Lab 7: Cloud Servers

Lab 6 packaged the penguin model API in a Docker container on our local machine. Lab 7 moves that work to the cloud, where we rent servers and storage instead of running everything locally.

Comprehension questions

What are two reasons you should consider going to the cloud?

Two primary reasons to move to the cloud include:

• The ability to rapidly increase/decrease computing resources to match demand without investing in physical hardware (i.e., scalability)
  
• The cloud provider handles much of the underlying infrastructure management, such as hardware repairs, power, and cooling (i.e., reduce maintenance).

What’s one reason you shouldn’t?

One reason we might avoid the cloud is cost unpredictability. While we only pay for what we use, unmonitored usage or unexpected spikes in demand can lead to much higher monthly bills than anticipated.

What is the difference between PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS?

The differences lie in how much of the technology stack we manage versus how much the provider manages:

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'look': 'classic', 'themeVariables': {'fontFamily': 'monospace'}}}%%

graph LR
    subgraph "User Management Level"
        SaaS("SaaS: You manage<br>only usage")
        PaaS("PaaS: You manage<br>apps & data")
        IaaS("IaaS: You manage<br>OS, apps, &<br>data")
    end
    
    Provider(["Provider manages<br>infrastructure"]) --> SaaS
    Provider --> PaaS
    Provider --> IaaS
    
    style Provider fill:#5B8C5A,stroke:#000000,stroke-width:1px,color:#ffffff
    style IaaS fill:#D2562B,stroke:#000000,stroke-width:1px,color:#ffffff
    style SaaS fill:#1B2A41,stroke:#000000,stroke-width:1px,color:#ffffff
    style PaaS fill:#2A6F77,stroke:#000000,stroke-width:1px,color:#ffffff
    

‘Cloud acronyms’

The table below covers other differences:

Acronym	Model	Responsibility
IaaS	Infrastructure as a Service	User manages OS, middleware, and apps
PaaS	Platform as a Service	User manages applications and data
SaaS	Software as a Service	User manages only usage

What’s an example of each that you’re familiar with?

Acronym	Description	Example
IaaS	Provides raw computing resources like virtual servers and networking.	Azure
PaaS	Provides a framework for developers to build and deploy apps without managing the OS.	Posit Workbench
SaaS	Delivers finished software applications over the internet.	Teams

What are the names of AWS’s services for: renting a server, filesystem storage, blob storage?

• If you are renting a server: Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)
• For filesystem storage: Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)
• for blob storage: Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)

Setting Up AWS and S3

The lab for this section is broken into two parts: getting started with AWS and putting the penguins data and model in S3. I’ve put the original files in the original/ folder, and separated the labs into original, R, and Python folders.

Recap

1. The cloud is worth considering for scalability and reduced maintenance, but unmonitored usage can make costs unpredictable.

2. IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS differ in how much of the stack we manage. With IaaS we manage the OS, apps, and data; with PaaS we manage apps and data; with SaaS we manage only usage.

3. AWS’s services for renting a server, filesystem storage, and blob storage are EC2, EFS, and S3. The chapters that follow put EC2 and S3 to work.

We’ll start by setting up IAM users and the AWS CLI in Getting started with AWS.