Cloud Academy is an online platform for IT professionals and companies to learn Cloud Computing technologies and test your skills. In this page, you can find an example of the questions and explanation we provide to our members to help them prepare for AWS Solutions Architect certifications with more than 6000+ scenario-based questions. Our quizzes are the best way to test your knowledge on Amazon Web Services and learn with deep and detailed explanations.
Question 1 – Which Amazon Web Services you need?
One of your customers is a large multi-national company whose infrastructure on AWS has grown significantly over the past year. The CIO has come to you asking how the huge amount of data that is being generated can be accessed in real-time which would give them a significant edge over all of their competitors. You know that AWS can provide a range of analytics but which of the following would be best to try and accomplish this?
- Amazon EMR: EMR hands-on lab
- AWS Data Pipeline: Data Pipeline training content
- Amazon Kinesis: Working with Kinesis course
- Amazon CloudWatch: CloudWatch course
- AWS Import/Export
- AWS CloudTrail: Introduction to CloudTrail course
Question 2 – Using AWS for High Availability and Disaster Recovery
An organization is setting up an application on AWS to have HA and DR. The organization wants to have both RPO and RTO of 10 minutes. Which of the below-mentioned service configurations does not help the organization achieve the said RTP and RTO?
- Take a snapshot of the data every 10 minutes and copy it to the other region.
- Use an AMI copy to keep the AMI available in other regions.
- Create ELB with multi-region routing to allow automated failover when required.
- Use an elastic IP to assign to a running instance and use Route 53 to map the user’s domain with that IP.
Explanation
AWS provides an on-demand, scalable infrastructure. AWS EC2 allows the user to launch On-Demand instances and the organization should create an AMI of the running instance. Copy the AMI to another region to enable DR in case of region failure. The organization should also use EBS for persistent storage and take a snapshot every 10 minutes to meet RTO. They should also setup an elastic IP and use it with Route 53 to route requests to the same IP.
When one of the instances fails the organization can launch new instances and assign the same EIP to a new instance to achieve HA. The ELB works only for a particular region and does not route requests across regions.
Learn More –
http://d36cz9buwru1tt.cloudfront.net/AWS_Disaster_Recovery.pdf
Question 3 – Setup of VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) with Auto Scaling in Amazon Web Services
An organization is trying to setup AWS VPC with Auto Scaling. Which of the below-mentioned steps is not required to be configured by the organization to set up AWS VPC?
- Configure the Auto Scaling Launch configuration with multiple subnets of the VPC to enable the Multi-AZ feature.
- Configure the Auto Scaling Launch configuration which does not allow assigning a public IP to instances.
- Configure the Auto Scaling group with the VPC ID in which instances will be launched.
- Configure the Auto Scaling Launch configuration with the VPC security group.
Explanation
The Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) allows the user to define a virtual networking environment in a private, isolated section of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. The user has complete control over the virtual networking environment. Within this virtual private cloud, the user can launch AWS resources, such as an Auto Scaling group. Before creating the Auto Scaling group it is recommended that the user creates the Launch configuration. Since it is a VPC, it is recommended to set the parameter which does not allow assigning a public IP to the instances.
The user should also set the VPC security group with the Launch configuration and select the subnets where the instances will be launched in the AutoScaling group. The HA will be provided as the subnets may be a part of separate AZs.
Learn More
http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AutoScaling/latest/DeveloperGuide/autoscalingsubnets.html
Question 4 – How to manage Security on EC2 (Elastic Cloud Compute)
An organization is setting up their website on AWS. The organization is working on various security measures to be performed on the AWS EC2 instances. Which of the below-mentioned security mechanisms will not help the organization to avoid future data leaks and identify security weaknesses?
- Run penetration testing on AWS with prior approval from Amazon.
- Perform SQL injection for application testing.
- Perform a Code Check for any memory leaks.
- Perform a hardening test on the AWS instance.
Explanation
AWS security follows the shared security model where the user is as much responsible as Amazon. Since Amazon is a public cloud it is bound to be targeted by hackers. If an organization is planning to host their application on AWS EC2, they should perform the below-mentioned security checks as a measure to find any security weakness/data leaks:
• Perform penetration testing as performed by attackers to find any vulnerability. The organization must take approval from AWS before performing penetration testing
• Perform hardening testing to find if there are any unnecessary ports open
• Perform SQL injection to find any DB security issues
The code memory checks are generally useful when the organization wants to improve application performance.
Learn More
http://aws.amazon.com/security/penetration-testing/
QUESTION 5 – Consolidate Billing in AWS
Your manager has come to you saying that he is very confused about the bills he is receiving from AWS as he is getting different bills for every user and needs you to look into making it more understandable. Which of the following would be the best solution to meet his request?
- Consolidated Billing
- Deferred Billing
- Aggregated Billing
- AWS Billing Aggregation
Explanation
Consolidated Billing enables you to consolidate payment for multiple AWS accounts within your company by designating a single paying account. Consolidated Billing enables you to see a combined view of AWS costs incurred by all accounts, as well as obtain a detailed cost report for each of the individual AWS accounts associated with your “Paying Account”. Consolidated Billing is offered at no additional charge.
Learn More
https://aws.amazon.com/billing/faqs
QUESTION 6 – Differences between Elastic Beanstalk and AWS CloudFormation
You need to develop and run some new applications on AWS and you know that Elastic Beanstalk and Cloudformation can both help as a deployment mechanism for a broad range of AWS resources.
Which of the following statements best describes the differences between Elastic Beanstalk and Cloudformation?
