Cloud computing

Question 1

Define cloud computing

Answer 1

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of compute power, database storage, applications and other IT resources. Through a cloud services platform with pay-as-you-go pricing. You can provision exactly the right type and size of computing resources you need. You can access as many resources as you need, almost instantly.

Question 2

Define Private Cloud

Answer 2

Cloud services used by a single organization, not exposed to the public.

Question 3

Define Public Cloud

Answer 3

Cloud resources owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider delivered over the internet.

Question 4

Define Hybrid Cloud

Answer 4

Keep some servers on premises and extend some capabilities to the cloud.

Question 5

What are the advantages of Hybrid Cloud?

Answer 5

Best of both options (public and private cloud). Control over sensitive assets in your private infrastructure. Flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the public cloud.

Question 6

Characteristics of cloud computing

Answer 6

1 - On-demand self service (users can provision resources and use them without human interaction from the service provider)
2 - Broad network access (resources available over the network and can be accessed by diverse client platforms)
3 - Multi-tenancy and resource pooling (multiple customers can share the same infrastructure and applications with security and privacy. Multiple customers are serviced from the same physical resources)
4 - Rapid elasticity and scalability (automatically and quickly acquire and dispose resources when needed. Quickly and easily scale based on demand)
5 - Measured service (usage is measured, users pay correctly for what they have used)

Question 7

Advantages of cloud computing

Answer 7

1 - Trade capital expenses (CAPEX) for operational expenses (OPEX) (pay on demand, don’t own hardware; reduced total cost of ownership - TCO - and operational expense - OPEX)
2 - Benefit from massive economies of sale (prices are reduced as AWS is more efficient due to large scale)
3 - Stop guessing capacity (scale based on actual measured usage)
4 - Increase speed and agility
5 - Stop spending money running and maintaining data centers
6 - Go global in minutes (leverage the aws global infrastructure)

Question 8

Problems solved by the Cloud

Answer 8

1 - Flexibility: change resource types when needed
2 - Cost effectiveness: pay as go, for what you use
3 - Scalability: accomodate larger loads by making hardware stronger or adding additional nodes
4 - Elasticity: ability to scale out and scale in when needed
5 - High availability and fault tolerance: build across data centers
6 - Agility: rapidly develop, test and launch software applications

Question 9

Types of Cloud computing

Answer 9

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)

Question 10

Define IaaS

Answer 10

Infrastructure as a Service
- provide building blocks for cloud IT
- provides networking, computers, data storage space
- highest level of flexibility
- easy parallel with traditional on-premises IT
- manages the virtualization, servers, storage, networking
Example: EC2

Question 11

Define PaaS

Answer 11

Platform as a Service
- removes the need for your organization to manage the underlying infrastructure
- focus on deployment and management of your applications
- manages the runtime, middleware, o/s, virtualization, servers, storage, networking

Question 12

Define SaaS

Answer 12

Software as a Service
- completed product that is run and managed by the service provider
- manages everything (applications, data)

Question 13

What are the pricing fundamentals

Answer 13

Compute: pay for compute time
Storage: pay for data stored in the cloud
Data transfer out of the cloud (data transfer in is free)

Question 14

What is an AWS region?

Answer 14

A cluster of data centers.

Question 15

What to consider when choosing an AWS region?

Answer 15

• compliance with data governance and legal requirements (data never leaves a region without your explicit permission)
• proximity to customers (reduced latency)
• available services within a region (new services and new features aren’t available in every region)
• pricing (pricing varies region to region and is transparent in the service pricing page)

Question 16

How many availability zones does a region have?

Answer 16

Minimum 2, maximum 6, usually 3

Question 17

What is an availability zone?

Answer 17

One or a group of discrete data centers with redundant power, networking and connectivity. They’re separate from each other, so that they’re isolated from disasters. They’re connected with high bandwidth ultra-low latency networking.

Question 18

What is an edge location?

Answer 18

Edge location are AWS data centers designed to deliver services with the lowest latency possible. Amazon has dozens of these data centers spread across the world. They’re closer to users than regions or availability zones, often in major cities, so responses can be fast and snappy.