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Question 101
A cloud administrator needs to ensure that virtual machines are distributed across physical hosts to minimize the impact of hardware failure. Which feature should be enabled?
A) Anti-affinity rules
B) Affinity rules
C) Load balancing
D) Auto-scaling
Answer: A
Explanation:
Anti-affinity rules ensure that virtual machines are distributed across different physical hosts, minimizing the impact of hardware failure. When anti-affinity policies are configured, the hypervisor or orchestration platform automatically places specified VMs on separate physical servers. If one physical host fails, only the VMs on that host are affected while others continue running on different hardware. This is essential for high availability architectures where redundant application components should never share the same underlying infrastructure.
B is incorrect because affinity rules have the opposite effect, deliberately placing VMs on the same physical host to reduce network latency or improve performance through shared resources. While affinity is useful for tightly coupled applications, it increases failure risk by concentrating VMs on single hardware. If that physical host fails, all VMs with affinity rules are simultaneously impacted, creating a single point of failure.
C is incorrect because load balancing distributes network traffic across multiple application instances but doesn’t control VM placement on physical hosts. Load balancers operate at the application layer, directing user requests to available instances regardless of their physical location. While load balancing contributes to high availability, it doesn’t prevent multiple VMs from residing on the same physical hardware.
D is incorrect because auto-scaling automatically adjusts the number of running instances based on demand metrics like CPU usage or request count. While auto-scaling improves availability by adding capacity during high load, it doesn’t inherently control VM distribution across physical hosts. Auto-scaled instances could still be placed on the same hardware without anti-affinity rules.
Question 102
A company is implementing a cloud-based email system and needs to ensure email integrity and authenticity. Which email security protocol should be configured?
A) SMTP relay
B) DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
C) POP3
D) IMAP
Answer: B
Explanation:
DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is the appropriate email security protocol for ensuring email integrity and authenticity. DKIM adds a digital signature to outgoing emails using cryptographic keys. Receiving mail servers verify this signature against the sender’s published public key in DNS records, confirming the email genuinely came from the claimed domain and wasn’t altered during transmission. DKIM helps prevent email spoofing, phishing attacks, and tampering while improving email deliverability.
A is incorrect because SMTP relay is a mail server configuration that allows emails to be forwarded through intermediate servers, not a security protocol. SMTP relay without proper authentication and restrictions can be exploited for spam distribution. While SMTP supports extensions like STARTTLS for encryption, basic relay functionality doesn’t provide integrity verification or sender authentication that DKIM offers.
C is incorrect because POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) is an email retrieval protocol that downloads messages from a mail server to a local client. POP3 handles message delivery to users but provides no mechanisms for verifying email authenticity or integrity. It’s a client-server protocol unrelated to sender verification or message tampering detection.
D is incorrect because IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is another email retrieval protocol that allows clients to access messages stored on mail servers. Like POP3, IMAP focuses on mailbox synchronization and message management rather than security features. IMAP doesn’t verify sender authenticity or detect message modifications during transit.
Question 103
A cloud architect is designing a disaster recovery solution with a recovery time objective (RTO) of 4 hours and a recovery point objective (RPO) of 1 hour. Which backup strategy meets these requirements most cost-effectively?
A) Real-time replication to hot site
B) Hourly incremental backups to warm site
C) Weekly full backups to cold site
D) Monthly backups to tape storage
Answer: B
Explanation:
Hourly incremental backups to a warm site meet the requirements cost-effectively. Incremental backups capture only data changes since the last backup, occurring every hour to satisfy the 1-hour RPO. A warm site maintains partially configured infrastructure that can be activated within hours, meeting the 4-hour RTO. This approach balances cost and recovery capability, avoiding the high expense of real-time replication while ensuring data loss is limited to one hour maximum.
A is unnecessarily expensive for the stated requirements. Real-time replication to a hot site provides near-zero RPO and RTO measured in minutes, which exceeds what’s necessary. Hot sites require fully duplicated infrastructure running continuously, doubling hosting costs. When requirements allow 4-hour RTO and 1-hour RPO, investing in real-time replication wastes resources that could be allocated elsewhere.
