INFO 2004 Cloud Platforms
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · S1 2026INFO 2004 Overview
- University of Adelaide
- Dated 2026 roadmap
- ~15 hours each week
- Seminars + practicals
- Coursework + viva
INFO 2004 Cloud Platforms is centred on designing, implementing and managing cloud infrastructure for small-to-medium enterprises, with AWS as the main service environment and AWS Academy-aligned resources supporting further study and professional certification.
- Assessment mix Two graded labs and a three-stage migration strand carry the Canvas weightings.
- Architecture spine Five Well-Architected pillars, six migration strategies and evidence-led design choices.
- Build discipline Use each service only after the workload, responsibility, security and cost reasoning is explicit.
What you get in the full INFO 2004 Study & Assessment Guide
- 14 chapters, 155 pages — every assessed topic, week by week
- 46 original practice questions, each with a model answer
- 14 worked examples, solved the way INFO 2004 marks
- 28 computed figures, redrawn from the course’s own numbers
- Before-you-submit checklist for the Assignment 2.2 - AWS Prototype & Implementation Report (40%) — what markers reward, what costs marks
Free on this page: assessment table, chapter map, one worked example, key terms, FAQ. The rest is in the full study & assessment guide.
How INFO 2004 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1.1 - Networking & Compute Lab – VPC, EC2, EBS | 10% | A graded lab task on networking and compute — VPC, EC2 and EBS. The roadmap names it "Networking & Compute Laboratory – VPC, EC2, and EBS" and distinguishes it from that week's non-graded practical. Due 17-4-26 (17 April 2026). Whether it is completed in the AWS Academy Learner Lab is NOT STATED — confirm on Canvas. Deliverable type, length, rubric, group-vs-individual and submission mechanism are all NOT STATED — the assessment brief is not published in the course materials available here; confirm the format, length and rubric on Canvas. |
| Assignment 1.2 - Database Lab – RDS and App Integration | 5% | A graded lab task on databases — Amazon RDS and application integration. The roadmap names it "Database Lab – RDS & App Integration" and distinguishes it from that week's non-graded RDS practical. Due 8-5-26 (8 May 2026). Whether it is completed in the AWS Academy Learner Lab is NOT STATED — confirm on Canvas. Rubric, length and format NOT STATED — confirm on Canvas. |
| Assignment 2.1 - Cloud Migration Plan – Recommendations | 20% | First stage of the three-part Cloud Migration Plan strand: the recommendations. Due 20-3-26 (20 March 2026), the earliest due date of all five tasks despite its 2.1 number; assignments open 2-3-26 (2 March 2026). It falls in the week the roadmap labels EXTENSION WEEK. Word count, rubric and format NOT STATED — confirm on Canvas. |
| Assignment 2.2 - AWS Prototype & Implementation Report | 40% | Largest single component. Due 22-5-26 (22 May 2026). Name conflict: Canvas calls it "AWS Prototype & Implementation Report"; the roadmap calls the same slot "Cloud Migration Plan – Prototype Implementation". Both readings are retained here. Deliverable format, page or word limit and rubric bands are all NOT STATED — confirm on Canvas. |
| Assignment 2.3 - Viva Voce – Solution Defence | 25% | An oral defence of the student's own migration solution, scheduled in the 25 May – 29 May Course Conclusion week; no explicit due date is given. Name conflict: Canvas writes "Viva Voce – Solution Defence" while the roadmap writes "Cloud Migration Plan – Viva / Oral Defence". Duration, number of questions, examiner count, rubric, whether individual or group, and whether conducted in person or online are ALL NOT STATED — confirm on Canvas. |
What other students are asking about INFO 2004
- Where can I find lecture notes or study guides for INFO 2004 at Adelaide?
- The INFO 2004 study guide in AskSia Library covers Cloud Platforms in 14 chapters, with the assessment table, a chapter-by-chapter topic map, key terms and a worked example, free to read on this page.
