220-1101 Virtualization and Cloud Computing Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company hosts a web application on a public cloud IaaS platform. The application experiences unpredictable traffic spikes. The cloud platform automatically adds virtual machines when CPU usage exceeds 80% and removes them when usage drops below 30%. The IT team does not need to manually approve the additions or removals. Which essential cloud characteristic does this BEST describe?

Accepted Answer

Rapid elasticity. The scenario describes the cloud platform automatically adding and removing virtual machines based on CPU utilization thresholds (80% and 30%) without manual intervention. This is the defining behavior of rapid elasticity, which allows resources to scale out and in automatically to match demand. Unlike on-demand self-service, which focuses on user-initiated provisioning, rapid elasticity emphasizes the system's ability to dynamically adjust capacity without requiring human action.

Answer

On-demand self-service

Answer

Resource pooling

Answer

Measured service

Question 2

A company uses a public cloud IaaS provider. They have deployed a web application across multiple virtual machines in an auto-scaling group. The application requires temporary storage for processing user uploads. The data is only needed while the VM is running and must be deleted when the VM is terminated. The storage must be attached to a single VM and should provide low-latency access. Which cloud storage type should the technician configure?

Accepted Answer

Ephemeral storage (instance store). Ephemeral storage (instance store) is correct because it provides temporary, block-level storage directly attached to a single VM, offering low-latency access. The data is tied to the VM's lifecycle and is automatically deleted when the VM is terminated, matching the requirement for temporary processing of user uploads that must not persist after the VM stops.

Answer

Object storage

Answer

File storage

Answer

Persistent block storage

Question 3

A company hosts a production database on a public cloud IaaS platform. The database requires consistent low-latency access to a storage volume that can be attached to a single virtual machine. The volume must persist independently of the VM's lifecycle, meaning data should remain intact even if the VM is stopped and started. The workload requires up to 10,000 IOPS. Which of the following cloud storage types should the technician configure to meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

C. Option C (persistent SSD block storage) is correct because it provides a block-level storage volume that can be attached to a single VM, delivers up to 10,000 IOPS, and persists independently of the VM lifecycle. This matches the requirements for a production database needing consistent low-latency access and data retention across VM stop/start events.

Answer

A

Answer

B

Answer

D

Question 4

A company hosts its e-commerce web application on a public cloud IaaS platform. The application experiences unpredictable traffic spikes throughout the day. The cloud platform is configured to automatically add virtual machines when the average CPU utilization exceeds 80% and to remove virtual machines when utilization drops below 30%. The IT team does not need to manually approve these additions or removals. Which of the following essential cloud characteristics does this scenario BEST demonstrate?

Accepted Answer

Rapid elasticity. The scenario describes automatic scaling of virtual machines in response to CPU utilization thresholds, with no manual intervention required. This directly demonstrates rapid elasticity, which is the ability to quickly scale resources up or down to meet demand, often automatically. The unpredictable traffic spikes and the automatic addition/removal of VMs are the hallmark of this essential cloud characteristic.

Answer

Metered service

Answer

Resource pooling

Answer

On-demand self-service

Question 5

A company hosts its web application on a public cloud IaaS platform. To ensure availability in case an entire cloud region fails, the company deploys identical infrastructure in two separate regions and configures a traffic management service that automatically routes all user traffic to the healthy region. The secondary region does not normally handle traffic. This architecture is an example of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Active-passive failover. This architecture is an active-passive failover because the secondary region remains idle (passive) until a failure in the primary region triggers automatic traffic redirection via the traffic management service. The key characteristic is that only one region handles user traffic at a time, with the passive region standing by to take over, ensuring availability during a full cloud region outage.

Answer

Active-active load balancing

Answer

Disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS)

Answer

High availability across availability zones

Question 6

A company wants to migrate its on-premises email system to the cloud. They require a solution where the cloud provider manages the email servers, software updates, security patches, and storage infrastructure, while the company retains control over user accounts, mailbox policies, and email content. Which cloud service model BEST fits these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). Software as a Service (SaaS) delivers a complete, managed application to end users. In this scenario, the cloud provider handles all underlying infrastructure, including email servers, software updates, security patches, and storage, while the customer retains administrative control over user accounts, mailbox policies, and email content. This matches the definition of SaaS, where the provider manages the entire application stack and the customer only manages application-level settings.

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 7

A small e-commerce company hosts its website on a public cloud IaaS platform. During a promotional sale, traffic increases dramatically. The cloud platform automatically provisions additional virtual machines within minutes to handle the load. The company only pays for the additional resources used during that time. Which essential cloud characteristic does this scenario BEST demonstrate?

Accepted Answer

Rapid elasticity. The scenario describes the cloud platform automatically provisioning additional virtual machines within minutes to handle a sudden traffic spike, and the company only paying for the extra resources used during that time. This directly demonstrates rapid elasticity, which is the ability to scale resources up or down automatically and quickly in response to demand. The key is the automatic scaling and the pay-per-use model for the additional capacity, which are hallmarks of elasticity in cloud computing.

