Cloud Concepts Flashcards
Which of the following statements about AWS Region is true?
Regions are generally specific geographical areas
Regions are made up of Availability Zones
Regions are used where
Regions are automatically fully synchronized to contain the same data globally
Regions are generally specific geographical areas
EXPLANATION:
A region is a geographical area divided into Availability Zones. Each region contains at least two publicly accessible Availability Zones.
Which of the following best describes a system that will remain operational even in the event of a component failure? Highly Available Scalable Fault-tolerant Elastic
Fault-tolerant
EXPLANATION:
a fault-tolerant system will remain operational even in the event of a component failure.
A mobile shopping list app needs to be able to add, delete, and update items on specific lists anytime a user desires. The backend for the app will run on Amazon EC2 instances with Auto Scaling to manage fluctuations in user demand. Many times, a user will perform maintenance on many list items in a single session. What design characteristic must be incorporated into the app for these requirements to be met?
Use bootstrapping on the EC2 instances
Make sure the app doesn’t need knowledge of previous transactions
Implement session affinity
Leverage load balancing to distribute transactions to multiple nodes
Make sure the app doesn’t need knowledge of previous transactions
EXPLANATION:
In order for horizontal scaling to be effective, you’ll want to make sure the app doesn’t store previous transaction or session information on specific EC2 instances. That way, any EC2 instance provisioned by Auto Scaling can process the request. Leveraging load balancing is also a good practice, but doesn’t address the need for a stateless app. Session affinity goes the other direction, directing a load balancer to route transactions to a specific instance each time. Bootstrapping runs scripts each time an EC2 instance is provisioned.
Which of the following is a Shared Control of the AWS Shared Responsibility Model?
Awareness & Training
Identity and Access Management
EC2 Instance Application Configuration
Datacentre Security
Awareness & Training
EXPLANATION:
Shared Controls are elements of the Shared Responsibility Model where both AWS and the customer have shared responsibilities within their own contexts. Awareness & Training is a Shared Control, since AWS trains AWS employees, but a customer must train their own employees. Datacentre Security is solely the responsibility of AWS. Configuration of an Application within an EC2 instance, and Identity and Access Management remain the responsibility of the customer
Which of the following best describes a system that is always online — without the need for human intervention?
Highly Available
Scalable
Fault Tolerant
Elastic
Highly Available
EXPLANATION:
A highly available system is one that is always online — without the need for human intervention. Although Fault Tolerance is closely related to High Availability, FT usually implies a degradation of service without human intervention, unlike HA which is like-for-like.
Which of the below is correct when looking at Regions, Availability Zones, Edge Location and Datacentres?
Data Centres contain Availability Zones
Availability Zones contain Data Centres
Edge Locations contain Availability Zones
Regions contain Availability Zones
Availability Zones contain Data Centres
Regions contain Availability Zones
EXPLANATION:
Regions contain two or more Availability Zones, which are themselves made up of one or more Datacentres. Edge locations are a part of AWS’ content distribution network, and are seperate from Regions and AZs.
Which of the following best describes the ability to scale computing resources up or down easily, while only paying for the resources used?
Scalability
High Availability
Fault-tolerance
Elasticity
Elasticity
EXPLANATION:
Elasticity describes the ability to scale computing resources up or down easily, while only paying for the resources used.
Which of the following are principles of sound design when it comes to performance efficiency?
Democratize advanced technologies.
Mechanical empathy
Have your IT staff master all new technologies.
Use Serverless architectures.
Deploy into multiple Regions to go global in minutes.
Democratize advanced technologies.
Use Serverless architectures.
Deploy into multiple Regions to go global in minutes.
EXPLANATION:
Of these choices, you should democratize advanced technologies, deploy into multiple Regions, and use Serverless technologies.
You have a mission-critical application which must be globally available at all times. Which deployment strategy should you follow?
