Cloud Computing Junior
Explain the differences between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. When would you choose one over the others?
Select the correct answer
IaaS delivers ready-made applications, PaaS provides virtual machines to configure, and SaaS exposes the operating system layer for full control
IaaS handles application logic, PaaS manages billing only, and SaaS provisions the physical servers that customers rack and maintain themselves
IaaS runs functions on demand, PaaS supplies bare storage buckets, and SaaS gives you kernel-level access to the underlying host machine
IaaS gives raw compute and networking to manage, PaaS abstracts the runtime for deploying code, and SaaS delivers finished applications to end users
What is the difference between CapEx and OpEx, and how does moving to the cloud shift a company's financial model?
Select the correct answer
CapEx and OpEx both mean depreciation of hardware over time; cloud eliminates all spending categories and makes infrastructure completely free after initial setup
CapEx is recurring monthly usage cost, OpEx is a one-time asset purchase; cloud shifts spending from operating fees toward big upfront capital investments
CapEx is upfront spending on owned assets, OpEx is ongoing usage cost; cloud shifts spending from large capital purchases toward pay-as-you-go operating expenses
CapEx is the tax on operating profit, OpEx is the tax on capital gains; cloud shifts a firm from paying income tax toward paying only sales tax
What are the five essential characteristics of cloud computing according to NIST?
Select the correct answer
Automated backups, global routing, shared licensing, vertical scaling, and guaranteed uptime service
On-demand billing, private networking, dedicated hardware, manual scaling, and fixed monthly service
Self-hosting, limited access, single tenancy, static capacity, and unmetered flat-rate service
On-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and measured service
What does it mean for an application to be 'Cloud-Native'?
Select the correct answer
It is an application that runs exclusively offline on local desktops and connects to the cloud purely for occasional data backup tasks
It is designed to exploit cloud models using microservices, containers, and automation to scale and recover in dynamic environments
It is a legacy monolith simply moved onto a single virtual machine without changing its original architecture or scaling behavior
It is any software that can only run on one specific vendor's proprietary hardware and cannot be deployed anywhere else at all
What is cloud computing, and what are the main benefits and drawbacks of adopting it?
Select the correct answer
On-demand delivery of IT resources over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.
A private network connecting office computers to share files and printers locally.
Permanent ownership of physical servers housed in a company's own data center.
Software installed locally on each user's machine and licensed per device yearly.
What is 'resource pooling' and how does it enable the economies of scale that cloud providers offer?
Select the correct answer
Each customer receives a dedicated physical server that no one else can ever use.
Providers serve many tenants from shared physical resources allocated on demand.
Resources are copied to every region so each user gets a full local hardware set.
Idle servers are powered off nightly and rebuilt fresh from backups each morning.
What does 'XaaS' (Anything-as-a-Service) mean, and can you give examples beyond IaaS/PaaS/SaaS?
Select the correct answer
A hardware standard letting servers from different vendors share one common chassis.
A pricing tier where every service is bundled into one flat monthly subscription fee.
Delivering any capability as an internet service, such as FaaS or DBaaS offerings.
A framework forcing all workloads to use exactly the same runtime and language stack.
Can you describe the historical evolution of cloud computing, from grid/utility computing and virtualization to modern cloud?
Select the correct answer
It began with public cloud, then added virtualization, and finally reached mainframes.
It started with smartphones, moved to laptops, and later introduced shared servers.
It progressed from grid and utility computing through virtualization to modern cloud.
It emerged fully formed from a single vendor's data center release in the year 2015.
What are the key trade-offs between running workloads on-premises versus in the public cloud?
Select the correct answer
Public cloud removes all security duties from the customer and needs no configuration.
On-premises scales automatically with demand, whereas cloud requires manual purchasing.
On-premises always costs less at any scale while offering unlimited instant elasticity.
On-premises means upfront capital cost and control; cloud offers elastic pay-per-use.
Explain the difference between Object Storage, Block Storage, and File Storage. When would you use each?
