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Question 41:
A cloud administrator needs to ensure that virtual machines can communicate across multiple availability zones while maintaining network isolation from other tenants. Which networking component should be implemented?
A) Public subnet
B) Virtual private cloud (VPC)
C) Internet gateway
D) Network address translation (NAT) gateway
Answer: B
Explanation:
A virtual private cloud (VPC) is a logically isolated network environment within a public cloud infrastructure that allows organizations to create their own private network space. VPCs provide complete control over the virtual networking environment, including IP address ranges, subnets, route tables, and network gateways. This makes them ideal for maintaining network isolation from other tenants while enabling communication across multiple availability zones.
When implementing a VPC, administrators can define custom IP address ranges using CIDR notation and divide the network into multiple subnets. These subnets can be distributed across different availability zones to ensure high availability and fault tolerance. Resources within the VPC can communicate with each other using private IP addresses, regardless of which availability zone they reside in, while remaining completely isolated from other tenants’ resources.
VPCs also provide security features such as security groups and network access control lists (NACLs) that act as virtual firewalls. Security groups operate at the instance level and control inbound and outbound traffic, while NACLs operate at the subnet level. This layered security approach ensures that even within the VPC, administrators can implement granular access controls.
Option A is incorrect because a public subnet is a component within a VPC, not a solution for tenant isolation. Option C is wrong because an internet gateway only provides connectivity between the VPC and the internet. Option D is incorrect because a NAT gateway allows instances in private subnets to access the internet while preventing inbound connections, but it does not provide the comprehensive isolation and cross-zone communication capabilities that a VPC offers.
Question 42:
An organization is experiencing performance degradation in their containerized applications. Which metric should be monitored first to identify resource constraints?
A) Network latency
B) Container CPU throttling
C) Disk IOPS
D) Memory page faults
Answer: B
Explanation:
Container CPU throttling is one of the most critical metrics to monitor when diagnosing performance issues in containerized applications. CPU throttling occurs when a container attempts to use more CPU resources than its allocated limit, causing the container runtime to restrict or throttle its CPU usage. This results in delayed processing, increased response times, and overall application performance degradation.
When containers are deployed, they are typically assigned CPU limits and requests. The request value represents the guaranteed CPU resources, while the limit represents the maximum CPU the container can use. When a container consistently hits its CPU limit, the system begins throttling, which means the container must wait before it can execute additional instructions. This waiting period directly impacts application performance and user experience.
Monitoring CPU throttling provides immediate insight into whether containers are undersized for their workload. High throttling rates indicate that containers need either increased CPU limits or horizontal scaling through additional container instances. Modern container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes expose throttling metrics through their monitoring APIs, making it relatively easy to track this metric.
Option A is incorrect because network latency typically affects communication between services rather than individual container performance. Option C is wrong because disk IOPS issues usually manifest as slow data access rather than general performance degradation. Option D is incorrect because while memory page faults can cause performance issues, CPU throttling is more commonly the first bottleneck in containerized environments due to conservative CPU limit settings.
Question 43:
A company needs to implement a disaster recovery solution with an RTO of 4 hours and an RPO of 1 hour. Which backup strategy best meets these requirements?
A) Daily full backups with manual restoration
B) Continuous data replication with warm standby
C) Weekly full backups with daily incremental backups
D) Monthly full backups with weekly differential backups
Answer: B
Explanation:
Continuous data replication with warm standby is the most appropriate solution for meeting an RTO (Recovery Time Objective) of 4 hours and an RPO (Recovery Point Objective) of 1 hour. This strategy involves replicating data changes to a secondary site in near real-time while maintaining standby systems that can be activated quickly when needed.
RTO refers to the maximum acceptable time that systems can be down after a disaster before business operations are significantly impacted. An RTO of 4 hours means the organization must restore services within 4 hours. RPO refers to the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. An RPO of 1 hour means the organization can tolerate losing up to 1 hour of data in a disaster scenario.
