CloudAcademy: Knowledge Check: Foundations for Solution Architect Associate

Question 1

Amazon EC2 provides virtual computing environments known as _____.

A. instances
B. containers
C. volumes
D. microsystems

Answer 1

A. instances

Explanation:
Amazon EC2 provides virtual computing environments known as instances.

When you launch an instance, the instance type that you specify determines the hardware of the host computer used for your instance. Each instance type offers different compute, memory, and storage capabilities and are grouped in instance families based on these capabilities. Select an instance type based on the requirements of the application or software that you plan to run on your instance.

Question 2

What does AMI stand for?

A. Advanced Machine Image
B. Amazon Machine Image
C. Advanced Machine Instance
D. Amazon Micro Instance

Answer 2

B. Amazon Machine Image

Explanation:
AMI stands for AmazonMachine Image.

An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) is a template that contains a software configuration (for example, an operating system, an application server, and applications). From an AMI, you launch an instance, which is a copy of the AMI running as a virtual server in the cloud. You can launch multiple instances of an AMI, as shown in the following figure.

Question 3

There are two most common methods for accessing an EC2 instance externally(via the Internet). Which is one of those?

A. By the assigned public DNS name or the public IP address
B. By a command line interface (CLI) request to an internal service IP address
C. With a Telnet session and an out of band management server
D. With a remote desktop and console VTY

Answer 3

A. By the assigned public DNS name or the public IP address

Explanation:
You can access your EC2 instance using its assigned public DNS name or public IP address. The public DNS names for instances are as follows:

The US East (N. Virginia) region: ec2-public_ip.compute-1.amazonaws.com
Other regions: ec2-public_ip.region_code.compute.amazonaws.com

Question 4

Which Amazon EC2 purchase options involve selecting host hardware as well as your instance operating system, memory and compute specifications? (Choose 2 options)

A. On-Demand Instances
B. Reserved Instances
C. Dedicated Instances
D. Dedicated Host Instances

Answer 4

C. Dedicated Instances
D. Dedicated Host Instances

Explanation:
There are also tenancy options, which determine the AWS hardware your instances are hosted on. This is technically different than the pricing options. AWS offers shared tenancy by default, as well as dedicated tenancy, and finally dedicated host tenancy. Shared tenancy means your instances can be hosted on any available hardware in a given availability zone, and will still be secure and separate from other instances with shared tenancy. Dedicated tenancy means your instances only alone run on a specific, single-tenant AWS server. A Dedicated Host is a physical EC2 server dedicated for your use, and you can actually control the server settings. The ability to control the server settings is what separates dedicated tenancy from dedicated host tenancy.

The pay-as-you-go pricing was previously per instance-hour, but was updated on October 2, 2017 to include some instance types and operating systems that can be billed at per second.

Question 5

Does Amazon S3 provide a filesystem?

A. Yes, NFS (Network File System).
B. Yes, any Filesystem of your choice.
C. No, it’s an object store, with buckets and objects.
D. No, it only stores streams of data

Answer 5

C. No, it’s an object store, with buckets and objects.

Explanation:
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is object storage organized in a hierarchy of buckets and objects that can be easily managed and accessed by your users and applications.

Question 6

Which of the following methods is used to move data to and from Amazon S3 to your instances?

A. Amazon S3 API
B. AWS Command Line Interface
C. AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell
D. All answers listed are correct.

Answer 6

D. All answers listed are correct.

Explanation:
In Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, if you have permission, you can copy a file to or from Amazon S3 and your instance usingwget, the AWS Command Line Interface,AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell, or the Amazon S3 API.

Question 7

Is it possible to access S3 objects from the Internet?

A. Yes, it is possible if proper public readable accesses and ACLs are set.
B. No, there is no way to access any S3 objects from the Internet.
C. Yes, but it has to pass through EC2.
D. No, only a general overview of S3 objects can be read from the Internet.

Answer 7

A. Yes, it is possible if proper public readable accesses and ACLs are set.

Explanation:
You must grant read permission on the specific objects to make them publicly accessible so that your users can view them on your website. You make objects publicly readable by using either the object ACL or by writing a bucket policy.

Question 8

What is the availability SLA for the Amazon S3 standard storage?