- Is there a final exam in INFO 2004?
- No final exam is listed in the offering this AskSia Library guide is built from; INFO 2004 is assessed by Assignment 1.1 - Networking & Compute Lab – VPC, EC2, EBS 10%, Assignment 1.2 - Database Lab – RDS and App Integration 5%, Assignment 2.1 - Cloud Migration Plan – Recommendations 20%, Assignment 2.2 - AWS Prototype & Imp.
- What does INFO 2004 cover on service models and deployment models?
- In AskSia Library's INFO 2004 guide, the Service Models and Deployment Models chapter explains iaaS, PaaS and SaaS abstraction levels; public, private, community and hybrid deployment; the provider market.
- What does INFO 2004 cover on cloud economics: capex, opex and cost control?
- In AskSia Library's INFO 2004 guide, the Cloud Economics: CapEx, OpEx and Cost Control chapter explains drivers for adoption; CapEx vs OpEx; total cost of ownership; pricing calculators, budgets and support tiers.
- What does INFO 2004 cover on the aws well-architected framework?
- In AskSia Library's INFO 2004 guide, the The AWS Well-Architected Framework chapter explains the five pillars taught here: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimisation, and their design principles.
What INFO 2004 covers
INFO 2004 follows the delivered ten-topic roadmap. Foundations and economics lead into architecture and migration; security and VPC networking follow; compute, storage, databases, scaling and monitoring build the implementation layer; careers, certification and sky computing close the sequence.
The chapters below follow that delivered order while separating foundational compute from AWS service selection and separating general storage from database design.
Cloud Fundamentals and Essential Characteristics
Defining cloud computing; the five NIST essential characteristics; on-premises vs cloud; the evolution of cloudCloud computing is introduced here as a change in how computing resources are obtained and managed, not simply as a change of location.
- Cloud computing as an operating and sourcing model
- On-premises infrastructure compared with cloud access
- On-demand self-service and broad network access
- Resource pooling and the dedicated-resource caveat
- Rapid elasticity and the customer's design responsibility
- Measured service and evidence of consumption
Service Models and Deployment Models
IaaS, PaaS and SaaS abstraction levels; public, private, community and hybrid deployment; the provider marketThis chapter separates two classification axes that are often mixed.
- Service models as levels of abstraction
- IaaS and the control–work trade-off
- PaaS as a managed application platform
- SaaS and the narrowed customer responsibility
- Public, private, community and hybrid deployment
- Why service and deployment classifications are orthogonal
Cloud Economics: CapEx, OpEx and Cost Control
Drivers for adoption; CapEx vs OpEx; total cost of ownership; pricing calculators, budgets and support tiersCloud economics begins with business drivers and the shift in how technology spending is structured.
- Business drivers for cloud adoption
- CapEx as acquisition and maintenance of physical assets
- OpEx as normal operating expense
- The CapEx-to-OpEx shift
- Total Cost of Ownership as a comparison frame
- Pricing calculators and explicit assumptions
The AWS Well-Architected Framework
The five pillars taught here: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimisation, and their design principlesThe Well-Architected Framework is taught here as a review instrument built around five pillars: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency and cost optimisation.
- Framework review as a conversation, not an audit
- Operational excellence and its five principles
- Security and its seven principles
- Reliability and its five principles
- Performance efficiency and its five principles
- Cost optimisation and its five principles
Cloud Migration: The Six Rs
Gartner's original five Rs; re-host, re-platform, re-factor, re-purchase, retire, retain; choosing a strategy by complexityMigration strategy is the intellectual spine of the three-stage Cloud Migration Plan strand.
- Gartner's distinct five-strategy history
- The six current migration strategies
- Re-host as lift and shift
- Re-platform as lift, tinker and shift
- Re-factor or re-architect as deeper change
- Re-purchase, retire and retain
Security Foundations and the CIA Triad
Why security is a priority; defining cybersecurity; confidentiality, integrity, availability; FIPS 199 impact scoringSecurity begins with consequences, then moves to a precise definition and a method for reasoning about impact.
