Easy everything in Cloud Platforms, page 2
Choosing relational vs NoSQL managed databases
Choose relational for complex relationships, joins, flexible queries, and strong transactions; choose NoSQL for known access patterns needing massive horizontal scale.
Security Groups vs NACLs
A security group is stateful and attached to instances or NICs; a NACL is stateless and applied at the subnet.
IAM Role vs IAM User
A user is a fixed identity with long-lived credentials for a person; a role is assumable with temporary credentials for workloads or cross-account access.
How cloud DNS resolves a URL to an IP
Recursive resolver queries root, then TLD, then your authoritative cloud DNS zone; the matching record returns an IP, cached per TTL.
Layer 4 vs Layer 7 load balancers
L4 routes on IP and TCP/UDP ports fast and protocol-blind; L7 inspects HTTP for host, path, and headers.
Public and private subnet VPC design
Web server in a public subnet routed to an internet gateway, database in a private subnet with no inbound from the internet, NAT for outbound.
Serving user images securely from object storage
Store images in a private bucket, serve via a CDN with origin access control, use signed URLs for private content.
Object vs block vs file storage
Object stores flat keyed blobs over HTTP, block gives raw volumes for one VM, file offers a shared hierarchical mount.
What a machine image is and why it matters
An image is a frozen template of OS, software, and config; it makes launches identical and fast.
Launching a virtual machine in the cloud
Pick image, instance type, network placement and security, attached storage, and access keys.
CapEx vs OpEx in cloud migration
CapEx is large upfront asset spend, OpEx is ongoing pay-as-you-go cost; cloud shifts spending from CapEx to OpEx, trading ownership for flexibility.
How does shared responsibility shift between IaaS and SaaS?
Tests your understanding of security ownership across cloud stacks. Strong answer: in IaaS you own OS, apps, and network controls; in SaaS you only own data, identities, endpoints, and accounts while the provider manages the rest.
Explain the difference between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS with examples
This tests your grasp of cloud abstraction layers and shared responsibility. A strong answer maps IaaS to raw infrastructure like EC2, PaaS to managed runtimes like Heroku, and SaaS to end-user apps like Gmail.
AWS SDK: Code That Operates Your Cloud
The AWS SDK turns AWS API calls into native code so your app can command S3 or DynamoDB directly. It handles auth, retries, and formatting automatically. The footgun: forgetting region or credentials causes silent failures that look like network errors.
IAM: The Gatekeeper Framework
IAM is the framework that decides who gets through the door and what they can touch inside your systems. It governs every employee transition, from onboarding to departure. The trap is treating IAM as a one-time setup rather than an ongoing lifecycle process.
Cloud Business Case: Justifying Your Move to the Cloud
A cloud business case translates technical goals into financial terms like ROI and TCO to win executive support. It's the "why" and "how much" for a migration, used to secure budget and sponsorship.
AWS Well-Architected Framework: A Blueprint for Cloud Health
Think of it as a pre-flight checklist for your cloud architecture. It provides a consistent way to evaluate your systems against six pillars—like security and cost optimization—to ensure they are sound.
The 6 R's: Your Playbook for Cloud Migration
The 6 R's are a strategic menu for migrating apps to the cloud. When planning a move, you use it to decide whether to simply 'Rehost' an app, 'Refactor' it for performance, or even 'Retire' it.
Cloud Adoption Framework: Your Org's Cloud Migration Playbook
A Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) is an organization's pre-flight checklist for moving to the cloud. It provides a structured path for strategy, planning, and governance, ensuring alignment during a large-scale migration.
Cloud Computer Vision: Renting an AI's Eyes via API
Think of it as an API that lets your app 'see.' You send an image and get back structured data like object labels or text. It's used for content moderation, digitizing documents, or making photo libraries searchable.
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