Introducing the cloud
Before we jump into GCP, first, let's learn what the cloud is, as per the following diagram:
Figure 2.1 – What the cloud is
It is true—there is no cloud: it's just someone else's computer. With the cloud, what we are actually doing is accessing resources and consuming services that are hosted on someone else's computer. If we want to be more precise, the cloud is a pool of computers.
Now, let's take a look at a more accurate and professional definition used by Google that comes from the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-145/final):
