DOL DOL Cloud and Infrastructure Strategy 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the key difference between vertical scaling and horizontal scaling in a cloud environment?
- Vertical scaling adds more servers; horizontal scaling increases server size
- Vertical scaling increases the size of a single server; horizontal scaling adds more server instances (Correct answer)
- Vertical scaling is cheaper; horizontal scaling is faster
- Vertical scaling applies to databases only; horizontal scaling applies to applications only
Correct answer: Vertical scaling increases the size of a single server; horizontal scaling adds more server instances
Vertical scaling (scale up) increases compute resources on one machine while horizontal scaling (scale out) distributes load across multiple instances.
Question 2: A DevOps team needs to manage environment-specific configuration without changing container images. Which approach is best practice?
- Baking all configuration into the container image at build time
- Using environment variables or secrets management tools injected at runtime (Correct answer)
- Storing configuration in application source code
- Using different Dockerfiles for each environment
Correct answer: Using environment variables or secrets management tools injected at runtime
Injecting configuration at runtime via environment variables or secrets managers keeps images environment-agnostic and aligns with the 12-factor app methodology.
Question 3: What is a key advantage of using Kubernetes for container orchestration in a DevOps environment?
- It eliminates the need for CI/CD pipelines
- It automates deployment, scaling, and self-healing of containerized applications (Correct answer)
- It replaces the need for cloud providers
- It provides built-in source code management
Correct answer: It automates deployment, scaling, and self-healing of containerized applications
Kubernetes automates scheduling, rolling updates, self-healing, and scaling, reducing the operational burden of running containerized workloads.
Question 4: Which cloud cost optimization strategy aligns best with DevOps principles of automation?
- Manually reviewing monthly bills and resizing resources
- Implementing auto-scaling policies and resource tagging to automate rightsizing and chargeback (Correct answer)
- Shutting down non-production environments manually at night
- Negotiating reserved instance contracts for all workloads
Correct answer: Implementing auto-scaling policies and resource tagging to automate rightsizing and chargeback
Automated auto-scaling and resource tagging enable continuous cost optimization and team accountability without manual intervention.
Question 5: What is GitOps and how does it relate to infrastructure management?
- Using Git for application source code only
- Using Git as the single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and application configuration, with automated reconciliation (Correct answer)
- A Git branching strategy for large teams
- A method for managing Git repository access permissions
Correct answer: Using Git as the single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and application configuration, with automated reconciliation
GitOps treats Git as the authoritative source for desired system state, with operators automatically applying changes when the repository is updated.
Question 6: When adopting a serverless architecture, which traditional DevOps concern is significantly reduced?
- Application testing
- Server provisioning and OS-level patching (Correct answer)
- Code deployment frequency
- Monitoring and observability
Correct answer: Server provisioning and OS-level patching
Serverless platforms abstract away server management entirely, so teams no longer need to provision, patch, or manage underlying operating systems.
DOL DOL Cloud and Infrastructure Strategy 2
What is the key difference between vertical scaling and horizontal scaling in a cloud environment?