Hello and welcome to the GCP Beginner Series!

Whether you're completely new to cloud computing or just curious about the magic of the cloud, you’ve made an awesome choice by starting here. You’re about to take your first step toward mastering one of the coolest technologies today—Google Cloud Platform!

This series is crafted to make your learning journey fun, easy, and totally stress-free. We’ll walk you through the key ideas of Cloud Computing and GCP, all with super clear and simple examples. You don’t need any prior knowledge—just a curious mind and a big appetite for learning!

By the end of this series, not only will you “get” how cloud computing works, but you’ll also feel ready to use Google Cloud’s amazing tools for your own projects. This is the start of building some serious future-ready skills in a world that’s zooming toward the cloud. 🌈☁️

So grab your favorite drink, get comfy, and let’s dive into the incredible world of Google Cloud together. Ready? Let’s do this!

Today’s Topics 📘

1. What is “Core Services”?

   We’ll explore the basic definition, benefits, and why cloud computing is such a game-changer in the tech world.

2. Understanding all the “Core Services”?

Here, we’ll break down the different cloud service models—IaaS, PaaS, SaaS—and how each plays a unique role in cloud architecture.

Introduction to Cloud Monitoring

Cloud Monitoring in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a powerful managed service designed to give users insights into the performance, health, and availability of their applications and infrastructure. It serves as a crucial tool for ensuring that resources operate efficiently and meet the demands of users. By aggregating metrics from various GCP services, other cloud providers, and even on-premises resources, Cloud Monitoring provides a unified view of your entire environment, enabling IT teams to make informed decisions and respond swiftly to potential issues.

One of the primary advantages of Cloud Monitoring is its ability to integrate with a wide range of services and platforms. This integration allows organizations to monitor diverse workloads consistently and understand their performance in real time, irrespective of whether they are hosted in the cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid environment. The insights gained from Cloud Monitoring empower teams to optimize resource usage, enhance application performance, and improve overall user experiences.

Key Components of Cloud Monitoring

1. Metrics:
   • Metrics are fundamental data points collected over time, representing the performance and behavior of your resources. Common examples include CPU usage, memory utilization, disk I/O, network traffic, and request latency. Cloud Monitoring collects these metrics automatically from various services and allows users to define custom metrics as needed.
   • Metrics can be viewed in real-time or aggregated over specific time periods to analyze trends. This data is essential for identifying performance bottlenecks, understanding resource utilization patterns, and making data-driven decisions regarding capacity planning.
2. Dashboards:
   • Dashboards in Cloud Monitoring are customizable visual representations of your metrics and resource status. Users can create multiple dashboards tailored to different use cases, enabling them to monitor various aspects of their applications and infrastructure in one place.
   • Dashboards can include graphs, charts, and other visualization tools to represent data clearly and concisely. Users can also share dashboards with team members, fostering collaboration and ensuring that all stakeholders have access to the information they need to manage resources effectively.
3. Alerts:
   • Alerts are notifications triggered by predefined conditions set by users. They enable proactive issue resolution by informing teams of potential problems before they escalate. For instance, an alert might be configured to trigger when CPU usage exceeds a certain threshold or when latency surpasses acceptable limits.
   • Cloud Monitoring supports various notification channels, including email, SMS, and integration with third-party tools like Slack or PagerDuty. This flexibility ensures that the right team members are notified in real time, enabling them to respond quickly to critical situations.
4. Uptime Checks:
   • Uptime checks are a vital component for monitoring the availability of applications. Cloud Monitoring sends requests to your services at regular intervals, verifying whether they are online and responsive. If a service does not respond as expected, it triggers an alert, allowing teams to address the issue promptly.
   • This functionality is essential for maintaining service level agreements (SLAs) and ensuring a positive user experience. Uptime checks can be configured to monitor various endpoints, including HTTP, HTTPS, and TCP, providing flexibility in how services are assessed.
5. Service Monitoring:
   • Service monitoring provides a top-down view of application health, allowing users to visualize the dependencies between different services. This feature is particularly useful for complex applications with multiple interconnected components, as it enables teams to identify issues at a glance and understand how they affect overall performance.
   • By mapping the relationships between services, Cloud Monitoring helps teams troubleshoot problems more efficiently. If one service is experiencing issues, teams can quickly determine which dependent services may be affected and take appropriate action to mitigate impact.