C is inadequate because weekly full backups could result in up to seven days of data loss, far exceeding the 1-hour RPO requirement. Cold sites are essentially empty facilities requiring significant time to provision and configure infrastructure, often taking days or weeks to become operational. This approach fails both the RTO and RPO requirements and would be suitable only for non-critical systems.
D is completely insufficient, potentially losing up to 30 days of data and requiring extensive time for tape restoration. Monthly backups and tape storage are appropriate only for archival purposes or systems with very relaxed recovery requirements. Modern businesses rarely accept data loss measured in weeks, making this approach unsuitable for operational disaster recovery.
Question 104
An organization wants to prevent cloud resources from being accidentally deleted. Which cloud security control should be implemented?
A) Encryption at rest
B) Resource locks or deletion protection
C) Multi-factor authentication
D) Network security groups
Answer: B
Explanation:
Resource locks or deletion protection prevent accidental deletion of critical cloud resources. This feature allows administrators to apply locks at subscription, resource group, or individual resource levels. When enabled, even accounts with full permissions cannot delete or modify protected resources without first removing the lock. This safeguards against human error, such as administrators accidentally selecting wrong resources or running scripts with unintended scope, which could otherwise cause significant business disruption.
A is incorrect because encryption at rest protects data confidentiality by encoding stored information, making it unreadable without decryption keys. While encryption is essential for data security, it doesn’t prevent resource deletion. Encrypted resources can still be deleted with appropriate permissions, and encryption addresses data protection rather than operational safeguards against accidental actions.
C is incorrect because multi-factor authentication strengthens identity verification by requiring multiple proof factors beyond passwords. MFA prevents unauthorized access but doesn’t protect against accidental deletion by authenticated, authorized users. A legitimate administrator with proper credentials and MFA can still accidentally delete resources if no additional safeguards exist.
D is incorrect because network security groups control network traffic by defining inbound and outbound rules for resources. NSGs provide network-level security but have no relationship to preventing resource deletion. They filter packets based on protocols, ports, and IP addresses, which is completely separate from resource lifecycle management and deletion protection.
Question 105
A cloud-based application needs to process messages asynchronously from multiple sources. Which cloud service should be implemented?
A) Relational database
B) Message queue service
C) Content delivery network
D) Virtual private network
Answer: B
Explanation:
Message queue service is designed specifically for asynchronous message processing from multiple sources. Services like Amazon SQS, Azure Service Bus, or Google Cloud Pub/Sub decouple message producers from consumers, allowing applications to send messages that are reliably stored until processors are ready. Message queues handle variable load by buffering messages during peak times, ensure message delivery even if consumers are temporarily unavailable, and enable scalable processing by allowing multiple workers to consume from the same queue.
A is incorrect because while relational databases store structured data reliably, they’re not optimized for asynchronous message processing patterns. Using databases as message queues creates problems including polling overhead (constantly checking for new messages), lack of built-in retry mechanisms, difficulty implementing message visibility timeouts, and performance issues as message volume grows. Databases serve different architectural purposes than message queues.
C is incorrect because content delivery networks cache and distribute static content like images, videos, and web pages across geographically distributed edge locations to improve delivery speed. CDNs reduce latency for end users but have no capability for processing application messages or coordinating asynchronous workflows. This service addresses content delivery rather than inter-application communication.
D is incorrect because virtual private networks create secure encrypted connections between networks or clients and networks. VPNs provide connectivity and security for network traffic but offer no message processing, queuing, or asynchronous communication capabilities. VPN functionality is completely unrelated to application-level message handling requirements.
Question 106
A company needs to migrate a legacy application to the cloud with minimal code changes. Which migration strategy should be used?
A) Refactor application for cloud-native architecture
B) Rehost (lift and shift) migration
C) Rebuild application from scratch
D) Replace with SaaS solution
Answer: B
Explanation:
Rehost migration, commonly called lift and shift, moves applications to cloud infrastructure with minimal or no code changes. Virtual machines or containers replicate the on-premises environment in the cloud, maintaining the application’s existing architecture. This approach enables rapid migration with predictable outcomes, reduced project risk, and lower initial costs. Organizations can optimize applications for cloud-native features after migration, making rehosting ideal when speed and minimal disruption are priorities.