Continuous data replication ensures that data changes are synchronized to the disaster recovery site with minimal delay, typically within minutes. This approach keeps the RPO well within the 1-hour requirement. A warm standby environment maintains systems that are configured and partially running, requiring only final synchronization and activation to become fully operational. This allows the RTO of 4 hours to be achieved because the infrastructure is already in place and only needs to be brought to full production status.
Option A is incorrect because daily backups would result in an RPO of up to 24 hours and manual restoration could exceed the 4-hour RTO. Option C is wrong because weekly full backups create a potential RPO of up to 7 days. Option D is incorrect because monthly backups result in unacceptably long RPO and RTO values for the stated requirements.
Question 44:
Which cloud service model provides the greatest level of control over the operating system and middleware?
A) Software as a Service (SaaS)
B) Platform as a Service (PaaS)
C) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
D) Function as a Service (FaaS)
Answer: C
Explanation:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides the greatest level of control over operating systems and middleware among the standard cloud service models. In an IaaS environment, the cloud provider manages the physical infrastructure including servers, storage, networking hardware, and virtualization layer, while customers retain full control over operating systems, middleware, runtime environments, and applications.
With IaaS, organizations can select and install their preferred operating systems, whether Windows, Linux, or specialized distributions. They have root or administrator access to these systems, allowing complete customization of configurations, security settings, and installed software. This level of control extends to middleware components such as web servers, application servers, database management systems, and messaging queues.
This control comes with corresponding responsibility. IaaS customers must handle operating system patching, security hardening, middleware updates, and configuration management. They also manage backup schedules, monitoring solutions, and disaster recovery procedures for the software stack they control. This makes IaaS ideal for organizations with specific compliance requirements, legacy applications with unique dependencies, or workloads requiring custom configurations.
Option A is incorrect because SaaS provides the least control, with users only able to configure application settings. Option B is wrong because PaaS abstracts away the operating system and middleware, providing only application deployment control. Option D is incorrect because FaaS (also known as serverless computing) provides even less control than PaaS, as it only allows deployment of individual functions without access to the underlying execution environment.
Question 45:
A cloud engineer needs to ensure that API requests are distributed evenly across multiple backend servers. Which component should be implemented?
A) Content delivery network (CDN)
B) Application load balancer
C) Reverse proxy cache
D) API gateway rate limiter
Answer: B
Explanation:
An application load balancer is specifically designed to distribute incoming API requests evenly across multiple backend servers, making it the optimal solution for this scenario. Application load balancers operate at Layer 7 of the OSI model, which means they can make intelligent routing decisions based on HTTP/HTTPS request content, headers, and URL paths.
Load balancers use various algorithms to distribute traffic, including round-robin, least connections, weighted distribution, and IP hash methods. For API workloads, algorithms like least connections ensure that servers with fewer active requests receive new ones, preventing any single server from becoming overwhelmed. Application load balancers also perform health checks on backend servers, automatically removing unhealthy instances from the rotation and directing traffic only to healthy servers.
Modern application load balancers provide additional features valuable for API traffic management, including SSL/TLS termination, connection pooling, and session persistence (sticky sessions). They can also implement path-based routing, directing different API endpoints to specialized backend server groups. This enables microservices architectures where different services handle different API paths.
Option A is incorrect because CDNs cache static content at edge locations rather than distributing dynamic API requests. Option C is wrong because reverse proxy caches primarily focus on caching responses rather than load distribution. Option D is incorrect because API gateway rate limiters control the number of requests from clients but do not distribute load across backend servers.
Question 46:
An organization must comply with data residency requirements that mandate customer data remain within specific geographic boundaries. Which cloud feature should be configured?
A) Multi-region replication
B) Geographic redundancy
C) Region-specific resource deployment
D) Cross-region load balancing
Answer: C
Explanation:
Region-specific resource deployment is the correct approach for meeting data residency requirements that mandate customer data remain within specific geographic boundaries. This involves deliberately deploying all cloud resources, including compute instances, storage, and databases, within designated regions that align with legal and regulatory requirements.
