CCSP Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Type 1 hypervisor differs from a Type 2 hypervisor in which fundamental way?
- Type 1 runs on top of a host OS; Type 2 runs directly on hardware
- Type 1 runs directly on host hardware; Type 2 runs on top of a host OS (Correct answer)
- Type 1 supports only Linux VMs; Type 2 supports all operating systems
- Type 1 is used only in private clouds; Type 2 is used only in public clouds
Correct answer: Type 1 runs directly on host hardware; Type 2 runs on top of a host OS
Type 1 (bare-metal) hypervisors run directly on hardware without an underlying OS for better performance and security, while Type 2 (hosted) hypervisors run as applications on top of a host OS.
Question 2: What is the primary security concern introduced by multitenancy in cloud computing environments?
- Difficulty in deploying applications across multiple instances
- Potential for data leakage or unauthorized access between co-located tenant workloads (Correct answer)
- Increased latency due to shared network bandwidth
- Inability to enforce encryption for individual tenants
Correct answer: Potential for data leakage or unauthorized access between co-located tenant workloads
Multitenancy introduces the risk that tenant data or workloads could be exposed to other tenants through misconfigurations, virtualization vulnerabilities, or side-channel attacks on shared infrastructure.
Question 3: NIST SP 800-145 defines cloud computing with five essential characteristics, three service models, and how many deployment models?
- Two
- Three
- Four (Correct answer)
- Five
Correct answer: Four
NIST SP 800-145 defines four cloud deployment models: private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud.
Question 4: Which NIST cloud computing characteristic describes the ability of cloud resources to be provisioned and released rapidly to scale elastically with demand?
- Measured service
- Resource pooling
- Rapid elasticity (Correct answer)
- Broad network access
Correct answer: Rapid elasticity
Rapid elasticity allows cloud resources to be provisioned and released quickly—automatically in some cases—to scale with demand, appearing unlimited to the consumer.
Question 5: In a Software as a Service (SaaS) deployment, which area does the cloud customer retain primary responsibility for?
- Application code and features
- Underlying database configuration
- User identity, access management, and data stored in the application (Correct answer)
- Network and server infrastructure
Correct answer: User identity, access management, and data stored in the application
In SaaS, the customer's responsibility is primarily limited to managing user access, identity provisioning, and the data they input and store in the application.
Question 6: What is the key architectural difference between containers and virtual machines (VMs)?
- Containers include a full OS per instance; VMs share the host OS kernel
- Containers share the host OS kernel; VMs include a complete guest OS per instance (Correct answer)
- Containers require Type 1 hypervisors; VMs use Type 2 hypervisors only
- Containers are used only for stateless applications; VMs support only stateful workloads
Correct answer: Containers share the host OS kernel; VMs include a complete guest OS per instance
Containers share the host OS kernel and isolate only the application and its dependencies, making them more lightweight, while VMs include a full guest OS per instance.
Question 7: What does the term 'cloud bursting' describe in a hybrid cloud architecture?
- A DDoS attack targeting cloud infrastructure resources
- The automatic overflow of workloads from a private cloud to a public cloud during demand spikes (Correct answer)
- The process of permanently migrating all workloads to a public cloud
- A failure condition where cloud resource quotas become exhausted
Correct answer: The automatic overflow of workloads from a private cloud to a public cloud during demand spikes
Cloud bursting allows applications to run in a private cloud and automatically extend to public cloud resources when demand exceeds private cloud capacity, enabling cost-effective scalability.
CCSP Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design 2
A Type 1 hypervisor differs from a Type 2 hypervisor in which fundamental way?