A is incorrect because refactoring involves significant code changes to leverage cloud-native services like serverless functions, managed databases, or microservices architectures. While refactoring provides better long-term benefits through improved scalability and cost optimization, it requires substantial development effort, time, and testing. This approach contradicts the requirement for minimal code changes and extends migration timelines considerably.
C is incorrect because rebuilding applications from scratch is the most time-consuming and expensive migration approach. Complete rebuilds require reimagining architecture, rewriting all code, thorough testing, and potentially redesigning user interfaces. While rebuilds can produce optimal cloud-native applications, they involve maximum code changes and longest time-to-completion, making this approach inappropriate for the stated requirements.
D is incorrect because replacing with SaaS solutions means abandoning the existing application entirely in favor of commercial software. While SaaS eliminates infrastructure management, it requires significant business process changes, data migration, user retraining, and potential feature gaps. This strategy doesn’t migrate the existing application but replaces it, which may not be feasible for custom or specialized legacy systems.
Question 107
A cloud administrator needs to ensure traffic is distributed evenly across multiple application servers while checking server health. Which component should be configured?
A) Firewall rules
B) Load balancer with health checks
C) DNS round-robin
D) Network address translation
Answer: B
Explanation:
Load balancer with health checks provides intelligent traffic distribution while continuously monitoring server availability. Load balancers use algorithms like round-robin, least connections, or IP hash to distribute requests across backend servers. Health checks periodically test server responsiveness by sending requests to defined endpoints. If a server fails health checks, the load balancer automatically removes it from rotation until it recovers, ensuring traffic only reaches healthy servers and maintaining application availability.
A is incorrect because firewall rules control which traffic is allowed or denied based on security policies but don’t distribute traffic across multiple servers. Firewalls filter packets by examining source/destination addresses, ports, and protocols, then either permitting or blocking them. While essential for security, firewalls operate at a different layer and lack traffic distribution and health monitoring capabilities.
C is inadequate because DNS round-robin distributes requests by rotating through multiple IP addresses in DNS responses, but it has significant limitations. DNS round-robin doesn’t perform health checks, so traffic continues being directed to failed servers until DNS cache expires. DNS caching means clients may be stuck with unavailable servers for minutes or hours. This primitive approach lacks the intelligence and reliability of proper load balancing.
D is incorrect because network address translation translates between private and public IP addresses or ports but doesn’t distribute traffic across multiple servers. NAT enables private networks to access the internet using shared public addresses or provides port forwarding to internal resources. NAT operates at the network layer for address translation rather than application layer for traffic distribution.
Question 108
An organization needs to ensure that cloud infrastructure changes follow a standardized approval process before implementation. Which practice should be implemented?
A) Allow all administrators unrestricted access
B) Implement change management procedures
C) Disable all administrative accounts
D) Remove all documentation requirements
Answer: B
Explanation:
Implementing change management procedures establishes a standardized approval process for infrastructure changes. Change management includes documenting proposed changes, assessing risks and impacts, obtaining approvals from stakeholders, scheduling implementation during appropriate maintenance windows, and planning rollback procedures. This structured approach reduces unplanned outages, prevents conflicts between simultaneous changes, maintains audit trails for compliance, and ensures stakeholders understand how changes affect systems they depend on.
A is completely inappropriate and dangerous because allowing unrestricted access without approval processes creates chaos and security risks. Administrators could make conflicting changes simultaneously, implement modifications during business-critical periods, or deploy untested configurations causing outages. Unrestricted access eliminates accountability, makes troubleshooting difficult when problems occur, and violates security principles requiring oversight and audit trails.
C is incorrect because disabling all administrative accounts would prevent any infrastructure management or maintenance, causing operational paralysis. Organizations need administrative access to maintain systems, respond to incidents, and implement necessary changes. The goal is controlling and documenting changes through proper processes, not eliminating change capability entirely. This approach confuses security with complete restriction.
