Static Websites in the Cloud

Cloud computing has become very popular recently. Part of the reason for this popularity is that it provides great flexibility allowing complete control of the computing environment. In addition the environment can be copied, backed up, created and recreated in an automated way. In these lessons we will start you on the path towards making use of the great flexibility and power of cloud computing.

One of the more interesting use cases for the cloud is its ability to provide web services. To explore the flexibility and power of cloud computing we will use the popular static website generator Jekyll. Static website generators offer many security benefits and simplifies and reduces the maintenance burden associated with well known dynamic CMSes such as WordPress and Drupal required to maintain their security.

This is an intense workshop for users with no prior cloud experience, at the end of which you will have a live Jekyll website.

Prerequisites

• Make sure you have performed the required setup before the workshop begins.
• You will need to have your own laptop or desktop on which you can install the required software (see the setup for more details).
• Students should be comfortable working with computer file systems. They should know how to create and delete directories and files on their own personal computer.
• Software Carpentry’s Unix Shell, or similar experience is required.
• Programming experience is an asset but not required.