A. 99.999%
B. 99.95%
C. 99.9%
D. 99.99%

Answer 8

D. 99.99%

Explanation:
Amazon S3 standard storage offers 99.99% availability and 99.999999999% durability.

Question 9

In EBS, when taking a snapshot, what is the status of thesnapshot until it is completed?

A. Pending
B. Running
C. In-progress
D. Working

Answer 9

A. Pending

Explanation:
In Amazon EBS, the status of the snapshot is ‘pending’ until the snapshot is complete.

Question 10

Why does AWS recommend using stateless cloud applications, when possible?

A. Stateless applications are more secure than stateful applications.

B. Stateless applications are always more cost-effective than stateful applications.
C. Stateless applications enable more scalability and resilience in each application layer.
D. Stateless applications offer a higher degree of encryption for data in transit.

Answer 10

C. Stateless applications enable more scalability and resilience in each application layer.

Explanation:
A stateless application needs no knowledge of previous application actions, and stores no session data, and thus can be scaled horizontally with minimal friction.

Question 11

Your development team did not create a new security group when it deployed three EC2 instances, so the instances are associated with the default security group. The default security group is unchanged, so what rules does the default security group enforce? (Choose 3 answers)

A. No inbound traffic is allowed from resources outside the security group.
B. No outbound traffic will be allowed from the EC2 instances.
C. The EC2 instances will be able to communicate with each other.
D. All outbound traffic from the EC2 instances will be allowed.

Answer 11

A. No inbound traffic is allowed from resources outside the security group.
C. The EC2 instances will be able to communicate with each other.
D. All outbound traffic from the EC2 instances will be allowed.

Explanation:
Your VPC automatically comes with a default security group. Each EC2 instance that you launch in your VPC is automatically associated with the default security group if you don’t specify a different security group when you launch the instance.The default security group disallows all inbound traffic and allows all outbound traffic. The default security group does allow communication between resources associated with the same default security group. However, the rules for a default security group can be changed.

Question 12

AWS uses the term __________ to describe the ability to scale computing resources up and down easily, with minimal friction.

A. Scalability
B. Elastic
C. N+1
D. Mutable

Answer 12

B. Elastic

Explanation:
Amazon is based on the concept of elasticity: it means that you can use instances and other AWS resources without any restrictions on scalability or limits on the number of available resources.

Question 13

By default, are EBS volumes that you attach as you launch the instance automatically deleted when the instance terminates?

A. Yes, but any additional EBS volumes that you attach at launch, or any EBS volumes that you attach to an existing instance persist even after the instance terminates.
B. No
C. No, but you can manually enable this behavior.
D. No, but any additional EBS volumes that you attach at launch needs to be replaced before deletion.

Answer 13

A. Yes, but any additional EBS volumes that you attach at launch, or any EBS volumes that you attach to an existing instance persist even after the instance terminates.

Explanation:
By default, Amazon EBS root device volumes are automatically deleted when the instance terminates. However, by default, any additional EBS volumes that you attach at launch, or any EBS volumes that you attach to an existing instance persist even after the instance terminates.

Question 14

Which statements below regarding AWS pricing are true? (Choose 2 answers)

A. You can pay less for a service when you reserve it in advance.
B. Discounted rates are available for high volume service usage.
C. Reserved payment options are available for all AWS services
D. In general, payments are a set rate per month regardless of usage

Answer 14

A. You can pay less for a service when you reserve it in advance.
B. Discounted rates are available for high volume service usage.

Explanation:
Discounts are available for service reservations, and you can pay less per unit by using a higher ‘volume’ of the service. However, reserved services are only available for certain services, and payments are not a set rate. They are generally based on usage, or ‘on demand.’

Question 15

A company is deciding whether to migrate its applications to a VPC on AWS. Which of the following services or features will help the business compare the costs of on-premises data centers and AWS?

A. Detailed billing report
B. AWS Cost Explorer
C. AWS Pricing Calculator
D. Consolidated billing

Answer 15

C. AWS Pricing Calculator

Explanation:
AWS Pricing Calculator is a web-based planning tool that you can use to create estimates for your AWS use cases. You can use it to model your solutions before building them, explore the AWS service price points, and review the calculations behind your estimates. You can use it to help you plan how you spend, find cost saving opportunities, and make informed decisions when using Amazon Web Services.