- CloudFormation uses a template, a JSON-format, a text-based file that describes all the AWS resources you need to deploy.
- Elastic Beanstalk uses a template, a JSON-format, a text-based file that describes all the AWS resources you need to deploy.
- Elastic Beanstalk uses Elastic load balancing and Cloudformation doesn’t.
- Elastic Beanstalk is faster in deploying applications than CloudFormation.
Explanation
These services are designed to complement each other. AWS Elastic Beanstalk provides an environment to easily develop and run applications in the cloud. It is integrated with developer tools and provides a one-stop experience for you to manage the lifecycle of your applications. AWS CloudFormation is a convenient deployment mechanism for a broad range of AWS resources. It supports the infrastructure needs of many different types of applications such as existing enterprise applications, legacy applications, applications built using a variety of AWS resources and container-based solutions (including those built using AWS Elastic Beanstalk).
AWS CloudFormation introduces two new concepts: The template, a JSON-format, a text-based file that describes all the AWS resources you need to deploy to run your application and the stack, the set of AWS resources that are created and managed as a single unit when AWS CloudFormation instantiates a template.
Learn More
http://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/faqs/
QUESTION 7 – Databases on AWS
You have been asked to set up a database in AWS that will require frequent and granular updates. You know that you will require a reasonable amount of storage space but are not sure of the best option. What is the recommended storage option when you run a database on an instance with the above criteria?
- AWS Storage Gateway
- Amazon S3
- Amazon Glacier
- Amazon EBS
Explanation
Amazon EBS provides durable, block-level storage volumes that you can attach to a running Amazon EC2 instance. You can use Amazon EBS as a primary storage device for data that requires frequent and granular updates. For example, Amazon EBS is the recommended storage option when you run a database on an instance.
Learn More
http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/Storage.htm
QUESTION 8 – SSL Certificates on Amazon Web Services
You have just created a new SSL server certificate to replace an expired server certificate for a load balancer and have uploaded it using the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). You have uploaded a few of them in the past week and are not sure if there are any limitations to how many you can upload and what to do if you were to reach a limitation. Which of the following statements best describes the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) security policy limitations?
- By default, IAM allows only 1 server certificate per AWS account.
- By default, IAM allows 50 server certificates per AWS account.
- By default, IAM allows 10 server certificates per AWS account.
- By default, IAM allows unlimited server certificates per AWS account.
Explanation
All your SSL server certificates are managed by AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). By default, IAM allows 10 server certificates per AWS account. If you try to upload a new server certificate after reaching this limit, you’ll get an error. You can request for more certificates using this form – IAM Limit Increase Contact Us Form.
Learn More
http://docs.aws.amazon.com/ElasticLoadBalancing/latest/DeveloperGuide/US_UpdatingLoadBalancerSSL.html
QUESTION 9 – Static websites on Amazon Web Services
You receive the following request from a client to quickly deploy a static website for them, specifically on AWS. The requirements are low-cost, reliable, online storage and a reliable and cost-effective way to route customers to the website and a way to deliver content with low latency and high data transfer speeds so that visitors to his website don’t experience unnecessary delays. What do you think would be the minimum AWS services that could fulfill the client’s request?
- Amazon S3 and Amazon Route 53.
- Amazon S3, Amazon Route 53, Amazon CloudFront and Amazon VPC.
- Amazon S3, Amazon Route 53 and Amazon CloudFront
- Amazon S3, Amazon Route 53 and Amazon RDS
Explanation
You can easily and inexpensively use AWS to host a website that uses client-side technologies (such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) and does not require server-side technologies (such as PHP and ASP.NET). This type of site is called a static website and is used to display content that does not change frequently.
Before you create and deploy a static website, you must plan your architecture to ensure that it meets your requirements. The following table shows how Amazon S3, Amazon Route 53, and Amazon CloudFront work together to provide a seamless and cost-effective solution.
- Requirement
- Solution
- Low-cost, reliable, online storage to host your static website
- Amazon S3 is a low-cost, highly reliable web service for hosting static websites.
- A reliable and cost-effective way to route customers to your website
- Amazon Route 53 maps human-readable domain names to IP addresses and AWS locations.
A way to deliver content with low latency and high data transfer speeds so that visitors to your website don’t experience unnecessary delays.
CloudFront speeds up the loading of streaming or downloaded static content by caching the content in edge locations. When your customer visits your site, CloudFront delivers the content from the location that is geographically closest to your customer, ensuring the lowest possible latency.
Learn More
http://docs.aws.amazon.com/gettingstarted/latest/swh/website-hosting-intro.html
QUESTION 10 – Billing for EC2 Instances
You have been doing a lot of testing of your VPC Network by deliberately failing EC2 instances to test whether instances are failing over properly. Your customer who will be paying the AWS bill for all this asks you if he is charged for all these instances. You try to explain to him how the billing works on EC2 instances to the best of your knowledge. What would be an appropriate response to give to the customer in regards to this?
- Billing commences when Amazon EC2 initiates the boot sequence of an AMI instance and billing ends as soon as the instance starts to shut down.
- Billing commences when Amazon EC2 initiates the boot sequence of an AMI instance and billing ends when the instance terminates.
- Billing only commences only after 1 hour of uptime and billing ends when the instance terminates.
- Billing commences when Amazon EC2 AMI instance is completely up and billing ends as soon as the instance starts to shut down.
Explanation
Billing commences when Amazon EC2 initiates the boot sequence of an AMI instance. Billing ends when the instance terminates, which could occur through a web services command, by running “shutdown -h”, or through instance failure.
Learn More
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/faqs/#Billing