Data residency requirements are legal mandates that specify where data must be physically stored and processed. These regulations exist in many jurisdictions including the European Union (GDPR), Canada, Australia, and China. Organizations must ensure that data from customers in these regions never leaves the specified geographic boundaries, even for backup or disaster recovery purposes.
When implementing region-specific deployment, cloud administrators must carefully configure resources to ensure data remains within the compliant region. This includes setting storage location policies, configuring database instances in specific regions, and ensuring backup snapshots are stored in the same geographic area. Most cloud providers offer region selection during resource provisioning, allowing explicit control over data location.
Additionally, organizations must implement monitoring and auditing mechanisms to verify ongoing compliance. This includes reviewing data transfer logs, ensuring no inadvertent cross-region replication occurs, and documenting the geographic location of all systems processing regulated data.
Option A is incorrect because multi-region replication specifically moves data across regions, violating residency requirements. Option B is wrong because geographic redundancy typically involves storing data in multiple locations, potentially outside the required boundary. Option D is incorrect because cross-region load balancing distributes traffic across multiple regions, which could cause data processing outside the compliant region.
Question 47:
A DevOps team needs to automatically deploy application updates across multiple environments with approval gates between stages. Which practice should be implemented?
A) Continuous integration
B) Continuous delivery
C) Continuous deployment
D) Continuous monitoring
Answer: B
Explanation:
Continuous delivery is the practice that enables automated deployment across multiple environments with approval gates between stages. This approach extends continuous integration by automating the release process through various stages such as development, testing, staging, and production, while requiring manual approval before promoting to production environments.
In a continuous delivery pipeline, code changes are automatically built, tested, and deployed to non-production environments. Each stage includes automated testing such as unit tests, integration tests, security scans, and performance tests. When code successfully passes through each stage, it reaches a release-ready state where human decision-makers can approve deployment to production based on business readiness rather than technical concerns.
The approval gates in continuous delivery provide important governance and risk management controls. These gates allow stakeholders to review deployment readiness, coordinate release timing with business events, and ensure compliance requirements are met. The gates can be implemented at various points, such as before deploying to staging, before production deployment, or both.
Continuous delivery provides the balance between automation and control that most organizations require. It eliminates manual deployment errors and ensures consistent deployment processes while maintaining human oversight for critical production releases. This is particularly important in regulated industries or when coordinating releases with marketing campaigns or maintenance windows.
Option A is incorrect because continuous integration focuses on merging code changes and running automated tests, not deployment across environments. Option C is wrong because continuous deployment automatically deploys every change that passes tests directly to production without approval gates. Option D is incorrect because continuous monitoring involves observing system behavior rather than deployment automation.
Question 48:
Which encryption method should be used to protect data stored in cloud object storage buckets?
A) Transport Layer Security (TLS)
B) Server-side encryption (SSE)
C) Virtual private network (VPN)
D) Secure shell (SSH) tunneling
Answer: B
Explanation:
Server-side encryption (SSE) is the appropriate encryption method for protecting data stored in cloud object storage buckets. SSE encrypts data at rest, meaning the data is encrypted before being written to disk and decrypted when read, ensuring that stored objects remain protected even if physical storage media is compromised.
Cloud providers typically offer multiple SSE options. SSE with provider-managed keys (SSE-S3 in AWS, for example) uses encryption keys managed entirely by the cloud provider. SSE with customer-managed keys (SSE-KMS) allows organizations to control encryption keys through a key management service, providing greater control over key rotation, access policies, and audit trails. SSE with customer-provided keys (SSE-C) requires customers to provide encryption keys with each request, giving maximum control but requiring careful key management.
Implementing SSE is typically straightforward, often requiring only a configuration setting or parameter when creating storage buckets or uploading objects. Many cloud providers offer default encryption policies that automatically encrypt all new objects, eliminating the risk of accidentally storing unencrypted sensitive data. The encryption and decryption processes are transparent to applications, requiring no code changes.
SSE protects against unauthorized access to physical storage, insider threats at the cloud provider level, and compliance violations related to storing unencrypted sensitive data. It is considered a security best practice and is often mandatory for compliance frameworks such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR.
