Architecting with Google Compute Engine Specialization Course Syllabus

Overview: This specialization is designed for IT professionals seeking to master Google Cloud Platform (GCP) infrastructure services. Through a series of hands-on labs and practical exercises, learners will gain experience in designing, deploying, and managing secure, scalable, and reliable cloud architectures. The course consists of five core modules and a final project, with a total time commitment of approximately 38 hours. Learners are expected to dedicate around 10 hours per week to complete the content at their own pace.

Module 1: Google Cloud Fundamentals: Core Infrastructure

Estimated time: 5 hours

• Introduction to Google Cloud Platform and its core services
• Understanding Compute Engine and virtual machine basics
• Overview of Cloud Storage and data management
• Networking fundamentals in GCP

Module 2: Essential Google Cloud Infrastructure: Foundation

Estimated time: 8 hours

• Deploying and configuring virtual machines on Compute Engine
• Creating and managing VPC networks
• Configuring firewall rules and network security
• Connecting GCP resources using network routes

Module 3: Essential Google Cloud Infrastructure: Core Services

Estimated time: 10 hours

• Managing access control with Identity and Access Management (IAM)
• Setting up billing and resource management
• Monitoring resources using Cloud Operations (formerly Stackdriver)
• Configuring and using data storage services (Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL)

Module 4: Elastic Google Cloud Infrastructure: Scaling and Automation

Estimated time: 7 hours

• Implementing autoscaling for virtual machines
• Setting up load balancing for high availability
• Automating deployments with Deployment Manager and Cloud Functions
• Managing infrastructure as code

Module 5: Reliable Google Cloud Infrastructure: Design and Process

Estimated time: 8 hours

• Designing for reliability and fault tolerance
• Implementing disaster recovery and backup strategies
• Applying site reliability engineering (SRE) best practices
• Optimizing cost and performance in cloud architectures

Module 6: Final Project

Estimated time: 10 hours

• Design and deploy a scalable and secure cloud architecture on GCP
• Implement autoscaling, load balancing, and monitoring
• Submit architecture documentation and configuration for review

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with basic cloud computing concepts
• Basic understanding of networking and security principles
• Experience with command-line interfaces and Linux operating systems

What You'll Be Able to Do After

• Design and deploy virtual machines, networks, and storage on GCP
• Implement scalable and automated cloud infrastructure
• Apply best practices in security, reliability, and cost management
• Prepare for the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification exam
• Manage cloud resources using infrastructure-as-code and SRE principles