Select the correct answer
Object storage exposes a shared directory hierarchy, block storage stores objects with rich metadata for archives, and file storage provides raw low-latency volumes ideal for transactional relational database workloads
Object storage holds data as flat objects with metadata for media and backups, block storage offers raw volumes for databases and VM disks, and file storage exposes a shared hierarchy for multiple clients
Object storage keeps mounted volumes for databases, block storage stores flat objects for backups and media, and file storage handles raw disk blocks attached directly to a single virtual machine instance
Object storage provides raw disk volumes for VMs, block storage exposes a shared network file hierarchy, and file storage stores immutable flat objects accessed over HTTP for large media libraries
What is 'Infrastructure as Code' (IaC) and why is it preferred over manual configuration in the cloud?
Select the correct answer
Defining infrastructure in declarative files that can be versioned and repeated, giving consistent, reproducible environments and avoiding error-prone manual clicking
Defining infrastructure by clicking through the console once and saving screenshots, giving a documented setup that teammates can follow and reproduce manually when needed
Writing application business logic that provisions its own servers at runtime, giving each request the ability to scale hardware without any predefined configuration files
Storing server credentials and network diagrams in a shared wiki page, giving operators a single reference so they can rebuild environments by hand consistently later
Compare and contrast Containers and Virtual Machines (VMs) at a conceptual level. Why are containers considered more 'cloud-native'?
Select the correct answer
Containers emulate hardware for each app, so they are heavier than VMs but much more portable overall
Containers run a full guest OS per instance, giving them stronger isolation but far slower startup times
Containers share the host OS kernel and bundle only the app, so they start fast and use fewer resources
Containers and VMs both virtualize hardware, but containers require a dedicated hypervisor layer to run
In Identity and Access Management, what is the difference between authentication and authorization?
Select the correct answer
Authentication verifies who you are, while authorization determines what actions you are allowed to perform
Authentication assigns permitted roles to a user, while authorization confirms the password matches what is stored
Authentication determines what you can access, while authorization verifies the identity of a requesting user
Authentication encrypts credentials while in transit, while authorization stores those credentials safely at rest
What does 'pay-as-you-go' or 'measured service' mean, and how does metered billing change how you architect systems?
Select the correct answer
You pay a fixed monthly subscription fee, so you architect to provision maximum capacity upfront since additional usage incurs no extra charges at all.
You prepay for a capacity reservation, so you architect around long-lived static instances that stay running to guarantee availability during peak times.
You pay only for resources actually consumed, so you architect to release idle capacity and scale down when demand is low to reduce cost.
You pay based on the number of users, so you architect around user quotas and design systems that limit account creation to control the overall spend.
Explain the difference between Horizontal and Vertical scaling. Which one is generally preferred in a cloud-native environment and why?
Select the correct answer
Horizontal upgrades disk capacity; vertical upgrades network bandwidth. Vertical is preferred in the cloud because a single node is far simpler to manage.
Horizontal adds more machines; vertical adds power to one machine. Horizontal is preferred in the cloud for resilience and near-limitless growth.
Horizontal and vertical both add more machines to a pool. Horizontal is preferred in the cloud because it keeps all state on a single powerful server node.
Horizontal adds power to one machine; vertical adds more machines. Vertical is preferred in the cloud because it avoids the need for load balancing entirely.
Explain the 'Shared Responsibility Model.' Who is responsible for what in an IaaS vs. a SaaS model?
Select the correct answer
The provider secures the underlying infrastructure; in IaaS the customer manages the OS, apps and data, while in SaaS the provider handles nearly everything.
The customer is fully responsible for security in both models; in IaaS and SaaS the provider merely supplies hardware and leaves all software to the customer.
The provider is fully responsible for security in both models; in IaaS and SaaS the customer only ever manages user passwords and their own billing settings.
The customer secures the underlying infrastructure; in IaaS the provider manages the OS and data, while in SaaS the customer handles nearly everything.
How does a Content Delivery Network (CDN) improve application performance?
Select the correct answer
It caches content on edge servers near users, cutting latency and offloading traffic from the origin.
It replaces the origin server entirely by generating dynamic pages inside every user's local web browser.
It compresses all database queries at the origin server, so responses reach distant users much more quickly.
It encrypts every request end to end, which reduces round trips and thereby speeds up content delivery.