Question 16

How does Amazon EC2 utilize Amazon S3 storage? (Choose 2 answers)
A. To store Amazon Machine Images
B. To store EBS volume snapshots
C. To store S3 buckets directly as a root device
D. To archive infrequently accessed data for long-term storage

Answer 16

A. To store Amazon Machine Images
B. To store EBS volume snapshots

Explanation:
Amazon EC2 uses Amazon S3 for storing Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). You use AMIs for launching EC2 instances. In case of instance failure, you can use the stored AMI to immediately launch another instance, thereby allowing for fast recovery and business continuity.

Amazon EC2 also uses Amazon S3 to store snapshots (backup copies) of the data volumes. You can use snapshots for recovering data quickly and reliably in case of application or system failures. You can also use snapshots as a baseline to create multiple new data volumes, expand the size of an existing data volume, or move data volumes across multiple Availability Zones, thereby making your data usage highly scalable.

Question 17

You want to mount shared storage on each of multiple Amazon EC2 instances so that they can collectively access the samepermanent data storage. What would be the most appropriate form of storage to use?

A. Elastic Block Store
B. EC2 Instance Store
C. Elastic File System
D. Simple Storage System

Answer 17

C. Elastic File System

Explanation:
Amazon EFS provides scalable file storage for use with Amazon EC2. You can create an EFS file system and configure your instances to mount the file system. You can use an EFS file system as a common data source for workloads and applications running on multiple instances.

Question 18

AWS offers cost allocation tags to help track costs, which are different from standard S3 object tags. Cost allocation tags are integrated with AWS Billing and Usage reports, while standard S3 object tags are not. Which statement about usage of cost allocation tags within the Amazon S3 service iscorrect?

A. All cost allocation tags are user managed.
B. Cost allocations tags can be applied to S3 buckets only, not S3 objects.
C. All IAM users associated with an account can access and review these tags.
D. Once created, cost allocation tags are applied to all resources within an account.

Answer 18

B. Cost allocations tags can be applied to S3 buckets only, not S3 objects.

Explanation:
There are two types of cost allocation tags - user-defined and AWS-generated tags. These tags can only be applied at a bucket-level, not an object level. These tags are accessible to only the master account for an AWS organization, or root-users for a single account, essentially the same user who has access to AWS account billing information. Once created, the tags are not applied automatically to previously created resources. They must be applied manually, if necessary.

Question 19

You are assisting an IT administrator for a client company over the phone. The administrator has created a public subnet and had added two EC2 instances to this subnet, butis unable to access the Internet from these new EC2 instances and is asking for your assistance. What general checks can he make to ensure proper configuration and Internet access? (Choose 3 answers)

A. Check to ensure Network ACLs and Security Groups allow ingress and egress traffic
B. Check that an Internet Gateway is configured and that the route table routes Internet traffic to the Internet gateway.
C. Check that aVirtual Private Gateway is configured and that the route table routes internet traffic to the Internet gateway.
D. Check that the EC2 instances have either a public IP address or an Elastic IP address.

Answer 19

A. Check to ensure Network ACLs and Security Groups allow ingress and egress traffic
B. Check that an Internet Gateway is configured and that the route table routes Internet traffic to the Internet gateway.

D. Check that the EC2 instances have either a public IP address or an Elastic IP address.

Explanation:
To enable access to or from the Internet for instances in a VPC subnet, you must do the following:

Attach an Internet gateway to your VPC.

Ensure that your subnet's route table points to the Internet gateway.

Ensure that instances in your subnet have a globally unique IP address (public IPv4 address, Elastic IP address, or IPv6 address).

Ensure that your network access control and security group rules allow the relevant traffic to flow to and from your instance.

Question 20

Which of the following is not a benefit of AWS cloud computing?

A. stop guessing about capacity
B. increase speed and agility
C. go global in minutes
D. increase workload consistency

Answer 20

D. increase workload consistency

Explanation:
The only choice listed that is not a direct benefit of AWS cloud computing is improved system workload/traffic consistency. In fact, the inconsistent nature of many online applications and business systems is a reason why cloud computing can be beneficial to many companies. The other choices listed are all established benefits listed by AWS.