: Plan a Phased Migration
• Topic B: Execute Phase 1: Cloud Assessment
• Topic C: Execute Phase 2: Deploy a Proof of Concept on Amazon Web Services
• Topic D: Execute Phase 3: Data Migration
• Topic E: Execute Phase 4: Application Migration
• Topic F: Execute Phase 5: Implement Cloud Features
• Topic G: Execute Phase 6: Optimize Cloud Implementations

• Designed for system administrators or cloud technologists who need to develop their skills on evaluation, deployment, and administration of cloud services. This includes evaluating and selecting Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions and deploy applications to the cloud, as well as maintaining, securing and optimising cloud solutions to achieve the best Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Return on Investment (ROI).

You should have experience with basic network and server administration, as well as a strong understanding of cloud technologies. In addition, you should be familiar with evaluating, selecting, and implementing Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. You can obtain this level of skills and knowledge by taking the following Logical Operations courses:

• NCTA Cloud Technologies.