chapter 1 Flashcards
explain tier system
tier 1: data centers have a single path for power and cooling, with no redundancy. They have an expected uptime of 99.671% (28.8 hours of downtime)
tier 2: data centers have a single path for power and cooling, with some redundancy components. They have an expected uptime 99.741% (22 hours of downtime per year)
tier 3: data centers have multiple paths for power and cooling, with one path active and one standby. They can perform maintenance and upgrades without disrupting the service. They have an expected uptime of 99.982% (1.6 hours of downtime per year)
tier 4: data centers have multiple paths for power and cooling, with both paths active and fully redundant. They can withstand any single point of failure without affecting the service. They have an expected uptime of 99.995% (26.3 minutes of downtime per year)
describe redundancy
redundancy is the practise of duplicating components or functions in a system to enhance its reliability and availability
explain what load balancing is
is a technique that distributes the workload among multiple servers, ensuring optimal performance and availability. load balancing can help cloud computing to handle high traffic, reduce latency and prevent overload.
explain what scalability is
the ability of a system to accommodate larger or smaller workloads by adding or removing resources manually or programmatically
explain what elasticity is
the ability of a system to automatically adjust the amount of resources allocated to it closely following the current demand and traffic.
explain what HA (high availability) is
is a feature that ensures that the services are always available and minimizes the downtime. High availability can help cloud computing to maintain the business continuity (BC)
explain what DR (disaster recovery) is
is a process that ensure that the data is always backed up and recoverable in the event of massive failures or disasters. Can be achieved by using multiple redundant servers, storage, and networks, but now also across different locations which are also known as availability zones or regions
explain basic security measures that go into providing confidentiality and integrity
Encryption: converts the data into a unreadable form, that can only be decrypted with a key
Firewalls: filter the incoming and outgoing traffic, blocking or allowing it based on predefined rules
Authentication: verifies the identity of the users, using methods such as passwords, tokens or biometrics
Authorization: determines the level of access to files and applications that the users have, using policies and roles
describe and give azure examples of the 3 main it as service models
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): the most basic service model, where users can access and manage raw computing resources such as servers, storage, networks and operating systems. Example -> azure virtual machines (VMs)
Platform as a service (PaaS): PaaS is the next level of service model, where users can access and manage pre-configured computing platforms such as databases, web servers, development tools and middleware. Example -> azure app service
Software as a service (SaaS): SaaS is the highest level of service model, where users can access and use ready-made software applications such as email, office, CRM and ERP. Example -> Microsoft 365
explain 3 delivery models of cloud computing
Public cloud: is the most common and accessible delivery model, where cloud services are provided by a third party cloud provider over the public internet, and are shared among multiple users. Public cloud offers the most scalability, cost-effectiveness and variety of services but also has less privacy and customization
Private cloud: is the most exclusive and secure delivery model, where cloud services are provided by an organization over a private network to the client and are used by a specific group of users. Private cloud offers the most privacy, and customization but is also less scalable, cost-effective and has a lower variety of services
Hybrid cloud: is the most flexible and balanced delivery model, where cloud services are provided by an combination of public and private clouds and are integrated and coordinated through a common platform. Hybrid cloud tries to offer the best of both worlds, allowing users to leverage the advantages of each cloud type and mitigate the disadvantages of each cloud type
describe main public cloud providers
Amazon web services (AWS): market leader by public cloud platform, offering 200 services across 25 categories such as compute, storage, database, networking, security, machine learning and IoT
Microsoft azure: second largest public cloud provider and the fastest growing one, offering over 200 services across 18 categories such as compute, storage, database, networking, security, AI and blockchain
Google cloud platform (GCP): third largest public cloud provider and the most innovative one offering over 100 services across 20 categories such as compute, storage, database, networking, security, data analytics and AI
explain azure regions
Regions: is a geographical area that contains one or more data centers where azure services and resources are deployed and hosted. Azure regions are grouped into geographies such as “Europe” or “America”
explain azure zone
Zone: is a logical grouping of physical resources within a region such as servers, storage and network devices that provide high availability and fault tolerance for azure services and resources. Each zone has a number and is isolated from other zones in the same region
explain azure subscriptions
subscription is a logical container that represents a billing and management boundary for azure services and resources. Each subscription has a name and id. Customers can have multiple subscriptions under the same azure account and can use them to organize their resources by project, department or environment
explain azure resource groups
a resource group is a logical container that groups together related azure services and resources such as VMs, storage account and network interfaces. Each resource group has a name and a location. Customers can use resource groups to manage their resources as a unit and to apply policies, permissions and tags
explain the 4 factors on which azure charges their users
Service type: azure offers different type of services such as compute, storage, database, networking and security each with its own pricing model and unit of measurement. Example -> compute services charged by the hour or second and storage services by the GB or the transaction
Usage: azure charges for the actual usage of its services and resources based on the amount, duration and frequency of consumption. Example -> azure charges the number of hours or seconds that a VM is running, amount of data that is stored or transferred and the number of requests that are made to a database or an API
Location: azure charges different prices for its services and resources in different regions, based on the cost of operating and maintaining the data centers, the demand and supply of the resources and the local tax and regulations. Example -> azure charges more for a VM in Japan than in India and more for a storage account in Australia than in Canada
Performance tier: azure offers different levels of performance, reliability and scalability for its services and resources, each with its own price and specification. Example -> azure offers different sizes and families of VMs such as A, B, D and F each with different number of cores, memory, disk and network bandwith and different prices per hour or per second
describe where and how you check charges and upcoming costs in azure
Pricing calculator: web based tool that allows customers to estimate the cost of using azure services and resources based on their expected usage, location and performance tier. Customers can use pricing calculator to compare different options, plan their budget and optimize their spending
Cost management portal: web based portal that allows customers to track and analyze their azure spending based on their actual usage, location and performance tier. Customers can use the cost management portal to view their invoices, download their usage reports, set up their billing alerts and create their cost analysis charts and dashboards
Billing alerts: a feature that allows customers to setup notifications and actions when their azure spending reaches or exceeds a certain threshold, based on their actual usage, location and performance tier. Customers can use the billing alerts to monitor their spending, control their budget and prevent overspending
describe how you can optimize and reduce charges
Choosing the right service level: customers can choose the most appropriate and cost effective service level for their needs based on the performance, reliability and scalability requirements of their applications and workload
Scaling on demand: customers can adjust the capacity and performance of their azure services and resources based on the actual demand and workload of their applications and workload
Reserving instances: customers can prepay for a certain amount of azure services and resources for a certain period of time, usually one or three years, and get a significant discount up to 72% compared to pay as you go prices.
give examples of core azure services and related use cases
Compute: various options for running applications and workloads on the cloud. Use cases -> VMs, web apps, azure Ai
Storage: various options for storing and accessing data on the cloud. Use cases -> disks, files, queues, tables, blobs
Networking: various options for connecting and securing applications and resources on the cloud. Use cases -> virtual networks, firewalls, gateways
Database: various options for storing and managing data on the cloud. Use cases -> relational databases, non-relational databases, data warehouses
Security: various options for securing and monitoring applications and resources on the cloud. Use cases -> identity and access management, encryption and key management, threat detection and prevention