Option A is incorrect because TLS encrypts data in transit between client and server, not stored data. Option C is wrong because VPNs secure network connections rather than stored objects. Option D is incorrect because SSH tunneling secures remote connections, not data at rest in storage buckets.
Question 49:
A cloud architect needs to design a solution that automatically adjusts the number of application instances based on CPU utilization. Which feature should be implemented?
A) Vertical scaling
B) Horizontal auto-scaling
C) Load balancing
D) Resource reservation
Answer: B
Explanation:
Horizontal auto-scaling is the feature that automatically adjusts the number of application instances based on metrics like CPU utilization. This approach adds or removes identical instances of an application in response to demand, distributing load across multiple resources and ensuring consistent performance during traffic fluctuations.
Horizontal auto-scaling works by monitoring specified metrics such as CPU utilization, memory usage, network throughput, or custom application metrics. When metrics exceed defined thresholds, the auto-scaling system launches additional instances. Conversely, when metrics fall below thresholds, the system terminates excess instances to reduce costs. This dynamic adjustment happens automatically without manual intervention.
Configuration of horizontal auto-scaling typically involves defining minimum and maximum instance counts, target metric values, and scaling policies. For example, a policy might add instances when average CPU utilization exceeds 70 percent for 5 minutes and remove instances when utilization drops below 30 percent for 10 minutes. Cool-down periods prevent rapid scaling oscillations.
Horizontal scaling is preferred over vertical scaling for cloud-native applications because it provides better fault tolerance and theoretically unlimited scalability. If one instance fails, traffic automatically routes to healthy instances. Additionally, horizontal scaling works seamlessly with load balancers and is more cost-effective because resources are only consumed when needed.
Option A is incorrect because vertical scaling increases the size of individual instances rather than the number of instances and typically requires downtime. Option C is wrong because load balancing distributes traffic but does not adjust instance count. Option D is incorrect because resource reservation allocates fixed capacity rather than dynamically adjusting based on utilization.
Question 50:
Which access control model uses attributes such as user department, time of day, and resource sensitivity level to make authorization decisions?
A) Role-based access control (RBAC)
B) Mandatory access control (MAC)
C) Attribute-based access control (ABAC)
D) Discretionary access control (DAC)
Answer: C
Explanation:
Attribute-based access control (ABAC) is an access control model that uses attributes such as user department, time of day, and resource sensitivity level to make authorization decisions. ABAC provides fine-grained access control by evaluating multiple attributes of users, resources, actions, and environmental conditions when determining whether to grant or deny access.
ABAC policies are expressed as rules that combine multiple attributes using logical operators. For example, a policy might state that users from the finance department can access financial reports if the request occurs during business hours and the report sensitivity level is medium or lower. This flexibility allows organizations to implement complex access requirements that reflect real business logic.
Attributes in ABAC fall into several categories. Subject attributes describe the user, such as department, job title, clearance level, or location. Resource attributes describe the data or system being accessed, such as classification level, owner, or creation date. Action attributes specify the operation being attempted, such as read, write, or delete. Environmental attributes capture context, such as time of day, network location, or current security threat level.
ABAC is particularly valuable in cloud environments where dynamic and context-aware access control is necessary. It scales better than traditional models when dealing with diverse users, resources, and complex authorization requirements. ABAC also supports regulatory compliance by enabling policies that enforce data protection based on classification levels and user qualifications.
Option A is incorrect because RBAC grants access based solely on user roles without considering contextual attributes. Option B is wrong because MAC uses fixed security labels rather than flexible attributes. Option D is incorrect because DAC allows resource owners to control access rather than using attribute-based policies.
Question 51:
An organization is migrating a monolithic application to the cloud and wants to decompose it into independently deployable services. Which architecture pattern should be adopted?