D is counterproductive because removing documentation requirements eliminates visibility into what changes occurred, who made them, and why. Documentation is essential for troubleshooting when issues arise, ensuring knowledge transfer when administrators leave, maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements, and enabling audits. Undocumented changes create technical debt and make systems increasingly difficult to manage over time.
Question 109
A cloud environment hosts applications with different security classifications. Which network design principle should be implemented to isolate these applications?
A) Place all applications in a single network
B) Network segmentation using VLANs or subnets
C) Disable all network security controls
D) Use only public IP addresses
Answer: B
Explanation:
Network segmentation using VLANs or subnets isolates applications with different security classifications by creating separate network zones. Segmentation implements defense-in-depth by containing potential breaches, preventing lateral movement between security zones, and allowing customized security policies for each segment. High-security applications can be isolated in protected segments with stricter access controls, while less sensitive systems occupy different segments with appropriate policies. This architecture limits blast radius if compromise occurs.
A is incorrect and creates significant security risks because placing all applications in a single network means a compromise of any application potentially exposes all others. Without segmentation, attackers gaining access to one system can easily move laterally to access sensitive resources. Single networks lack the isolation necessary for defense-in-depth strategies and make it impossible to apply different security policies based on data classification or compliance requirements.
C is completely inappropriate because disabling network security controls removes protection mechanisms that prevent unauthorized access and detect malicious activity. Security controls like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and access control lists are fundamental to protecting cloud environments. Disabling these controls would expose applications to attacks, violate compliance requirements, and demonstrate gross negligence in security practices.
D is incorrect because using only public IP addresses exposes all resources directly to the internet without additional protection layers. Most cloud architectures use private IP addresses for application servers, databases, and internal services, with only load balancers or gateways having public IPs. Public addressing for all resources dramatically increases attack surface and makes systems vulnerable to direct exploitation from anywhere on the internet.
Question 110
A cloud administrator needs to provide temporary access to external contractors without creating permanent user accounts. Which solution should be implemented?
A) Share admin credentials with contractors
B) Implement time-limited temporary credentials or guest access
C) Create permanent accounts with full privileges
D) Allow anonymous access to all resources
Answer: B
Explanation:
Implementing time-limited temporary credentials or guest access provides secure, controlled access for external contractors. Cloud platforms offer features like temporary security tokens, guest user accounts with expiration dates, or role-based access with defined time boundaries. These credentials automatically expire after specified periods, eliminating the need for manual deprovisioning. Time-limited access reduces security risk by ensuring contractor access is automatically revoked when engagements end, even if administrators forget to remove permissions manually.
A is completely unacceptable because sharing admin credentials violates fundamental security principles and creates multiple risks. Shared credentials eliminate accountability since actions cannot be attributed to specific individuals. When contractors leave, organizations must change passwords, disrupting legitimate administrators. Shared credentials often remain in use longer than necessary because changing them inconveniences multiple people. This practice violates compliance requirements and creates audit failures.
C is incorrect because creating permanent accounts for temporary contractors leaves unnecessary access pathways open after contractors finish their work. Permanent accounts require manual deprovisioning, which administrators often forget or delay. Over time, organizations accumulate unused accounts representing security vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Granting full privileges violates the principle of least privilege by providing more access than contractors need.
D is completely inappropriate because allowing anonymous access eliminates authentication, making resources available to anyone including malicious actors. Anonymous access provides no way to audit who accessed what resources or track actions back to individuals. This approach creates massive security vulnerabilities, violates virtually all compliance frameworks, and demonstrates complete disregard for security principles.
Question 111
An organization wants to automatically respond to security events by isolating compromised instances. Which cloud capability should be implemented?
A) Manual incident response only
B) Security orchestration and automated response (SOAR)
C) Periodic security audits
D) Annual penetration testing
Answer: B
Explanation:
Security orchestration and automated response (SOAR) enables automatic response to security events through predefined playbooks. When security monitoring detects suspicious activity or confirmed compromise, SOAR platforms can automatically execute response actions like isolating network segments, terminating suspicious processes, revoking credentials, or quarantining affected instances. Automated response dramatically reduces response time from hours or days to seconds, limiting damage before human analysts can investigate. SOAR integrates with security tools to create comprehensive, coordinated responses.