- Why cybersecurity is a business priority
- The cited cybersecurity definition
- Confidentiality, integrity and availability
- Low, moderate and high potential impact
- Asset-by-asset scoring
- The highest-impact aggregate rule
Shared Responsibility, IAM and Compliance
The shared responsibility model; splitting customer vs provider duties; identity and access management; compliance and governanceCloud security is shared, but the split is not a slogan and it changes with the service model.
- Security of the cloud and security in the cloud
- How the split changes with service model
- A duty-classification method
- IAM as an access-governance topic
- Users, groups, policies and MFA as named practical scope
- Compliance, governance and evidence
VPC Networking, Subnets and Route Tables
VPC concepts; subnets and routing; security groups vs network ACLs; CloudFront, Route 53 and content deliveryA Virtual Private Cloud is presented as a configurable pool of resources with isolation inside a public cloud environment and, for AWS, as a virtual network dedicated to an account.
- VPC as an isolated virtual network
- The six-term concept spine
- Subnet as an address range inside a VPC
- Route table as rules directing traffic
- Internet gateway and VPC endpoint concepts
- Security groups compared with network ACLs
Compute Foundations: Virtualisation and Containers
Core computer components; von Neumann architecture; CPU virtualisation and vCPUs; bare-metal, VMs, containers, microservicesThe compute sequence starts below the cloud-service layer. A computer combines processing, arithmetic and logic, control and memory; the von Neumann model gives a shared architecture for understanding how instructions and data are processed.
- Core computer components
- Von Neumann architecture
- CPU virtualisation and the vCPU concept
- Bare-metal servers
- Virtual machines
- Containers and Containers-as-a-Service
AWS Compute Services: EC2, ECS and Lambda
The three AWS compute services; EC2 instance types and purchasing options; AMIs; ECS containers; Lambda; Elastic BeanstalkThe applied compute layer names EC2, ECS and Lambda, then adds Amazon Machine Images and Elastic Beanstalk. EC2 supplies scalable compute capacity without an up-front hardware purchase and can scale up or down.
- EC2 as scalable compute capacity
- AMI as a reusable machine template
- ECS and task definitions
- Lambda and server-management abstraction
- Elastic Beanstalk as a named course service
- Workshop scenario selection
Storage: Local, Network and Cloud Options
Volatile vs non-volatile storage; file systems, partitioning and formatting; DAS, SAN and NAS; block, file and object storageStorage is built from the physical distinction upward. Memory is volatile while storage is non-volatile; file systems organise named data, and partitioning and formatting prepare storage for that organisation.
- Volatile memory and non-volatile storage
- Files, file systems, partitioning and formatting
- Direct Attach Storage
- Storage Area Networks
- Network Attached Storage, SMB and NFS
- Block, file and object storage
Cloud Databases and Big Data
Purpose of a database and the DBMS; relational, columnar, key-value, document and graph models; SQL vs NoSQL; data lakes and warehousesA database is persistent organised data, while a database management system is the software layer used to define, access and manage it. The course then distinguishes five database categories: relational, columnar, key-value, document and graph.
- Purpose of a database and the DBMS layer
- Relational and columnar models
- Key-value and document models
- Graph databases
- SQL compared with NoSQL
- Big-data challenges
Scaling, Load Balancing and Monitoring
Unexpected-demand scenarios; load balancer types, capabilities and algorithms; global server load balancing; auto scaling, health checks, CloudWatchUnexpected demand becomes an architecture problem when a workload cannot continue to serve users predictably. A load balancer sits between users and servers and directs traffic rather than allowing the two sides to communicate directly.
- Unexpected-demand scenarios
- The load balancer as intermediary
- Load-balancer types and capabilities
- Scheduling algorithms
- Global server load balancing
- Auto scaling and health checks
Careers, Certification and Sky Computing
Cloud career paths and the skills gap; AWS, Azure and GCP certification tracks; multi-cloud; sky computing as the next stepThe closing topic connects technical choices to professional development and to the next architecture problem.
