Cloud Computing and Distributed Systems

Cloud and distributed foundations

Across 23 lectures this NPTEL course joins cloud infrastructure with the distributed algorithms behind it. The early lectures cover virtualization, server virtualization and software-defined networking, along with hotspot mitigation when virtual machines migrate between hosts.

Algorithms in cloud data centers

The second half turns to the algorithms that cloud systems depend on: leader election, clock synchronization across data centers, global snapshots, and consensus through Paxos. A lecture on the design of Zookeeper shows how those ideas appear in a real coordination service, and the course closes with Byzantine agreement and failure recovery.

Where it fits

• Useful for readers who want the theory behind cloud platforms.
• Geo-distributed data centers and software-defined networks as context for the algorithms.