AZ-900 Certification Notes

Chapter 2.7 - Cloud Concepts Quiz

Question 1

• What is a benefit of a hybrid cloud approach?
  • Using alternative energy sources for powering some services can create tax benefits in some regions.
  • It enables companies to use a mix of private and public cloud components.
  • All maintenance is handled by Microsoft Azure, so it reduces support costs.
  • It requires no changes to existing code or applications, allowing companies to scale their infrastructure into the cloud.

A hybrid cloud model is the best of private and public cloud that can be used to avoid disruptions and outages, adhere to regulation and governance, span solutions across both public and private cloud, and alleviate CapEx investments.

Question 2

• What does Infrastructure as a Service describe?
  • A type of cloud computing service that allows users to connect to and use cloud-based apps over the internet
  • Any service on Azure that you can rent or buy upfront
  • A type of cloud computing service that offers essential compute, storage, and networking resources on demand, on a pay-as-you-go basis
  • A complete development and deployment environment in the cloud, with resources that enable you to deliver everything from simple cloud-based apps to sophisticated, cloud-enabled enterprise applications

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a type of cloud computing service that offers essential compute, storage, and networking resources on demand, on a pay-as-you-go basis. IaaS lets you bypass the cost and complexity of buying and managing physical servers and datacenter infrastructure. Each resource is offered as a separate service component, and you only pay for a particular resource for as long as you need it.

Question 3

• Which is not true regarding Microsoft's definitions of cloud types?
  • Public clouds typically cost more than private clouds, but they are generally less reliable than on-premises infrastructure (private cloud).
  • Private clouds can be hosted at your datacenter or hosted by a third-party service. Private clouds offer advantages of flexibility, control, and scalability.
  • A hybrid cloud combines a public cloud, such as Azure, with on-premises infrastructure (private cloud).
  • In private clouds, services and infrastructure are always maintained on a private network, and the hardware and software are dedicated solely to your organization.

Public clouds typically lower costs if architected well, and they are generally more reliable than on-premises infrastructure, such as private cloud.

Question 4

• What is consumption-based pricing on Azure?
  • Consumption-based pricing is when you are charged for only what you use (pay-as-you-go rate).
  • Consumption-based pricing is the model for paying for any services on a free Azure account.
  • Any service you use on Azure has a consumption component as part of the pricing.
  • Some core services on Azure are consumed constantly to keep your applications running. You pay for this consumption.

Consumption-based pricing is indeed when you are charged for only what you use (pay-as-you-go rate). Consumption-based pricing is not limited to free accounts, and the services are not necessarily consumed all the time.

Question 5

• What's the best definition for scalability on Azure?
  • Scalability is the ability to quickly recover from a catastrophic failure of resources.
  • Scalability is the ability to quickly and easily increase or decrease the size or power of an IT solution or resource to handle changing load.
  • If an account has more than one Azure region active, resources can be copied between these regions to achieve scalability.
  • Scaling of resources on Azure is currently not possible.

Scalability in Azure is the ability to quickly and easily increase or decrease the size or power of an IT solution or resource to handle changing load. This can be achieved through a variety of methods, such as vertical scaling (increasing the capacity of a single resource) or horizontal scaling (adding more instances of a resource). Azure provides a number of services and features that can help you achieve scalability, such as virtual machines (VMs), load balancers, and autoscaling. By using these features, you can ensure that your applications are always available and can handle even the most demanding workloads.

Question 6

• What does reliability describe for cloud computing?
  • Knowing that your application will always perform as expected regardless of user load
  • A managed service within Azure that uses cloud computing resources to quickly mitigate faults
  • The ability for an Azure service to automatically add additional resources as needed
  • Ensuring services and applications remain available in the event of a failure

Reliability means a failure can occur on Azure services and applications, but it will not affect its availability.

Question 7

• What is the difference between OpEx and CapEx?
  • OpEx is a cost on services you don't own, such as cloud computing. CapEx is a cost of ownership.
  • OpEx is an ongoing cost for running a business. CapEx is the cost of acquiring and maintaining assets.
  • OpEx is costs for acquiring assets. CapEx is an ongoing cost for running a business.
  • OpEx is better return on investment in the short term. CapEx is better return on investment in the long term.

Knowing the difference between OpEx and CapEx is critical to get the best value out of Azure for your company. Capital expenditures (CapEx) generally result in the acquisition and maintenance of assets, such as server hardware. Operating expenditures (OpEx) are the ongoing costs of running a business, such as paying for cloud services on a recurring basis. By moving costs to OpEx, businesses can plan for ongoing costs rather than large investments.

Question 8

• What are the two types of scaling on Azure?
  • Scaling up/down and scaling out/in
  • There is only one type of scaling: scaling up/down
  • Scale sets and high availability
  • Scaling out and scaling across

Scaling up/down is a process of increasing or decreasing the capacity of a resource, such as a virtual machine (VM). This is also known as vertical scaling. For example, you can scale up a VM by increasing its CPU, memory, and storage capacity. Scaling up can be used to handle spikes in traffic or to improve the performance of an application. Scaling out/in is a process of adding or removing resources of the same type. This is also known as horizontal scaling. For example, you can scale out a web application by adding more web servers. Scaling out can be used to handle increased traffic or to improve the availability of an application.

Question 9

• What is "serverless" computing?
  • A theory for making computing completely cloud-based for certain scenarios
  • An application that is running on the cloud platform without the use of servers
  • A complete development and deployment environment in the cloud
  • A way for developers to build applications faster by eliminating the need for them to manage infrastructure

Serverless computing solutions provide a simple way to create manageable and scalable solutions at low costs. There is always a server somewhere to run your application, but you don't control it. Serverless is a kind of extreme PaaS.

Question 10

• Why is cloud governance important for businesses?
  • To ensure your application is resilient in case of disaster
  • To enable creation of standardized environments and audit those environments for compliance
  • To increase the return on investment from using cloud elasticity
  • To be able to quickly scale resources when needed at short notice

Governance is all about standardization and compliance, which is especially useful for meeting corporate standards and/or meeting government regulations.

Question 11

• What is high availability in cloud computing?
  • If one resource on Azure dies unexpectedly, another resource will almost instantly take over the workload.
  • Azure will provide an infinite number of resources to your application to make sure it always runs optimally.
  • High availability refers to the availability of the Azure portal. You can always get access to an overview of what your Azure services are doing.
  • Microsoft guarantees you will always have access to the resources on Azure.

High availability is one of the core benefits of using cloud computing. It ensures backup resources are ready to take over any workload.

Question 12

• Which cloud ability does predictability describe?
  • The ability to create standardized environments for regulatory requirements
  • The ability to recover from an unexpected disaster
  • The expectation that your application will perform as expected regardless of traffic
  • The ability to increase or decreases resources as needed to meet changing demand

One aspect of predictability is knowing that your application will consistently perform as expected even if user load increases. This is accomplished with cloud computing features such as load balancing, high availability, and autoscaling.