- Cloud roles and career transitions
- The documented cloud skills gap
- Certification as structured professional learning
- AWS, Azure and Google Cloud pathways
- The optional AWS Academy badge
- Multicloud adoption
The delivered roadmap begins with cloud models, economics and migration reasoning, then moves through security, VPC networking, compute, storage, databases, auto scaling and monitoring before closing with careers and sky computing. Teaching is organised as seminars and practicals. The welcome material asks students to budget approximately 15 hours each week, including 8–10 hours of study material, across a ten-topic structure.
The strongest way to study the course is as a chain of design decisions. Define the workload before choosing a service model. Separate service model from deployment model. Convert business drivers into a migration strategy. Review the proposed architecture through the five pillars taught here: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency and cost optimisation.
Allocate customer and provider duties before selecting controls. Place networking, compute, storage and data choices into one architecture, then show how load balancing, health checks, auto scaling and monitoring let it respond to changing demand. The assessment facts below come from the Canvas graded-assessment listing and dated roadmap.
Five point values sum to 100 and are treated as the Canvas weightings, but the official weighting document did not capture. None of the five briefs, rubrics or submission instructions is present in the materials available here. Confirm the current Course Outline and Canvas brief before relying on format, length, collaboration, submission or viva arrangements.
Worked example · free
Architecture recommendation: trace a workload from requirement to review
- Step 1State the workload and decision criteria before naming a service: demand pattern, data sensitivity, operational capability, acceptable disruption and cost control.
- Step 2Compare the six migration strategies. Explain why the chosen strategy fits the required change and complexity, and name the strongest rejected alternative.
- Step 3Describe the architecture at concept level: VPC boundary, traffic path, compute role, storage or database role, and the monitoring feedback loop. Do not add unstated service limits.
- Step 4Review the design through all five pillars taught in the course. Convert each concern into a concrete review question rather than merely listing pillar names.
- Step 5Close with assumptions and evidence gaps. Route submission format, rubric and task-specific constraints to Canvas instead of inventing them.
Key terms
- Cloud computing
- On-demand access to a configurable pool of shared resources, studied here through five essential characteristics and the contrast with on-premises infrastructure.
- IaaS, PaaS and SaaS
- Three service models representing different abstraction levels and different responsibility splits between customer and provider.
- Well-Architected review
- A lightweight, blame-free conversation that finds critical issues and improvement actions across the five pillars taught in this course.
- Migration strategy
- A deliberate pathway for moving or changing a workload. The course distinguishes Gartner's older five from the six commonly used strategies.
- CIA triad
- Confidentiality, integrity and availability: three security objectives used with qualitative impact levels in the FIPS 199 reasoning method.
- VPC
- A virtual network dedicated to an AWS account, with concepts including subnets, route tables, gateways, endpoints and CIDR blocks.
- Virtualisation
- The abstraction that lets compute resources be represented as virtual CPUs and machines, forming a bridge from physical hardware to cloud compute.
- Auto scaling
- The management process that changes available capacity in response to defined conditions, supported by health checking and monitoring metrics.
INFO 2004 FAQ
How is INFO 2004 assessed?
The Canvas graded-assessment listing carries five values: Assignment 1.1 at 10%, Assignment 1.2 at 5%, Assignment 2.1 at 20%, Assignment 2.2 at 40% and Assignment 2.3 at 25%. They sum to 100. Confirm the current weightings in the official Course Outline.
When are the Cloud Migration Plan stages due?
Assignment 2.1 is due 20 March 2026. Assignment 2.2 is due 22 May 2026. Assignment 2.3 is scheduled in the 25–29 May Course Conclusion week, but the materials available here give no explicit date for it.
Why is Assignment 2.1 due before Assignment 1.1?
