# Cloud console

> The website where you log in to see and manage everything you rent in the cloud.

- Level: Basic
- Topics: Cloud
- URL: https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/cloud-console/
- In Spanish: [Consola de la nube](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/es/cloud-console/)

A **cloud console** is the web page a cloud provider gives you to manage your account. On AWS it is the AWS Management Console, on Microsoft Azure the Azure portal, and on Google the Google Cloud console. You log in with your browser and can create servers, upload files, look at graphs, check the bill and change permissions by clicking instead of typing commands.

It is the friendliest way in, and the best one for learning and looking around: seeing what is running, finding out why something failed, checking how much this month will cost. Most consoles also include a built-in terminal, like AWS CloudShell or Google Cloud Shell, for running quick commands without installing anything on your computer.

For building real systems, teams usually prefer code: the command line, the API, or infrastructure as code tools like Terraform. Clicking around is hard to repeat exactly, hard to review and easy to get wrong, a habit people jokingly call "ClickOps". So the console often becomes the window for watching and investigating, while changes go through code. Because it can do almost anything, access to it should be protected with two-factor authentication.

## An analogy

Like your online banking site: you can check balances and send a transfer with a few clicks, but a company paying thousands of salaries uploads a file instead of clicking one transfer at a time.

## Keep in mind

- The web page for managing a cloud account by clicking.
- AWS Management Console, Azure portal and Google Cloud console.
- Great for exploring and investigating; code is better for repeatable changes.
- Protect it with two-factor authentication: it can do almost anything.

## Go deeper

- [AWS Management Console](https://aws.amazon.com/console/)
- [What is the Azure portal? (Microsoft Learn)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-portal/azure-portal-overview)
- [Google Cloud console](https://cloud.google.com/cloud-console)

## Related terms

- [Website](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/website/): A set of web pages under one address, stored on a server and opened in a browser.
- [Cloud computing](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/cloud-computing/): Renting computers over the internet instead of buying your own.
- [Microsoft](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/microsoft/): The company of Windows and Office, now just as much a cloud company with Azure.
- [Google](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/google/): The search company that gives most products away and makes its money on ads.
- [Web browser](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/web-browser/): The app that fetches web pages from the internet and draws them on your screen.
- [Server](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/server/): A computer whose job is to answer requests from other computers, all day, every day.
- [Command line](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/command-line/): Controlling a computer by typing text commands instead of clicking icons.
- [Google Cloud](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/google-cloud/): Google's cloud business: computing, storage, data and AI services rented by the hour.