Module 2: Cloud Computing

Question 1

What is the evolution of the modern IT infrastructure?

Answer 1

1. Stand-alone mainframes
2. Mainframe and dumb terminals
3. Stand-alone personal computers
4. Local area networks (client/server computing)
5. Enterprise computing
6. Cloud computing and mobile computing

Question 2

What is cloud computing?

Answer 2

Cloud computing provides on-demand self-service
Cloud computing encompasses the characteristics of grid computing and utility computing
It utilizes broad network access and pools computing resources
Cloud computing often occurs on virtualized servers such as server farms and server virtualizations

Question 3

What is grid computing?

Answer 3

It enables organizations to utilize resources more efficiently
Grid computing provides fault tolerance and redundancy
It makes it easy to scale up and scale down

Question 4

What are the different types of clouds?

Answer 4

Public cloud
Private cloud (or corporate cloud)
Hybrid cloud
Vertical clouds

Question 5

What does Platform-as-a-Service (PAAS) offer?

Answer 5

It offers several advantages to customers:
Application developers can develop and run their software solutions on a cloud platform without the cost of buying and managing the underlying hardware and software layers
Underlying computing and storage resources automatically scale to match application demand
Operating system features can be upgraded frequently
Geographically distributed development teams can work together on software development projects
PaaS services can be provided by diverse sources located throughout the world
Initial and ongoing costs can be reduced by the use of infrastructure services from a single vendor

Question 6

What are the benefits of cloud computing to individuals and organizations?

Answer 6

Positive impact on employees: access information anywhere on any device, across organizational boundaries
Can save money: reduces or eliminates need to purchase hardware, build and install software and pay software licensing fees
Can improve organizational flexibility and competitiveness: using only computing resources needed at any given time, can scale operations up or down as needed

Question 7

What are the 6 categories of cloud computing concerns?

Answer 7

Legacy IT systems
Reliability
Privacy
Security
The regulatory and legal environment
Criminal use of cloud computing

Question 8

What are the benefits provided to organizations by web services?

Answer 8

The organization can utilize the existing internet infrastructure without having to implement any new technologies
Organizational personnel can access remote or local data without having to understand the complexities of the process
The organization can create new applications quickly and easily

Question 9

What is services-oriented architecture (SOA)?

Answer 9

A collection of web services that is used to build a firm’s IT applications
Can make quick changes to application software
Can use to integrate systems from a variety of platforms
Can be re-used in other applications

Question 10

What are the four key protocols web services are based on?

Answer 10

Extensible markup language (XML)
Simple object access protocol (SOAP)
Web services description language (WSDL)
Universal description, discovery, and integration (UDDI)