Answer

On-demand self-service

Answer

Measured service

Answer

Resource pooling

Question 8

A research organization requires a cloud environment that is exclusively used by their team and physically isolated from other organizations. They need complete control over the underlying infrastructure, including the ability to configure hypervisors and virtual switches. Which cloud deployment model should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Private cloud. A private cloud is the correct choice because it provides a dedicated, single-tenant environment that is physically isolated from other organizations. This model gives the research team complete control over the underlying infrastructure, including hypervisors and virtual switches, enabling custom configuration and management.

Answer

Public cloud

Answer

Community cloud

Answer

Hybrid cloud

Question 9

A company uses a public IaaS provider to host a web application. To protect against DDoS attacks, they configure a security appliance that inspects incoming traffic before it reaches the web servers. This appliance runs on a separate virtual machine in the same cloud environment. Which of the following cloud security concepts does this scenario BEST describe?

Accepted Answer

Network virtual appliance. The scenario describes a security appliance running on a separate virtual machine that inspects incoming traffic before it reaches the web servers. This is the definition of a Network Virtual Appliance (NVA) — a virtual machine-based security device (e.g., virtual firewall, IDS/IPS) deployed in a public IaaS environment to filter or inspect traffic. Option C is correct because the appliance is explicitly a separate VM performing a dedicated network security function, which is the core characteristic of an NVA.

Answer

Virtual private cloud (VPC)

Answer

Security group

Answer

Resource pooling

Question 10

A company decides to migrate its on-premises customer relationship management (CRM) software to the cloud. They want to avoid managing the underlying servers, operating systems, and runtime environments. They also want to focus only on configuring the CRM application to meet their business needs. Which cloud service model should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). Option C (SaaS) is correct because the company wants to avoid managing servers, operating systems, and runtime environments, and only configure the CRM application. SaaS delivers a fully managed application over the internet, where the provider handles all underlying infrastructure, platform, and software maintenance, aligning perfectly with the requirement to focus solely on business configuration.

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 11

A company wants to migrate its custom web application to the cloud. The development team needs full administrative access to the operating system, the ability to install custom middleware, and control over security configurations. They want to avoid managing the physical servers, hypervisors, and data center infrastructure. Which cloud service model should the company choose?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides virtualized computing resources over the internet, giving the development team full administrative access to the operating system, the ability to install custom middleware, and control over security configurations. The cloud provider manages the physical servers, hypervisors, and data center infrastructure, while the customer retains control over the OS, storage, and deployed applications. This matches the requirement for full OS-level access without managing the underlying hardware.

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 12

A small business wants to migrate its on-premises database to the cloud. The business wants to avoid managing the operating system and database software, but needs full control over the database schema, queries, and data. They want the cloud provider to handle patching, backup, and replication of the database engine. Which cloud service model best meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS). Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a managed database environment where the cloud provider handles the underlying OS, database engine patching, backups, and replication, while the customer retains full control over the database schema, queries, and data. This aligns with the requirement to avoid managing the OS and database software but still needing schema-level control.

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 13

A company runs multiple virtual machines on a single physical server. The hypervisor is installed directly on the server hardware and does not require an underlying operating system. This configuration is an example of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Type 1 hypervisor. A Type 1 hypervisor, also known as a bare-metal hypervisor, runs directly on the physical hardware without requiring an underlying operating system. This configuration is used in enterprise data centers to host multiple virtual machines efficiently, as the hypervisor has direct access to hardware resources like CPU, memory, and I/O, minimizing overhead.

Answer

Type 2 hypervisor

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service

Answer

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Question 14

A healthcare organization must store electronic health records in a cloud environment that meets HIPAA compliance requirements. The organization wants to keep sensitive patient data on-premises servers while using cloud resources for less critical workloads and to handle peak demand. Which cloud deployment model would BEST meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Hybrid cloud. A hybrid cloud model combines on-premises infrastructure (private cloud) with public cloud resources, allowing the healthcare organization to keep sensitive patient data on-premises for HIPAA compliance while using the public cloud for less critical workloads and to handle peak demand. This architecture provides the necessary data sovereignty and security controls for protected health information (PHI) while offering scalability and cost efficiency for non-sensitive tasks.

Answer

Public cloud

Answer

Private cloud

Answer

Community cloud

Question 15

A cloud provider tracks a customer's usage of storage, processing power, and network bandwidth on a per-hour basis. At the end of the month, the customer receives a bill that exactly matches the resources consumed. Which essential cloud characteristic does this scenario BEST illustrate?

Accepted Answer

C. Measured service. The scenario describes a cloud provider tracking resource usage (storage, processing power, network bandwidth) per hour and billing exactly for what was consumed. This directly illustrates the 'Measured service' characteristic, where cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). The pay-per-use billing model is a direct outcome of this measured service.

Answer

A. Rapid elasticity

Answer

B. On-demand self-service

Answer

D. Resource pooling