Multi-Region
Multi-Availability Zone
Multi-VPC in two AWS Regions
Deploy to all Availability Zones in your home region.
Multi-Region
EXPLANATION:
A Multi-Region deployment will best ensure global availability. While it can be the most expensive, and complex to configure, Multi-Regional architectures will ensure that even if all Availability Zones in a single region fail due to a catastrophic event, your data will remain accessible.
The Chief Marketing Officer of the hotel chain you work for would like to implement voice recognition capabilities in rooms so customers can request services without picking up the phone. Competitors have already begun rolling out these technologies in an attempt to improve their customers’ experience. Which benefit of the AWS cloud would you most emphasize to the CMO in your business case for creating an AWS-based solution?
Elasticity
Cost Savings
Deploy Globally in Minutes
Agility
Agility
EXPLANATION:
The AWS cloud provides instant access to new technologies. Companies can move with agility to satisfy new business requirements and meet competitive demands. There is a very low barrier of entry for innovation. If a solution is not meeting expectations, services can be instantly de-provisioned. The other three options will also prove to be benefits of deploying in the AWS cloud, but the use case emphasizes the need to move quickly against competitive threats.
Which of the following is a Shared Control of the AWS Shared Responsibility Model?
Hardware Maintanence
Firmware Upgrades
Security Group Configuration
Patch Management
Patch Management
EXPLANATION:
Shared Controls are elements of the Shared Responsibility Model where both AWS and the customer have shared responsibilities within their own contexts. Patch Management is a Shared Control, since AWS is responsible for patching and fixing flaws within the infrastructure, including managed services like RDS, but customers are responsible for patching their guest OS and applications. Firmware Upgrades, and other Hardware maintenance processes are solely the responsibility of AWS. Configuration of Security Groups remain the responsibility of the customer
When setting up an Organization in AWS, which of the below is true when selecting which features to enable?
You can select to have Consolidated Billing, then pick which other individual features you want enabled
You can select to have Consolidated Billing, plus all other features enabled
You can select to have just Consolidated Billing enabled
You can select to have Consolidated Billing disabled, then pick which of the other features you want enabled.
You can select to have Consolidated Billing, plus all other features enabled
You can select to have just Consolidated Billing enabled
EXPLANATION:
With AWS Organizations, Consolidated Billing is always enabled. All other features are either enabled as a group, or disabled as a group - that is, you cannot individually enable or disable a feature - it’s all or nothing!
A telecommunications company has his hired you as a consultant to develop a business case for moving its IT applications and infrastructure to AWS. The company’s leadership understands the agility value of the cloud, but the finance group is not interested in shifting capital expense to operating expense due to the company’s tax structure. What will you include in the business case to attempt to satisfy everyone at the company?
Suggest that the company wait to migrate to AWS until the current infrastructure is fully depreciated
Show the company the TCO value of moving to an operating expense model
Show the value of an elastic infrastructure for avoiding wasted capacity
Suggest that the company make reserved instance purchases and capitalize them
Suggest that the company make reserved instance purchases and capitalize them
EXPLANATION:
Many companies capitalize reserved instance purchases, especially those with 3-year terms. Waiting for current infrastructure to fully depreciate will cause the company to miss the other cloud benefits that are available. Moving the company to an operating expense model will prove too large a task, and will most likely result in a rejected business case. Elastic infrastructure is definitely a benefit, but doesn’t address the capitalization issue.
Using Infrastructure as Code is a related of which cloud concept?
Automation
Scalability
High Availability
Elasticity
Automation
EXPLANATION:
Infrastructure as Code is a key implementation of Automation in cloud - using Infrastructure as Code allows to quickly and easily deploy and manage your environment without reliance on humans to complete all the tasks. Scalability is the concept that as cloud has essentially limitless capacity, and it allows you to expand out as needed. Elasticity is the ability to go up and down in resources as needed. High Availability relates to the ability of your application to withstand failures in Cloud Infrastructure.