A) Three-tier architecture
B) Microservices architecture
C) Client-server architecture
D) Layered architecture
Answer: B
Explanation:
Microservices architecture is the appropriate pattern for decomposing a monolithic application into independently deployable services. This architectural approach structures an application as a collection of small, autonomous services that are organized around business capabilities, with each service running in its own process and communicating through lightweight mechanisms such as HTTP APIs.
In microservices architecture, each service is responsible for a specific business function and can be developed, deployed, scaled, and maintained independently. For example, an e-commerce application might be decomposed into separate services for user management, product catalog, shopping cart, payment processing, and order fulfillment. Each service can use different technologies, programming languages, and databases based on what best fits its specific requirements.
This independence provides significant benefits during migration from monolithic applications. Teams can incrementally extract functionality from the monolith, creating new microservices one at a time without disrupting the entire system. Each microservice can be deployed independently, allowing for faster release cycles and reducing the risk associated with deployments. If one service fails, others continue operating, improving overall system resilience.
Microservices also enable better scalability because individual services can be scaled based on their specific demands rather than scaling the entire application. However, this architecture introduces complexity in areas such as inter-service communication, data consistency, and distributed system monitoring.
Option A is incorrect because three-tier architecture separates presentation, logic, and data layers but maintains a monolithic structure. Option C is wrong because client-server architecture defines communication patterns rather than service decomposition. Option D is incorrect because layered architecture organizes code into layers within a single deployable unit.
Question 52:
A company needs to ensure that cloud resources can only be accessed from the corporate network. Which security control should be implemented?
A) Multi-factor authentication
B) Network security groups with IP allowlisting
C) Encryption at rest
D) Identity federation
Answer: B
Explanation:
Network security groups with IP allowlisting provide the appropriate security control for restricting cloud resource access to corporate network IP addresses. Network security groups act as virtual firewalls that control inbound and outbound traffic at the instance or subnet level, and IP allowlisting specifically permits traffic only from defined source IP addresses.
Implementation involves creating security group rules that specify the corporate network’s public IP address ranges as allowed sources for inbound connections. All other source IP addresses are implicitly denied by default. For example, if the corporate network uses the IP range 203.0.113.0/24, the security group rule would allow traffic from this range while blocking all other sources.
This approach provides network-level protection that prevents unauthorized access attempts before they reach the application layer. Even if credentials are compromised, attackers cannot access resources unless they originate from the allowed IP ranges. This creates an effective perimeter defense that complements other security controls.
Organizations should carefully maintain the allowlist as network infrastructure changes. When using multiple office locations or supporting remote workers through VPN concentrators, all legitimate exit points must be included in the allowlist. Additionally, security groups can be combined with other controls such as VPN connections or private network links for enhanced security.
Option A is incorrect because multi-factor authentication verifies user identity but does not restrict access based on network location. Option C is wrong because encryption at rest protects stored data rather than controlling network access. Option D is incorrect because identity federation enables single sign-on across systems but does not implement network-based restrictions.
Question 53:
Which cloud migration strategy involves moving applications to the cloud without modification?
A) Refactoring
B) Replatforming
C) Rehosting
D) Repurchasing
Answer: C
Explanation:
Rehosting, also known as lift-and-shift, is the cloud migration strategy that involves moving applications to the cloud without making any modifications to the application code or architecture. This approach literally lifts the application from its current environment and shifts it to cloud infrastructure, typically using virtual machines that closely mirror the on-premises environment.
Rehosting is often the fastest and least risky migration strategy because it minimizes changes to the application. Organizations can migrate applications quickly, often using automated migration tools that replicate servers, copy data, and configure networking. Because the application remains unchanged, testing requirements are reduced and the migration can be completed in shorter timeframes.
This strategy is particularly suitable for applications that are functioning well but running on aging hardware, when there are time constraints for migration, or when the organization wants to realize immediate benefits of cloud infrastructure such as improved disaster recovery capabilities. After rehosting, organizations can later optimize the application for cloud using other strategies.
However, rehosting does not take advantage of cloud-native features such as auto-scaling, managed services, or serverless computing. Applications retain their original architecture and may not be optimized for cloud cost or performance. Despite these limitations, rehosting often serves as a practical first step in cloud adoption, with optimization efforts following once the application is stabilized in the cloud environment.