A is inadequate because manual incident response introduces significant delays between event detection and remediation. Security breaches cause more damage the longer they remain unaddressed, as attackers can exfiltrate data, establish persistence, or move laterally to other systems. Manual response also depends on analyst availability, creating vulnerability during off-hours or when teams are overwhelmed. While human oversight remains important for complex situations, purely manual response is too slow for modern threats.
C is incorrect because periodic security audits are point-in-time assessments that identify vulnerabilities and policy compliance but don’t provide real-time incident response. Audits typically occur quarterly or annually, meaning security events between audits continue unchecked. Audits are valuable for improving security posture over time but completely insufficient for responding to active compromises requiring immediate action.
D is incorrect because annual penetration testing proactively identifies security weaknesses but occurs too infrequently to serve as incident response mechanism. Penetration tests simulate attacks to find vulnerabilities before real attackers exploit them, but they’re scheduled assessments rather than reactive security measures. When actual compromises occur, penetration testing provides no help with containment or remediation.
Question 112
A company needs to ensure data sovereignty by storing data in specific geographic locations to comply with regulations. Which cloud feature should be utilized?
A) Random region selection
B) Region and availability zone selection
C) Single global storage location
D) Automatic data replication worldwide
Answer: B
Explanation:
Region and availability zone selection allows organizations to specify exact geographic locations where data is stored and processed. Cloud providers offer regions in multiple countries and continents, each consisting of multiple availability zones for redundancy. By explicitly selecting regions that comply with data sovereignty regulations like GDPR or local data protection laws, organizations ensure data never leaves approved jurisdictions. Cloud services respect region boundaries and don’t replicate data elsewhere unless explicitly configured.
A is completely inappropriate because random region selection could place data in locations that violate regulatory requirements. Data sovereignty laws specify that certain data types must remain within national or regional boundaries. Random placement introduces compliance risk and potential legal consequences. Organizations must deliberately control data location rather than allowing cloud platforms to optimize placement based on technical factors.
C is incorrect because using a single global storage location doesn’t accommodate data sovereignty requirements for different jurisdictions. Many organizations operate in multiple countries, each with unique data protection laws. Some regulations require data about country residents to remain within that country’s borders. A single location approach either violates some jurisdictions’ laws or prevents serving customers in certain regions.
D is incorrect and potentially violates data sovereignty requirements because automatic worldwide replication distributes data across multiple geographic locations without regard for regulatory boundaries. While replication improves disaster recovery and performance, it must be controlled to ensure data remains in compliant locations. Automatic global replication could place data in countries with inadequate privacy protections or adverse legal jurisdictions.
Question 113
A cloud architect is designing a solution that requires the lowest possible network latency between application components. Which deployment strategy should be used?
A) Deploy components across multiple regions
B) Deploy components in the same availability zone
C) Deploy components using only public internet connectivity
D) Deploy components with maximum geographic distribution
Answer: B
Explanation:
Deploying components in the same availability zone provides the lowest network latency because resources share the same data center or closely located facilities. Within an availability zone, network connections use high-speed, low-latency infrastructure with minimal hops between components. This proximity reduces round-trip times to microseconds or low milliseconds, making it ideal for tightly coupled applications like high-frequency trading systems, real-time analytics, or applications requiring synchronous database replication.
A is incorrect because deploying across multiple regions introduces significant latency due to geographic distance. Inter-region communication traverses longer network paths, potentially crossing continents and oceans, resulting in latency measured in tens to hundreds of milliseconds. While multi-region deployment provides disaster recovery and serves globally distributed users, it’s inappropriate when minimizing latency between components is the primary requirement.
C is incorrect because using public internet connectivity introduces variable latency, packet loss, and routing inefficiencies. Internet paths are unpredictable and subject to congestion, with traffic potentially taking suboptimal routes through multiple intermediate networks. Cloud providers offer private connectivity options and dedicated network backbones that provide significantly lower, more consistent latency than public internet paths.