The numbering is strand-based rather than chronological. The dated order is 2.1, then 1.1, then 1.2, then 2.2, then 2.3.
What is the Viva Voce worth and how does it work?
It carries 25 in the Canvas listing. The materials available here do not publish its duration, question count, examiner count, collaboration mode, location, delivery mode or rubric. Confirm all of those on Canvas.
How many Well-Architected pillars are taught here?
Five: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency and cost optimisation. The chapter preserves the course's five-pillar version and its 27 listed design principles.
What is the difference between a security group and a network ACL?
A security group is associated with instances, supports allow rules and is stateful. A network ACL applies at subnet level, supports allow and deny rules and is stateless. Their evaluation and association behaviour also differ.
What are the six Rs of cloud migration?
Re-host, re-platform, re-factor or re-architect, re-purchase, retire and retain. Keep this list separate from Gartner's earlier five.
How much time should I budget for INFO 2004?
The welcome material says approximately 15 hours each week and describes 8–10 hours of study material in a ten-topic structure.
Questions students ask in each INFO 2004 chapter
- What are the five essential characteristics?
- On-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service. Chapter 01 · Cloud Fundamentals and Essential Characteristics
- What is the difference between a service model and a deployment model?
- A service model describes abstraction and responsibility; a deployment model describes the environment's arrangement and audience. Chapter 02 · Service Models and Deployment Models
- What is the difference between CapEx and OpEx?
- CapEx acquires, upgrades or maintains physical assets; OpEx is incurred through normal business operations. Chapter 03 · Cloud Economics: CapEx, OpEx and Cost Control
- How many pillars are taught in INFO 2004?
- Five: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency and cost optimisation. Chapter 04 · The AWS Well-Architected Framework
- What are the six Rs?
- Re-host, re-platform, re-factor or re-architect, re-purchase, retire and retain. Chapter 05 · Cloud Migration: The Six Rs
- What are the three CIA objectives?
- Confidentiality, integrity and availability. Chapter 06 · Security Foundations and the CIA Triad
- Who is responsible for security in cloud computing?
- Both provider and customer, with the split depending on the service model and the duty being considered. Chapter 07 · Shared Responsibility, IAM and Compliance
- What six VPC concepts are defined?
- VPC, subnet, route table, internet gateway, VPC endpoint and CIDR block. Chapter 08 · VPC Networking, Subnets and Route Tables
- Why does the course start with computer architecture?
- It establishes the physical and virtual layers beneath cloud compute services. Chapter 09 · Compute Foundations: Virtualisation and Containers
- Which three compute services does the course emphasise?
- EC2, ECS and Lambda. Chapter 10 · AWS Compute Services: EC2, ECS and Lambda
- What is the difference between memory and storage?
- The course begins with volatility: memory is volatile and storage is non-volatile. Chapter 11 · Storage: Local, Network and Cloud Options
- What is the difference between a database and a DBMS?
- The database is the stored data; the DBMS is the software layer used to access and manage it. Chapter 12 · Cloud Databases and Big Data
- What role does a load balancer play?
- It sits between users and servers and directs traffic to appropriate recipients. Chapter 13 · Scaling, Load Balancing and Monitoring
- Is the AWS Academy badge graded?
- No assessment link is stated. The course labels it an optional activity, separate from the five graded components. Chapter 14 · Careers, Certification and Sky Computing
How to prepare for the assessments
Study the roadmap in loops rather than as isolated service names. First, summarise each topic as a decision: what problem is being solved, what choices exist, which source-grounded criteria separate them, and what would make the decision fail. Second, build one migration scenario across the course.
Add economics after service models, add the five-pillar review after migration, add CIA and shared responsibility before controls, then add network, compute, storage, database and scaling decisions. Third, practise defending rejected alternatives. The course's workshop material repeatedly values criteria and justification, while the assessment briefs themselves are absent.
Keep a separate Canvas checklist for task format, rubric, submission requirements and the viva process; do not fill those gaps with assumptions.
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