1.8 Summarize cloud concepts and connectivity options.

Question 1

A company uses several Windows Servers for Active Directory, SQL Server, RADIUS, DHCP, and DNS. Management pushes to move to the cloud. IT suggests moving services in a staggered fashion as to not cause disruption. IT moves SQL server instances to the cloud as a start. IT migrates this specific function to which of the following service types?

SaaS

IaaS

PaaS

Hybrid

Answer 1

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a computing method that uses the cloud to provide any platform-type services. A SQL database is an example of PaaS.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a computing method that uses the cloud to provide application services to users. Office 365 is an example of SaaS.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a means of provisioning IT resources such as servers, load balancers, and storage area network (SAN) components.

Hybrid refers to a cloud computing solution that implements a combination of delivery models such as public, private, or a community solution.

Question 2

Cloud offerings, such as Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud and Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Machines, are examples of what type of service?

Platform

Software

Infrastructure

Virtual

Answer 2

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a means of provisioning IT resources such as servers, load balancers, and storage area network (SAN) components quickly. Examples include Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud and Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Machines.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a computing method that uses the cloud to provide application services to users. An example is Microsoft Office 365.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides resources between SaaS and IaaS. It may include servers and storage network infrastructure but with a multi-tier web application/database platform on top. An example is Microsoft Azure SQL Database.

A virtual service is a term used for virtual infrastructure such as VMware’s vSphere (e.g. ESXi). Virtual infrastructure by itself is not a cloud service.