Cloud Computing Fundamentals

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Questions and Answers

What is cloud computing defined as?

The on-premise delivery of compute power, database, storage, applications, and other IT resources with capital expenditure.
The on-demand delivery of software applications via the internet with subscription-based pricing.
The on-demand delivery of compute power, database, storage, applications, and other IT resources via the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. (correct)
The on-demand delivery of hardware via the internet with fixed pricing.

How does cloud computing enable users to think of their infrastructure?

As hardware with physical security and capital expenditure.
As a combination of hardware and software with long procurement cycles.
As software without requiring space, staff, and physical security. (correct)
As a hybrid of cloud and on-premise infrastructure with pay-as-you-go pricing.

What is a characteristic of traditional computing models?

Long hardware procurement cycles and capital expenditure. (correct)
Scalability and on-demand delivery of resources.
Pay-as-you-go pricing and flexibility.
Subscription-based pricing and physical security.

What is a benefit of cloud computing compared to traditional computing models?

No need to provision capacity by guessing theoretical maximum peaks. (D) Signup and view all the answers

How does cloud computing differ from traditional computing models?

Cloud computing enables on-demand delivery of resources, unlike traditional computing models. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is a key characteristic of cloud computing pricing?

Pay-as-you-go pricing with subscription-based models. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the equivalent of a traditional on-premises router in AWS?

Amazon VPC (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is used in AWS for storing and retrieving data, similar to NAS in traditional IT?

Amazon EFS (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the equivalent of traditional firewalls in AWS?

Security groups (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is used in AWS for relational database management, similar to RDBMS in traditional IT?

Amazon RDS (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the equivalent of a traditional on-premises switch in AWS?

Amazon VPC (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is used in AWS for computing resources, similar to on-premises servers in traditional IT?

Amazon EC2 (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is used in AWS for storing block-level data, similar to DAS in traditional IT?

Amazon EBS (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is used in AWS for access control, similar to ACLs in traditional IT?

Network ACLs (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the benefit of trading capital expense for variable expense?

Stopping spending on running and maintaining data centers (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of a web service?

Uses a standardized format such as XML or JSON (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is provided by AWS?

On-demand access to IT resources and management tools (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is a benefit of using AWS?

Increased speed and agility (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is a disadvantage of running and maintaining data centers?

Required ongoing expense (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of cloud computing?

On-demand access to IT resources (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is an advantage of going global in minutes?

Improved global reach (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is a benefit of massive economies of scale?

Improved efficiency (B) Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Cloud Computing Overview

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of compute power, database, storage, applications, and other IT resources via the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.
It enables thinking of infrastructure as software, rather than hardware.

Traditional Computing Model

Traditional computing model requires:
- Space, staff, and physical security
- Planning and capital expenditure
- Long hardware procurement cycle
- Provisioning capacity based on guessing theoretical maximum peaks

Similarities between AWS and Traditional IT

Security: Firewalls, ACLs, Administrators (Traditional IT) vs. Security groups, IAM (AWS)
Networking: Router, Network pipeline, Switch (Traditional IT) vs. Elastic Load Balancing, Amazon VPC (AWS)
Compute: On-premises servers (Traditional IT) vs. Amazon EC2, AMI, instances (AWS)
Storage and Database: DAS, SAN, NAS, RDBMS (Traditional IT) vs. Amazon EBS, Amazon EFS, Amazon S3, Amazon RDS (AWS)

Cloud Computing Benefits

Stop spending money on running and maintaining data centers
Go global in minutes
Trade capital expense for variable expense
Benefit from massive economies of scale
Stop guessing capacity
Increase speed and agility

Introduction to Amazon Web Services (AWS)

A web service is a piece of software that makes itself available over the internet and uses a standardized format (e.g. XML, JSON) for API interactions.
AWS is a secure cloud platform that offers a broad set of global cloud-based products, providing on-demand access to compute, storage, network, database, and other IT resources and management tools.