CSLB General Building (B) — All Questions

Which cloud service model gives you the most control over the operating system, networking, and installed software, while the provider manages only the physical hardware?

• a.Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)✓
• b.Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• c.Software as a Service (SaaS)
• d.Function as a Service (FaaS)

IaaS provides virtualized compute, storage, and networking, leaving the customer responsible for the operating system and everything above it. The provider only manages the underlying physical infrastructure. This gives the greatest flexibility but also the most administrative overhead.

In which cloud service model does the provider deliver a complete, ready-to-use application over the internet, such as a hosted email or CRM product?

• a.Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• b.Software as a Service (SaaS)✓
• c.Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• d.Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

SaaS delivers finished software that users simply consume, usually through a web browser. The provider manages everything from the hardware up to the application itself. Customers only configure settings and manage their own data and users.

A development team wants to deploy code without managing the underlying servers, operating system patches, or runtime. Which model best fits this need?

• a.Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• b.Software as a Service (SaaS)
• c.Platform as a Service (PaaS)✓
• d.Colocation hosting

PaaS provides a managed platform including the operating system, runtime, and middleware, so developers focus only on their application code and data. The provider handles patching and infrastructure maintenance. This accelerates development while reducing operational burden.

What is the primary financial benefit of the cloud's consumption-based (pay-as-you-go) pricing model?

• a.You receive a fixed monthly bill regardless of usage
• b.Hardware must be purchased upfront for the year
• c.Costs are hidden until an annual audit
• d.You pay only for the resources you actually use, converting capital expense into operating expense✓

Consumption-based pricing charges you only for the compute, storage, and services you consume. This shifts spending from large upfront capital expenditure (CapEx) to flexible operating expenditure (OpEx). It lets organizations avoid over-provisioning and align cost with demand.

Which cloud benefit describes the ability to quickly add or remove resources to match changing demand?

• a.Scalability and elasticity✓
• b.High latency
• c.Vendor lock-in
• d.Manual provisioning

Scalability lets you increase capacity as workloads grow, while elasticity automatically adds or removes resources in response to demand. Together they ensure applications perform well during spikes and save money during quiet periods. This responsiveness is a core advantage of cloud computing.

What does the term 'high availability' primarily refer to in cloud computing?

• a.Storing data in a single location
• b.Keeping applications running and accessible with minimal downtime✓
• c.Reducing the number of servers to save money
• d.Encrypting data at rest

High availability means designing systems so they remain operational even when individual components fail. Cloud platforms achieve this through redundancy, load balancing, and distribution across fault domains. The goal is to minimize service interruptions and meet uptime commitments.

In the shared responsibility model, which task is ALWAYS the customer's responsibility regardless of the service model used?

• a.Maintaining the physical datacenter security
• b.Replacing failed physical hard drives
• c.Managing the data, accounts, and access identities✓
• d.Securing the physical network cabling

The customer always retains responsibility for their own data, user accounts, and identity/access management no matter which service model is chosen. The provider is always responsible for the physical datacenter and hardware. Responsibilities in between shift depending on IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS.

Under the shared responsibility model for IaaS, who is responsible for patching the guest operating system on a virtual machine?

• a.The cloud provider
• b.The hardware vendor
• c.No patching is required in the cloud
• d.The customer✓

With IaaS, the customer manages the virtual machine's operating system, including applying security patches and updates. The provider only maintains the physical host and hypervisor. This division is central to understanding cloud security obligations.

Which type of cloud deployment combines on-premises infrastructure with public cloud resources, allowing data and applications to move between them?

• a.Hybrid cloud✓
• b.Public cloud only
• c.Private cloud only
• d.Community cloud

A hybrid cloud connects private, on-premises environments with public cloud services so workloads can span both. This lets organizations keep sensitive systems local while bursting to the public cloud for scale. It is popular for gradual migration and regulatory needs.

What is a defining characteristic of a public cloud deployment?

• a.Hardware is dedicated exclusively to one organization on-premises
• b.Resources are owned and operated by a third-party provider and shared among multiple organizations✓
• c.It cannot connect to the internet
• d.It requires the customer to own the datacenter

In a public cloud, a third-party provider owns the infrastructure and offers services to many customers over the internet. Resources are multi-tenant and delivered on demand. This model offers low upfront cost and virtually unlimited scale.

Which deployment model dedicates cloud infrastructure to a single organization, often for stricter control or compliance?

• a.Public cloud
• b.Hybrid cloud
• c.Private cloud✓
• d.Multi-tenant SaaS

A private cloud provides computing resources used exclusively by one organization, whether hosted on-premises or by a provider. It offers greater control and isolation, which helps meet strict security or regulatory requirements. The trade-off is typically higher cost and management effort.

What is meant by 'agility' as a benefit of cloud computing?

• a.The requirement to sign multi-year hardware contracts
• b.The elimination of all security concerns
• c.The guarantee of zero cost
• d.The ability to rapidly develop, test, and deploy applications✓

Agility refers to how quickly you can provision resources and bring solutions to market in the cloud. Instead of waiting weeks to procure hardware, teams spin up environments in minutes. This speed accelerates innovation and experimentation.

Which concept describes distributing resources across multiple physical datacenters so a single failure does not take down a service?

• a.Fault tolerance and redundancy✓
• b.Consumption-based billing
• c.Vertical scaling
• d.Data sovereignty

Fault tolerance uses redundant components and locations so the failure of one does not disrupt the overall service. Cloud providers replicate resources across isolated fault domains. This design keeps applications available during hardware or facility failures.

What distinguishes 'vertical scaling' from 'horizontal scaling'?

