1.

Introduction to Cloud Computing – Exam-Ready Notes

Definition
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services — including servers,
storage, networking, databases, software, analytics, and intelligence — over the
internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and
economies of scale.
Instead of owning physical hardware, organizations rent these resources from a
cloud provider such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.

Why it’s called “Cloud”

 Early IT network diagrams represented the internet using a cloud symbol.
 The term reflects how computing resources are abstracted from the
underlying hardware — users focus on the services, not the physical
location or maintenance.

Key Characteristics (from PDF)

1. On-demand self-service – Provision resources automatically without
human intervention.
2. Broad network access – Accessible from anywhere via internet-enabled
devices.
3. Resource pooling – Shared resources serve multiple customers using
virtualization.
4. Rapid elasticity(SCALING) – Instantly scale resources up or down based
on demand.
5. Measured service(PAY AS YOU GO) – Pay only for what you use, with
usage monitored and reported.

Enabling Technologies
 Virtualization – Allows multiple virtual machines on one physical server.
 Web 2.0 – Enables interactive, user-driven web apps.
 Distributed storage & computing – Spreads workload across many
machines.
 Utility computing – Consumption-based pricing.
 High bandwidth & low latency networks – Essential for global access.
 Fault-tolerant systems – Redundant systems to prevent downtime.
Benefits
1. Flexibility – Use any software platform from anywhere.
2. Scalability – Quickly match resources to workload needs.
3. Cost efficiency – No capital expenditure on hardware; pay-as-you-go.
4. Reduced maintenance – Cloud provider handles updates and patches.
5. High availability – Services accessible 24/7 from multiple locations.
6. Environmental benefit – Efficient utilization reduces energy waste.

Drawbacks
 Security & privacy risks – Data stored off-premises.
 Vendor lock-in – Difficulty switching providers due to compatibility
issues.
 Internet dependency – No service without connectivity.
 Migration challenges – Moving legacy systems is complex.

Cloud Types (Deployment perspective)

1. Public Cloud – Open for public use (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).
2. Private Cloud – Dedicated to one organization (more control, higher
cost).
3. Hybrid Cloud – Combination of public and private cloud.

Exam-Style Question Mapping with Full Answers

Q1: Direct Theory Question (5 marks)

Question: Define cloud computing and explain four of its key benefits.
Answer:
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services — including servers,
storage, networking, and software — over the internet, allowing users to access
and manage resources on-demand without owning physical infrastructure.
Benefits:
1. Flexibility: Cloud computing allows access to any software or service
from anywhere with an internet connection, enabling remote work and
global collaboration.
2. Scalability: Resources can be instantly scaled up during peak demand or
scaled down when demand decreases, ensuring cost-effectiveness.
 3. Cost Efficiency: Eliminates the need for upfront capital expenditure on
hardware. Users pay only for the resources they consume.
4. Reduced Maintenance: The cloud provider manages updates, patches,
and system health, freeing organizations from the operational burden.

Q2: Scenario Question (10 marks)

Question: A start-up company wants to quickly launch a global application
without investing in physical servers. They need flexibility, fast deployment, and
minimal maintenance responsibility. Which computing approach should they
adopt? Justify your answer with features and benefits.
Answer:
The start-up should adopt cloud computing as their infrastructure model.
Justification:
 Fast Deployment: Cloud platforms like AWS provide ready-to-use
compute (EC2) and storage (S3) services, enabling applications to be
launched within minutes.
 Flexibility: Applications can be accessed from anywhere globally via
internet, supporting remote teams and distributed customers.
 Scalability: Resources can be scaled automatically using AWS Auto
Scaling to handle varying traffic loads.
 Cost-effective: Pay-as-you-go billing ensures the company only pays for
the resources it uses, avoiding large upfront hardware costs.
 Reduced Maintenance: AWS handles physical hardware management,
network infrastructure, and security updates, allowing the start-up to focus
on application development.
By leveraging cloud computing, the start-up can meet its requirements of speed,
flexibility, and low operational overhead while ensuring global reach.

