Traditional networking requires buying routers and switches. You rack equipment and configure devices by hand. Changes take weeks.
Cloud networking is software-defined. You create networks through APIs. A new subnet takes seconds. No hardware to manage.
What stays the same:
- IP addressing and CIDR
- Routing fundamentals
- Security principles
What changes:
- Infrastructure is virtualized
- Configuration is code
- Provider handles physical layer
You still need networking knowledge. A misconfigured route table breaks connectivity whether the router is physical or virtual.