• a.Vertical scaling adds more instances, while horizontal scaling adds CPU/RAM
• b.Vertical scaling adds power (CPU/RAM) to an existing resource, while horizontal scaling adds more instances✓
• c.They are identical terms
• d.Vertical scaling only applies to storage

Vertical scaling (scaling up) increases the capacity of a single machine by adding CPU, memory, or disk. Horizontal scaling (scaling out) adds more machines or instances to share the load. Cloud platforms support both, but scaling out is often more resilient.

Which of the following is an example of an operating expense (OpEx) enabled by the cloud?

• a.A one-time purchase of physical servers
• b.Buying a datacenter building
• c.A monthly bill for the compute hours consumed✓
• d.Purchasing networking hardware upfront

OpEx refers to ongoing, usage-based spending such as a monthly cloud bill for consumed services. This contrasts with CapEx, which is a large upfront purchase of assets. The cloud's pay-as-you-go model favors OpEx, improving cash flow and flexibility.

What does 'disaster recovery' in the cloud primarily help an organization achieve?

• a.Reducing the monthly subscription cost
• b.Increasing application latency
• c.Eliminating the need for backups
• d.Restoring systems and data quickly after a major outage or failure✓

Disaster recovery is the practice of restoring IT systems and data after a significant disruptive event. Cloud services make this easier and more affordable by replicating data to other regions. This minimizes downtime and data loss during major incidents.

Which cloud characteristic allows many customers to share the same physical infrastructure while remaining logically isolated?

• a.Multi-tenancy✓
• b.Single-tenancy
• c.Colocation
• d.On-premises hosting

Multi-tenancy means multiple customers (tenants) share the same underlying physical resources while their data and workloads stay logically separated. This efficient use of hardware lowers costs for everyone. Providers enforce strong isolation to keep tenants secure from one another.

A company wants to avoid the cost and effort of maintaining physical servers. Which cloud advantage most directly addresses this?

• a.Increased hardware ownership
• b.Reduced infrastructure management responsibility✓
• c.Longer procurement times
• d.Higher capital expenditure

By moving to the cloud, organizations offload the purchase, maintenance, and refresh of physical hardware to the provider. This reduces the management burden and staffing needed for datacenters. Teams can then focus on applications and business value instead of infrastructure.

What is the main purpose of a service-level agreement (SLA) offered by a cloud provider?

• a.It lists the provider's employees
• b.It sets the price of physical hardware
• c.It formally defines the expected performance and uptime guarantees for a service✓
• d.It encrypts customer data automatically

An SLA is a formal commitment that specifies metrics such as guaranteed uptime and availability for a service. If the provider fails to meet these targets, customers may receive service credits. SLAs help organizations plan for reliability and set expectations.

Which of the following best describes 'elasticity' in cloud computing?

• a.Resources remain fixed regardless of load
• b.Storage is limited to a single disk
• c.Applications must be manually restarted daily
• d.Resources automatically expand or contract to match real-time demand✓

Elasticity is the automatic scaling of resources up or down in response to workload changes. During a traffic spike, more capacity is added; when demand falls, capacity is released. This keeps performance steady while avoiding payment for idle resources.

In the shared responsibility model for SaaS, which responsibility shifts almost entirely to the provider?

• a.Managing the application, runtime, and operating system✓
• b.Managing user access and data classification
• c.Choosing which users get accounts
• d.Setting data-sharing permissions

In SaaS, the provider manages nearly the entire stack including the application, runtime, and operating system. The customer's remaining duties center on their data, users, and access configuration. This makes SaaS the lowest-maintenance model for consumers.

Why is 'geographic distribution' of datacenters valuable to cloud customers?

• a.It forces all data into one country
• b.It lets applications serve users from nearby locations, reducing latency and improving resilience✓
• c.It increases the physical distance data must travel
• d.It removes the need for redundancy

Providers operate datacenters around the world so applications can run close to their users. This lowers latency and improves the user experience. Geographic spread also supports disaster recovery and compliance with data-residency requirements.

Which statement about capital expenditure (CapEx) is correct?

• a.It is a recurring monthly usage charge
• b.It only applies to cloud subscriptions
• c.It is a large upfront investment in physical assets like servers and datacenters✓
• d.It eliminates the need to own hardware

CapEx is spending on tangible assets, such as buying servers or building a datacenter, that are used over many years. Traditional on-premises IT relies heavily on CapEx. Cloud computing reduces CapEx by shifting toward pay-as-you-go OpEx.

What is a key reason organizations adopt cloud computing for 'reliability'?

• a.It guarantees the code has no bugs
• b.It removes the need for testing
• c.It makes applications run offline permanently
• d.Built-in redundancy and backups keep services running and recoverable during failures✓

Reliability in the cloud comes from redundant infrastructure, automated backups, and the ability to recover quickly from failures. Providers design their platforms to keep services available and data protected. This lets organizations meet uptime and continuity goals more easily.

A workload experiences predictable spikes every weekday morning. Which cloud capability lets it automatically add capacity during those spikes and remove it afterward?

• a.Autoscaling✓
• b.Manual server purchasing
• c.Static provisioning
• d.Data archiving

Autoscaling monitors demand and adjusts the number of running resources automatically. During predictable morning spikes it adds instances, then removes them when traffic subsides. This maintains performance while controlling cost, a hallmark of elastic cloud design.

Which of the following is generally NOT considered a benefit of moving to the public cloud?

• a.Scalability on demand
• b.Full ownership and physical control of the underlying hardware✓
• c.Reduced upfront capital costs
• d.Global reach and availability

Public cloud customers do not own or physically control the hardware; that stays with the provider. The recognized benefits include on-demand scalability, lower upfront costs, and global reach. Trading physical control for these advantages is the essence of the public cloud model.