Option A is incorrect because refactoring involves restructuring application code to leverage cloud-native capabilities. Option B is wrong because replatforming makes some cloud optimizations without changing core architecture. Option D is incorrect because repurchasing means replacing the application with a cloud-based SaaS alternative.
Question 54:
A cloud administrator needs to track all API calls made within the cloud environment for security auditing. Which service type should be enabled?
A) Performance monitoring
B) Cloud access security broker (CASB)
C) Cloud logging and audit trails
D) Intrusion detection system (IDS)
Answer: C
Explanation:
Cloud logging and audit trails provide comprehensive tracking of all API calls made within the cloud environment, making them essential for security auditing. These services capture detailed information about every action performed through the cloud provider’s API, including who made the call, when it occurred, which resources were affected, and whether the operation succeeded or failed.
Cloud audit logging systems typically capture information such as the identity of the caller (user or service account), source IP address, timestamp, API operation invoked, request parameters, and response codes. This detailed logging enables security teams to reconstruct exactly what happened in the environment at any point in time, which is crucial for incident investigation, compliance reporting, and security analysis.
Major cloud providers offer native logging services such as AWS CloudTrail, Azure Activity Log, and Google Cloud Audit Logs. These services can be configured to log management events (control plane operations like creating resources), data events (data plane operations like reading objects from storage), and insights events (unusual activity patterns). Logs should be stored in secure, centralized locations with integrity protection to prevent tampering.
Organizations use these audit logs for multiple purposes including detecting unauthorized access attempts, tracking configuration changes, identifying security vulnerabilities, meeting compliance requirements like SOC 2 or PCI DSS, and supporting forensic investigations after security incidents. Automated analysis of audit logs using security information and event management (SIEM) systems can detect suspicious patterns in real-time.
Option A is incorrect because performance monitoring focuses on system metrics rather than security events. Option B is wrong because CASB provides oversight of cloud service usage but does not capture detailed API audit trails. Option D is incorrect because IDS detects network intrusions rather than logging all API operations.
Question 55:
Which metric indicates the percentage of time that a cloud service is operational and available?
A) Mean time to recovery (MTTR)
B) Mean time between failures (MTBF)
C) Service level agreement (SLA) uptime
D) Recovery time objective (RTO)
Answer: C
Explanation:
Service level agreement (SLA) uptime is the metric that indicates the percentage of time a cloud service is operational and available to users. Cloud providers typically express SLA uptime as a percentage, such as 99.9 percent (three nines), 99.99 percent (four nines), or 99.999 percent (five nines), which directly corresponds to the maximum allowable downtime.
SLA uptime percentages translate to specific amounts of permitted downtime. For example, 99.9 percent uptime allows approximately 8.76 hours of downtime per year, 99.99 percent allows 52.56 minutes per year, and 99.999 percent allows only 5.26 minutes per year. These commitments are contractual obligations from cloud providers, often backed by service credits or financial penalties if uptime targets are not met.
Cloud providers calculate uptime based on specific definitions of service availability. Typically, a service is considered available when it can receive and process requests successfully. Planned maintenance windows may or may not count against uptime depending on the SLA terms. Organizations should carefully review SLA definitions to understand how availability is measured and what events trigger service credits.
When designing cloud solutions, architects must consider SLA uptime guarantees and implement redundancy strategies to achieve desired availability levels. Single availability zone deployments typically offer lower SLA uptime than multi-zone deployments. Applications requiring higher availability than provider SLAs guarantee must implement additional redundancy through multi-region architectures or active-active configurations.
Option A is incorrect because MTTR measures how quickly systems are restored after failures, not overall availability percentage. Option B is wrong because MTBF measures the time between failures rather than operational percentage. Option D is incorrect because RTO defines recovery time targets for disaster recovery rather than measuring ongoing availability.
Question 56:
An application requires a database that can automatically scale read capacity based on demand without downtime. Which database feature should be used?
