Cloud in Plain English
Much of the confusion in cloud conversations is vocabulary, and much of the risk sits in questions nobody asks plainly. This three-part series translates the shared ideas behind AWS and Azure and shows where the two platforms genuinely differ, explains the six kinds of data centre and who runs each layer of them, with the South African questions about power, connectivity and recovery, and examines why a zero-rand AI stack is excellent for learning but not a production promise. One fictional Johannesburg digital publisher, Nyala Media, carries the examples, and every figure is illustrative.
3 articles
- Part 1AWS and Azure use different names for many of the same ideasEC2 and Azure Virtual Machines, S3 and Blob Storage, VPC and Virtual Network: much of the confusion between the two largest clouds is vocabulary. Part 1 of Cloud in Plain English translates the common services, then shows where the platforms genuinely differ, which is mostly in how they organise accounts, identity and resources.7 min read
- Part 2The six kinds of data centre executives should understandHyperscale, colocation, enterprise, edge, telecom and AI facilities are built for different jobs and carry different responsibilities. Part 2 of Cloud in Plain English explains each in plain terms, shows who runs which layer, and adds the South African questions about power, connectivity and recovery that change the answer.6 min read
- Part 3A zero-rand AI architecture is for learning, not a production promiseOpen-weight models, local model servers, open-source vector stores and free hosting tiers make it possible to build a working AI assistant without paying a licence fee. Part 3 of Cloud in Plain English explains why that is excellent for learning, and what costs appear the moment other people start depending on it.6 min read
Working through any of this in your own organisation?
These articles come out of delivery work rather than theory. If the problems in this series look familiar, a short scoping conversation is usually the quickest way to work out what is worth doing first.
Talk to CloudNala