Ch 6 The Cloud

1) Which of the following statements best defines the cloud? A) The cloud is the elastic leasing of pooled computer resources over the Internet. B) The cloud is a peer-to-peer network used to share data between users. C) The cloud is the elastic leasing of in-house computer hardware. D) The cloud is the network of servers hosted in-house by an organization for its own requirements.

2) What does the term elastic in the definition of the cloud mean? A) It means that the computing resources leased can be increased or decreased dynamically in cloud-based hosting. B) It means that the operations staff manually allots fresh resources when the traffic increases. C) It means that the customers are provided a consistent bandwidth on the cloud. D) It means that the resources available for cloud-hosting are shared among customers.

3) An organization that hires cloud services ________. A) can accommodate an increase in traffic from only one city B) is allowed to change its computer hardware requirements only once in an hour C) can limit the response time of its Web pages D) is given access only to a single server

6) Which of the following is an advantage of in-house hosting? A) It requires very small capital. B) It gives greater control over the location of data. C) It has the ability to adapt to growing or fluctuating demands. D) It eliminates the risk of obsolescence.

7) Which of the following factors has contributed to an increase in the popularity of cloud hosting? A) demand for services that can run without the support of the Internet B) development of virtualization technology that allows near-instantaneous creation of new virtual machines C) development of Web services that can be accessed without meeting the service-oriented architecture specifications D) increase in the cost of processors, data communication, and data storage

8) Cloud resources are pooled because many different organizations use the same physical hardware. TRUE or FALSE

9) Cloud vendors do not benefit from economies of scale. TRUE or FALSE

11) As standard practice, customers are regularly updated by cloud vendors about the location and number of copies made of their data. TRUE or FALSE

12) To use cloud-based hosting, an organization will have to construct its own data center. TRUE or FALSE

13) Before the creation of personal computers, time-sharing vendors provided slices of computer time on a use-fee basis. TRUE or FALSE

14) Cloud-based hosting is preferred by organizations that are required by law to have physical control over their data. TRUE or FALSE

15) Organizations that are required by law to have physical control over their data can benefit from cloud computing using private clouds and virtual private clouds. TRUE or FALSE

25) A ________ is an information system that stores user data in many different geographical locations and makes that data available on demand. A) virtual private network B) content delivery network C) wide area network D) local area network

26) Which of the following is an advantage of a content delivery network? A) It increases the load time of Web pages for the users. B) It provides protection from denial-of-service (DOS) attacks. C) It increases the reliability by storing the data on a single, large server. D) It increases the load on the original server.

27) Which of the following statements is true of content delivery networks (CDNs)? A) They reduce access costs by delivering data faster. B) They distribute data on different servers without any data replication. C) They use geographic proximity as the factor to decide which server should deliver a requested content. D) They use predetermined servers to deliver content to each location irrespective of traffic changes.

28) An internal information system built using Web services is said to be using the cloud if it ________. A) allocates specific servers to each task B) offers elasticity in the usage of servers C) uses the Intranet D) provides platform as a service (PaaS)

29) Which of the following is a reason for an internal information system that uses Web services to not be considered a cloud? A) The number of servers is fixed and is not made elastic. B) Idle servers are dynamically re-allocated. C) Data transfer is enabled without dependency on the Internet. D) Web service standards are not followed, as they are confined within the limits of a company.

30) Organizations can dynamically reuse servers that use Web services internally by ________. A) creating a private cloud B) replicating the servers C) allocating different servers for different services D) making the servers elastic

31) To use software as a service (SaaS), a user has to just sign up for the service and learn how to use it. TRUE or FALSE

32) A content delivery network (CDN) provides a specialized type of platform as a service (PaaS). TRUE or FALSE

33) A content delivery network (CDN) services a user's request using the geographically closest server. TRUE or FALSE

34) Content delivery networks (CDNs) increase a Web page's load time. TRUE or FALSE

35) A routing server determines which content delivery network (CDN) server should respond to a request in real time. TRUE or FALSE

36) Content delivery networks (CDNs) are used to store and deliver content that rarely changes. TRUE or FALSE

37) A user can receive various pieces of a Web page from different servers on a content delivery network (CDN). TRUE or FALSE

38) An elastic load balancer is a feature available in a private cloud that is not available in internal information systems, built using Web services. TRUE or FALSE

An organization's internal information system that does not provide elasticity is still considered a cloud. TRUE or FALSE

45) If an organization opts for software as a service (SaaS), it will have to ________. A) install an operating system on the server B) purchase licenses for software replication C) transfer data and develop procedures D) install a database management system

46) A vendor providing software as a service (SaaS) usually makes the software available as a thin-client. TRUE or FALSE

47) If software licensed from others is to be installed on the cloud, licenses that permit replication must be purchased. TRUE or FALSE

50) What is a virtual private network? A) It is a markup language that fixes several HyperText Markup Language (HTML) deficiencies and is commonly used for program-to-program interaction over the Web. B) It is an add-on to browsers that was developed by Adobe and is useful for providing animation, movies, and other advanced graphics inside a browser. C) It is the most common language for defining the structure and layout of Web pages. D) It is a connection that uses the Internet to create secure point-to-point connections.