D is incorrect because maximum geographic distribution deliberately increases distance between components, resulting in higher latency. While geographic distribution benefits content delivery to end users worldwide, it works against the requirement for low latency between application components themselves. This approach is appropriate for CDNs serving content to global audiences, not for inter-component communication in latency-sensitive applications.
Question 114
An organization needs to implement continuous compliance monitoring for cloud resources. Which approach should be used?
A) Annual manual compliance audits only
B) Automated compliance tools with continuous scanning
C) Quarterly security meetings
D) Self-assessment without verification
Answer: B
Explanation:
Automated compliance tools with continuous scanning provide real-time visibility into compliance posture by constantly evaluating cloud resources against regulatory frameworks and organizational policies. Tools like AWS Config, Azure Policy, or Google Cloud Security Command Center automatically detect configuration drift, identify non-compliant resources, and generate alerts when violations occur. Continuous monitoring enables rapid remediation before compliance issues accumulate, reduces audit preparation time, and provides evidence for auditors demonstrating ongoing compliance efforts.
A is inadequate because annual manual audits provide only point-in-time compliance assessment, leaving organizations unaware of compliance status between audits. Cloud environments change rapidly with resources being created, modified, or deleted constantly. Compliance violations occurring shortly after an audit remain undetected for months, potentially resulting in security breaches, regulatory penalties, or audit failures. Annual frequency is insufficient for dynamic cloud environments.
C is incorrect because quarterly security meetings involve discussion and planning but don’t actively monitor resource compliance. Meetings are valuable for governance oversight, but they lack the technical capability to scan configurations, identify violations, or track compliance metrics. By the time issues are discussed in quarterly meetings, compliance violations may have persisted for months, exposing the organization to risk.
D is completely inadequate because self-assessment without independent verification lacks credibility and objectivity. Organizations may overlook issues, misinterpret requirements, or unconsciously bias assessments. Auditors and regulators require independent evidence of compliance, not self-reported claims. Self-assessment might identify obvious issues but misses subtle configuration problems that automated tools detect through comprehensive scanning and comparison against compliance baselines.
Question 115
A cloud-based application requires processing sensitive personal data. Which privacy-enhancing technique should be implemented to protect data while maintaining analytical utility?
A) Store all data in plain text
B) Data masking or tokenization
C) Share raw data with all users
D) Disable all access controls
Answer: B
Explanation:
Data masking or tokenization protects sensitive personal data while preserving analytical utility. Masking replaces sensitive values with realistic but fictional substitutes, allowing developers and analysts to work with production-like data without exposing actual personal information. Tokenization replaces sensitive data with random tokens stored in a secure vault, with the mapping maintained separately. Both techniques enable testing, analytics, and development while complying with privacy regulations like GDPR or CCPA that limit exposure of personal data.
A is completely unacceptable because storing sensitive personal data in plain text violates privacy regulations and security best practices. Plain text data is immediately readable by anyone gaining access, whether through system compromise, insider threats, or accidental exposure. Regulations require organizations to implement appropriate technical measures protecting personal data, and plain text storage demonstrates negligence in data protection responsibilities.
C is incorrect and likely illegal because sharing raw sensitive personal data with all users violates the principle of least privilege and data minimization. Privacy regulations require limiting personal data access to individuals with legitimate business needs. Widespread data sharing increases breach risk through larger attack surface and potential insider misuse. Organizations must implement role-based access controls restricting personal data access to authorized personnel only.
D is completely inappropriate because disabling access controls removes protection mechanisms preventing unauthorized data access. Access controls implement authentication, authorization, and audit trails essential for protecting sensitive information. Disabling these controls would expose personal data to anyone, create compliance violations, eliminate accountability, and demonstrate gross negligence that could result in severe regulatory penalties and civil liability.
Question 116
A company experiences frequent cloud cost overruns. Which practice should be implemented to control spending?