A) Database replication with manual failover
B) Vertical database scaling
C) Read replicas with automatic scaling
D) Database connection pooling
Answer: C
Explanation:
Read replicas with automatic scaling provide the capability to scale database read capacity based on demand without downtime. Read replicas are copies of the primary database that handle read-only queries, offloading work from the primary database and distributing read traffic across multiple database instances.
When configured with automatic scaling, the database system monitors read workload metrics such as CPU utilization, connection count, or query queue depth. As read demand increases, the system automatically provisions additional read replicas to handle the load. Conversely, when demand decreases, excess replicas are removed to optimize costs. This automatic adjustment happens without requiring application downtime or manual intervention.
Read replicas are particularly valuable for read-heavy workloads common in applications such as reporting systems, analytics platforms, and content delivery systems. Applications can direct read queries to replica endpoints while write operations continue going to the primary database. Most cloud database services support asynchronous replication from primary to replicas, which provides near real-time data consistency with minimal performance impact.
Implementation requires some application awareness to route read and write queries appropriately. Many database drivers and frameworks support read-write splitting, automatically directing read queries to replicas and write queries to the primary instance. Organizations should also consider replication lag, which is the delay between when data is written to the primary and when it appears on replicas.
Option A is incorrect because manual failover introduces downtime and does not provide automatic scaling. Option B is wrong because vertical scaling typically requires downtime and does not specifically address read capacity. Option D is incorrect because connection pooling manages database connections efficiently but does not scale database capacity.
Question 57:
Which tool automates the provisioning and management of infrastructure using declarative configuration files?
A) Configuration management
B) Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
C) Continuous integration
D) Container orchestration
Answer: B
Explanation:
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of using declarative configuration files to automate infrastructure provisioning and management. IaC tools allow engineers to define desired infrastructure state in human-readable code files that can be version-controlled, reviewed, tested, and automatically deployed, bringing software development practices to infrastructure management.
IaC tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager templates, and Google Cloud Deployment Manager enable engineers to describe infrastructure components including virtual machines, networks, storage, databases, and security policies in configuration files. These files specify what infrastructure should exist rather than the steps to create it, allowing the IaC tool to determine the necessary actions to achieve the desired state.
The benefits of IaC include consistency, repeatability, and reduced human error. Infrastructure can be deployed identically across multiple environments, ensuring development, staging, and production maintain configuration parity. Changes go through code review processes, creating audit trails and preventing unauthorized modifications. If infrastructure needs to be rebuilt after a disaster, the IaC configurations serve as complete documentation of the environment.
IaC also enables rapid scaling and experimentation. New environments can be created quickly by running the same configuration files, supporting development workflows that require temporary environments. When combined with version control systems, IaC provides the ability to track infrastructure changes over time, roll back to previous configurations, and collaborate on infrastructure design.
Option A is incorrect because configuration management focuses on maintaining desired state on existing systems rather than provisioning infrastructure. Option C is wrong because continuous integration automates code building and testing, not infrastructure provisioning. Option D is incorrect because container orchestration manages containerized applications rather than underlying infrastructure.
Question 58:
A company needs to ensure sensitive data in a database cannot be accessed even by database administrators. Which security technique should be implemented?
A) Database activity monitoring
B) Transparent data encryption (TDE)
C) Customer-managed encryption keys
D) Database access auditing
Answer: C
Explanation:
Customer-managed encryption keys provide the security technique necessary to prevent database administrators from accessing sensitive data. When organizations manage their own encryption keys separately from the database system, they maintain exclusive control over data decryption, ensuring that even privileged database administrators cannot access encrypted data without explicit key access.
This approach works by encrypting data using keys stored in a customer-controlled key management system that is separate from the database infrastructure. Cloud providers offer key management services where customers maintain full control over encryption keys, including creation, rotation, and deletion. Database systems are granted temporary access to decrypt data only when authorized applications make requests, and this access can be revoked at any time.