51) Which of the following is true of a virtual private network (VPN)? A) It provides a secure connection for information transmitted over the public Internet. B) It does not encrypt messages. C) It is confined to be used within an organization. D) It can be used to store highly sensitive information of an organization.

52) Which of the following is an advantage of a virtual private network (VPN)? A) It can be used to physically connect a client and the server. B) It helps to securely access information over the public Internet. C) It facilitates easy access to an organization's data without requiring security access. D) It does not depend on the Internet to function effectively.

53) Which of the following statements is true of private clouds? A) Private clouds are easy to build and operate. B) Several organizations pool their resources to form a private cloud. C) Private clouds provide access from outside an organization that it created without requiring a person to connect to a virtual private network. D) Idle servers in a private cloud cannot be repurposed for use by other organizations.

54) Which of the following is an advantage of a private cloud in an organization? A) It reduces the complexity involved in using other publicly available cloud services. B) It eliminates the need to use an additional secure network to access this cloud from outside the organization. C) It allows the organization to repurpose its idle servers for use to other organizations. D) It allows the organization to manage its servers with elastic load balancing.

55) Which of the following statements is true of a virtual private cloud (VPC)? A) A VPC does not make use of a virtual private network. B) A VPC generally stores an organization's most sensitive data. C) A VPC can be accessed only from within an organization. D) A VPC can be built on a public cloud infrastructure.

56) Which of the following is a difference between a virtual private network (VPN) and a virtual private cloud (VPC)? A) A VPC uses encrypted connections between the users and its server, while a VPN does not use such secure connections. B) A VPC can be accessed over the Internet, while a VPN cannot be accessed over the Internet. C) A VPC does not facilitate data storage, while a VPN allows the storage of a user's most important data. D) A VPC provides the advantages of cloud storage, but a VPN by itself cannot provide these advantages.

57) Which of the following is an advantage of using a private cloud over a virtual private cloud (VPC)? A) Unlike a VPC, the infrastructure required for a private cloud can be built and operated easily. B) Unlike a VPC, a private cloud can be created and used without the Internet. C) Unlike a VPC, a private cloud can be built on top of a public cloud infrastructure. D) Unlike a VPC, a private cloud does not require permission from regulating bodies to host sensitive data.

58) A tunnel is a virtual, private pathway over a public or shared network from the virtual private network (VPN) client to the VPN server. TRUE or FALSE

59) A virtual private network uses the Internet to create the appearance of private, secure connections. TRUE or FALSE

60) A virtual private network (VPN) uses encryption and decryption to protect VPN communications from snooping. TRUE or FALSE

61) A virtual private cloud allows organizations to gain the advantages of cloud storage for the portion of data that need not be physically controlled. TRUE or FALSE

66) Which of the following is likely to be a consequence of cloud computing in the future? A) The preference to set up one's own computing infrastructure will increase among organizations. B) The cost of obtaining elastic resources will decrease. C) The demand for employees who know how to use and manage information systems will reduce. D) The number of technology-based startups will stagnate.

67) A(n) ________ is an information system (IS) that provides computer-based activity at a distance. A) transport driver interface B) content delivery network C) indexing service system D) remote action system

68) A remote system designed by Alpha Solutions uses cameras and motion-sensing equipment to issue tickets for traffic violations. This system is an example of ________. A) telediagnosis B) teleassessment C) telelaw enforcement D) teleinstruction

69) Large Web farms are likely to replace in-house servers used by small companies due to the benefits of cloud computing. TRUE or FALSE

70) Cloud computing can enable organizations to readily obtain elastic resources at very low costs. TRUE or FALSE

71) Cloud computing is likely to lead to an increase in the number of technology-based startups. TRUE or FALSE

72) Telediagnosis uses telecommunications to link surgeons to robotic equipment at distant locations. TRUE or FALSE

73) Teleaction increases the value of local mediocrity. TRUE or FALSE

74) Remote action systems increase time and travel expenses. TRUE or FALSE