A) Remove all spending limits
B) Implement cost allocation tags and budgets with alerts
C) Disable cost monitoring tools
D) Purchase unlimited resources upfront
Answer: B
Explanation:
Implementing cost allocation tags and budgets with alerts provides granular visibility and control over cloud spending. Tags categorize resources by project, department, environment, or cost center, enabling detailed reporting showing where spending occurs. Budgets set spending thresholds with automated alerts when actual or forecasted costs approach limits, allowing proactive intervention before overruns occur. This combination enables showback or chargeback to business units, promotes spending accountability, and identifies cost optimization opportunities.
A is counterproductive because removing spending limits eliminates financial controls that prevent excessive consumption. Cloud’s pay-per-use model means unconstrained usage directly translates to unconstrained costs. Without limits, expensive resources might run unnecessarily, non-production environments could match production scale, or misconfigured auto-scaling could spawn hundreds of instances. Spending limits provide safeguards against both accidental and wasteful consumption.
C is incorrect because disabling cost monitoring tools eliminates visibility into spending patterns, making cost control impossible. Organizations cannot optimize what they cannot measure. Cost monitoring provides data necessary for identifying expensive resources, understanding usage trends, comparing costs across projects, and forecasting future spending. Disabling monitoring guarantees continued cost overruns by preventing the analysis needed to address root causes.
D is incorrect because purchasing unlimited resources upfront doesn’t address inefficient usage patterns causing overruns. Upfront purchases might reduce per-unit costs through reserved instance discounts, but they don’t prevent waste from oversized instances, forgotten resources, or inefficient architectures. Organizations could end up paying for both unused reserved capacity and additional on-demand resources, worsening financial outcomes rather than improving them.
Question 117
A cloud administrator needs to allow applications in different virtual networks to communicate privately without internet exposure. Which solution should be implemented?
A) Public internet gateway
B) Virtual network peering
C) Network address translation only
D) Disable all network connectivity
Answer: B
Explanation:
Virtual network peering establishes private connectivity between virtual networks, enabling resources to communicate using private IP addresses without traversing the public internet. Peering creates low-latency, high-bandwidth connections that appear as single networks to applications despite being administratively separate. Traffic remains on the cloud provider’s backbone network, never touching the internet, which improves security, reduces latency, and avoids data transfer costs associated with internet egress. Peering supports cross-subscription or cross-region connectivity depending on provider capabilities.
A is incorrect because public internet gateways route traffic through the public internet, exposing communications to potential interception and requiring public IP addresses. While SSL/TLS can encrypt internet traffic, using internet connectivity introduces latency, potential security risks, and costs for data egress. Internet gateways are appropriate for external-facing services but inappropriate for private inter-application communication where better alternatives exist.
C is incomplete because while network address translation enables private networks to share public IP addresses, NAT alone doesn’t create private connectivity between virtual networks. NAT primarily facilitates outbound internet access from private networks or port forwarding to internal resources. Without additional configuration like VPNs or peering, applications in different virtual networks cannot communicate privately through NAT alone.
D is completely inappropriate because disabling all network connectivity prevents applications from communicating at all, which defeats the stated requirement. Applications need connectivity to function properly, whether for microservices communication, database access, or API calls. The goal is providing secure private connectivity, not eliminating connectivity entirely. This approach would make applications non-functional rather than solving the connectivity challenge.
Question 118
An organization is implementing a cloud-based disaster recovery solution. Which metric defines the maximum tolerable period during which data might be lost due to an incident?
A) Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
B) Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
C) Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)
D) Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
Answer: B
Explanation:
Recovery Point Objective (RPO) defines the maximum tolerable period of data loss measured in time before an incident. If RPO is one hour, backups or replication must occur at least hourly to ensure no more than one hour of data is lost if disaster strikes. RPO drives backup frequency and replication strategies, with smaller RPOs requiring more frequent backups or continuous replication. Organizations determine RPO based on business impact analysis, balancing data loss tolerance against implementation costs.
A is incorrect because Recovery Time Objective (RTO) specifies the maximum acceptable downtime before systems must be restored after an incident. RTO measures how quickly services must resume operations, not how much data can be lost. An application might have 4-hour RTO (must be operational within four hours) and 15-minute RPO (can lose no more than 15 minutes of data). While related, RTO and RPO address different disaster recovery aspects.
