📌 Overview

This lecture is Day 1 of the Azure Zero to Hero series by Abhishek Veeramalla. It serves as a prerequisite for understanding any cloud platform (Azure, AWS, or GCP). By the end, you should be comfortable with cloud vocabulary and ready to dive into hands-on Azure topics.

💡 Placement Tip: Interviewers frequently ask "What is cloud computing?", "Difference between public/private/hybrid cloud?", and "What is virtualization?" — all covered here.

1. What is a Server?

Before understanding cloud, you must understand what a server is.

• A server is essentially a computer with:
  • Local Storage (HDD/SSD)
  • CPU (processing power)
  • RAM (memory)
• Unlike your laptop, servers lack rich peripherals (no display, GPU, keyboard).
• The sole purpose of a server is to run applications and processes accessible over a network.

[ Application ] → deployed on → [ Server ] → accessible via → [ Internet ]

2. Traditional Infrastructure — The Data Center Era

Before cloud computing, organizations maintained their own data centers.

What is a Data Center?

A data center is a physical facility that houses:

• Racks of servers (connected using high-bandwidth switches & cables)
• Routers connecting servers to the internet
• 24×7 power supply, cooling systems, and physical security

How It Worked (Pre-Cloud)

1. System Admins procured physical servers from vendors (IBM, HP, etc.)