Customer-managed keys support separation of duties, a critical security principle for protecting sensitive data. Database administrators can manage database operations without having the ability to decrypt data, while security administrators control the encryption keys. This separation prevents insider threats and supports compliance requirements in regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS that mandate protection against unauthorized access by privileged users.
Implementation requires careful key management practices including secure key storage, access logging, key rotation policies, and backup procedures. Organizations must also consider the performance implications of encryption and ensure that encryption operations do not significantly impact database performance.
Option A is incorrect because activity monitoring logs access but does not prevent administrators from viewing data. Option B is wrong because TDE encrypts data but typically allows database administrators with appropriate privileges to access decrypted data. Option D is incorrect because auditing tracks access but does not prevent it.
Question 59:
Which cloud cost optimization technique involves using spare computing capacity at reduced prices?
A) Reserved instances
B) Spot instances
C) Savings plans
D) Right-sizing
Answer: B
Explanation:
Spot instances are a cloud cost optimization technique that provides access to spare computing capacity at significantly reduced prices compared to standard on-demand instances. Cloud providers offer spot instances at discounted rates, often 50 to 90 percent less than on-demand pricing, because they represent unused capacity that would otherwise remain idle.
Spot instances are ideal for workloads that are flexible, interruptible, and can tolerate interruptions. The key characteristic of spot instances is that the cloud provider can reclaim them with short notice (typically 2 minutes) when the capacity is needed for on-demand customers. This makes spot instances suitable for batch processing jobs, data analysis, continuous integration testing, rendering, scientific simulations, and other fault-tolerant distributed workloads.
Organizations using spot instances should implement strategies to handle interruptions gracefully. Applications can use checkpointing to save progress periodically, enabling work to resume on new instances after interruption. Diversifying across multiple instance types and availability zones reduces the likelihood of simultaneous interruptions. Some workloads combine spot instances for the majority of capacity with on-demand or reserved instances for baseline capacity that must remain available.
Cloud providers offer spot instance pools where customers can bid on unused capacity or use automatic pricing that matches supply and demand. Modern spot offerings have evolved to provide more predictable pricing and better integration with auto-scaling groups, making them more accessible for a wider range of workloads.
Option A is incorrect because reserved instances offer discounts through long-term commitments rather than using spare capacity. Option C is wrong because savings plans provide discounts based on usage commitments, not spare capacity. Option D is incorrect because right-sizing optimizes instance selection but does not specifically leverage discounted spare capacity.
Question 60:
A DevOps team needs to manage application configuration separately from code to support different environments. Which practice should be implemented?
A) Hard-coded configuration values
B) Configuration files in version control
C) Externalized configuration management
D) Database-stored configuration
Answer: C
Explanation:
Externalized configuration management is the practice of storing application configuration separately from application code, enabling the same code to run in different environments with environment-specific settings. This approach treats configuration as separate from code and typically stores it in external systems such as environment variables, configuration services, or secret management systems.
Externalized configuration follows the twelve-factor app methodology, which advocates for strict separation of configuration from code. Configuration includes environment-specific values such as database connection strings, API endpoints, service credentials, feature flags, and resource limits. By externalizing these values, the same application binary can be deployed to development, staging, and production environments without modification or recompilation.
Cloud-native applications typically retrieve configuration from multiple sources including environment variables injected by container orchestrators, centralized configuration services like AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store or Azure App Configuration, and secret management systems like HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager. These systems provide benefits such as centralized management, access control, audit logging, encryption of sensitive values, and dynamic configuration updates without application restarts.
Implementing externalized configuration requires applications to read configuration at startup or runtime rather than relying on compiled values. Most modern frameworks support configuration hierarchy, where values can be overridden by environment-specific sources. This enables developers to provide default values while allowing operations teams to override settings for specific deployments.
Option A is incorrect because hard-coded values require code changes and recompilation for different environments, violating deployment best practices. Option B is wrong because storing configuration in version control exposes sensitive credentials and requires code deployment for configuration changes. Option D is incorrect because database-stored configuration creates dependencies and does not support the wide range of configuration needs across different application components.