C is incorrect because Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) measures average time required to repair failed components and restore services. MTTR is a performance metric indicating operational efficiency but doesn’t define acceptable data loss. Organizations use MTTR to evaluate incident response effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities. While MTTR relates to RTO, it doesn’t specify data loss tolerance like RPO.
D is incorrect because Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) predicts average operational time between system failures. MTBF is a reliability metric used for capacity planning and maintenance scheduling but doesn’t define acceptable data loss during incidents. High MTBF indicates reliable systems that fail infrequently, but MTBF doesn’t establish data protection requirements or recovery objectives.
Question 119
A cloud environment requires detailed logging of all API calls for security and compliance auditing. Which service should be enabled?
A) Content delivery network
B) Cloud audit logging or trail service
C) Domain name system
D) Network time protocol
Answer: B
Explanation:
Cloud audit logging or trail services like AWS CloudTrail, Azure Activity Log, or Google Cloud Audit Logs record all API calls made within cloud environments. These services capture who made requests, which services were accessed, what actions were performed, source IP addresses, and timestamps. Audit logs provide comprehensive visibility for security investigations, compliance reporting, troubleshooting operational issues, and detecting unauthorized activities. Logs can be centralized, retained for extended periods, and analyzed using security information and event management tools.
A is incorrect because content delivery networks cache and distribute static content to improve website performance and reduce origin server load. CDNs focus on content delivery efficiency rather than audit logging. While CDNs generate access logs showing which content was requested, they don’t capture API calls to cloud services or administrative actions. CDN logs serve different purposes than comprehensive API audit trails.
C is incorrect because domain name systems translate human-readable domain names to IP addresses, enabling internet navigation. DNS provides name resolution services essential for networking but doesn’t log API calls or administrative actions in cloud environments. While DNS query logs exist for troubleshooting, they’re unrelated to security auditing of cloud service interactions. DNS operates at a different layer than API activity monitoring.
D is incorrect because network time protocol synchronizes system clocks across distributed computers, ensuring consistent timestamps. While accurate time is important for correlating log entries across systems, NTP itself doesn’t provide logging functionality. NTP is an infrastructure service that supports audit logging by ensuring timestamp accuracy but doesn’t capture or record API calls or user activities.
Question 120
A cloud administrator needs to optimize storage costs for data with varying access patterns. Frequently accessed data requires immediate retrieval while older data is rarely accessed. Which strategy should be implemented?
A) Store all data in premium high-performance storage
B) Implement lifecycle policies with automated tiering
C) Delete all old data immediately
D) Store all data in archive storage
Answer: B
Explanation:
Implementing lifecycle policies with automated tiering optimizes costs by moving data between storage tiers based on age or access patterns. Lifecycle policies automatically transition recent or frequently accessed data to hot tier storage with immediate access, migrate aging data to cool tier storage with lower costs and slightly longer access times, and eventually move rarely accessed data to archive tier with lowest costs but retrieval delays. Automated policies eliminate manual data management while ensuring appropriate storage tiers based on access patterns.
A is incorrect because storing all data in premium high-performance storage provides excellent performance but wastes money on infrequently accessed data. Premium storage costs significantly more per gigabyte than standard or archive tiers. Since the scenario specifies older data is rarely accessed, paying premium rates for rarely used data provides no value. This approach prioritizes performance over cost optimization contrary to requirements.
C is inappropriate because immediately deleting old data might violate retention requirements, eliminate potentially valuable historical information, or cause compliance violations. Many regulations mandate retaining data for specific periods regardless of access frequency. Business analytics, legal discovery, or audit processes may require accessing historical data years later. Appropriate strategy involves moving old data to cost-effective archive storage rather than deletion, preserving data while minimizing costs.
D is incorrect because storing all data in archive storage, while cost-effective for rarely accessed data, creates performance problems for frequently accessed information. Archive tier typically requires hours for retrieval and incurs access fees, making it unsuitable for active data. Applications requiring immediate data access would experience unacceptable delays. The scenario explicitly states frequently accessed data needs immediate retrieval, which archive storage cannot provide. Proper approach uses multiple tiers matching access patterns.
