Cloud Computing & Infrastructure Flashcards

What is the role of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) in cloud infrastructure?

Answer: To distribute content from edge servers closer to end users

A CDN caches content at geographically distributed edge servers, reducing latency by serving users from the nearest point of presence.

In Infrastructure as Code (IaC), what does Terraform primarily use to define cloud resources?

Answer: HCL configuration files

Terraform uses HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) in .tf files to declaratively define and provision cloud infrastructure.

Which cloud cost model charges users only for the compute seconds their function consumes, with no idle billing?

Answer: Serverless / Function as a Service

Serverless FaaS (e.g., AWS Lambda) bills only for actual execution time in milliseconds, eliminating costs when code is not running.

What does RPO (Recovery Point Objective) measure in a cloud disaster recovery plan?

Answer: The maximum acceptable data loss measured in time

RPO defines the maximum age of data that must be recoverable after a disaster, essentially the tolerable data loss window.

Which cloud networking component acts as a virtual firewall, controlling inbound and outbound traffic at the instance level?

Answer: Security Group

Security Groups function as stateful virtual firewalls attached directly to instances, evaluating all inbound and outbound traffic rules.

What is the main advantage of using a managed database service (like AWS RDS) over self-hosting a database on a VM?

Answer: Automatic patching, backups, and failover managed by the provider

Managed database services offload operational tasks like patching, automated backups, and multi-AZ failover to the cloud provider.

In Kubernetes, what is a Pod?

Answer: The smallest deployable unit containing one or more containers

A Pod is Kubernetes' basic execution unit, wrapping one or more tightly coupled containers that share network and storage resources.