Q3: Comparative Question (5–10 marks)

Question: Compare Public, Private, and Hybrid Cloud models in terms of
ownership, cost, security, and scalability.
Answer:

Feature Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid Cloud

Ownersh Owned by provider, Owned/operated by Combination of public

ip shared by users single organization and private

Low initial cost, pay- High setup and Balanced cost depending
Cost
as-you-go maintenance cost on usage

Security Lower (shared High (dedicated Medium–High (private for

Feature Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid Cloud

infrastructure) resources) sensitive data)

Scalabili High, instant via Limited by private Flexible — public cloud

ty provider capacity handles overflow demand
2. Overview of AWS Cloud – Exam-Ready Notes

Definition
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and widely
adopted cloud platform, offering over 240 fully featured services from data
centers located globally. AWS supports computing, storage, networking, machine
learning, analytics, and security, serving millions of customers across 245
countries.

Why AWS is so Popular (from PDF)

1. First Mover Advantage – Launched in 2006, AWS was the earliest large-
scale cloud provider.
2. Broad Service Portfolio – Covers everything from basic compute to
advanced AI/ML.
3. Proven Reliability – Used by Netflix, NASA, Airbnb, Samsung, Adobe, and
more.
4. Global Infrastructure – Multiple Regions and Availability Zones reduce
latency and increase resilience.
5. Cost Flexibility – On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot pricing to suit different
workloads.
6. Security & Compliance – Meets international standards such as ISO,
SOC, PCI-DSS, HIPAA.

Core Features of AWS Cloud

1. Global Reach – 37 launched Regions, 117 Availability Zones, 700+ Points
of Presence, 43 Local Zones (as of July 2025).
2. Scalability & Elasticity – Instantly scale resources using Auto Scaling
and Elastic Load Balancing.
3. Pay-as-you-go – Billing is based on actual usage.
4. Wide Range of Services – Over 240 services across compute, storage,
databases, AI/ML, security, analytics, etc.
5. Secure by Design – Built-in security with encryption, IAM, Shield, and
WAF.
6. API and Console Access – Services accessible via AWS Management
Console, Command Line Interface (CLI), or APIs.

Main AWS Service Categories (with examples)

 1. Compute: EC2, Lambda, Elastic Beanstalk, ECS, EKS.
2. Storage: S3, EBS, EFS, Glacier.
3. Databases: RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, Redshift.
4. Networking & CDN: VPC, Route 53, CloudFront, Direct Connect.
5. Security & Identity: IAM, Cognito, KMS, Shield, WAF.
6. Analytics & AI/ML: Athena, QuickSight, SageMaker, Rekognition.

AWS Pricing Models

1. On-Demand Instances – Pay by the second/hour, best for short-term
unpredictable workloads.
2. Reserved Instances – Commit for 1–3 years for significant discounts.
3. Spot Instances – Purchase unused capacity at up to 90% discount.

Future Outlook (from PDF)

AWS continues to expand its Regions and services, focusing on AI/ML, hybrid and
multi-cloud solutions, and edge computing to meet global customer needs.

Exam-Style Question Mapping with Full Answers

Q1: Direct Theory Question (5–10 marks)

Question: Explain the key features of AWS Cloud that make it the most widely
adopted cloud platform.
Answer:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive cloud computing platform
offering over 240 services globally. It is widely adopted because of the following
features:
1. Global Reach: AWS operates in 37 Regions with 117 Availability Zones
and over 700 Points of Presence, ensuring low-latency access worldwide.
2. Scalability and Elasticity: Services like Auto Scaling and Elastic Load
Balancing allow applications to scale up or down automatically based on
demand.
3. Flexible Pricing: AWS offers On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot pricing,
enabling cost optimization for various workloads.
4. Security: AWS meets compliance standards such as ISO, SOC, and PCI-
DSS, with built-in tools like IAM, Shield, and WAF to protect data and
applications.
 5. Wide Service Portfolio: AWS covers compute, storage, networking,
machine learning, analytics, and IoT, reducing the need for multiple
vendors.
6. Innovation: AWS rapidly introduces new services and updates, ensuring
customers have access to the latest technology.

Q2: Scenario Question (10 marks)

Question: Your organization plans to launch a global e-commerce application
and needs low latency for users across different continents, along with high
availability. Recommend an AWS strategy and justify your answer.
Answer:
For a global e-commerce application, AWS offers infrastructure and services that
ensure both low latency and high availability:
1. Global Deployment in Multiple Regions: Deploy application servers in
AWS Regions closest to major customer bases to reduce latency.
2. Use of Amazon CloudFront: A Content Delivery Network (CDN) that
caches content at over 700 Points of Presence, delivering data to users
from the nearest edge location.
3. Multi-AZ Architecture: Host application instances across multiple
Availability Zones within each Region to ensure fault tolerance.
4. Elastic Load Balancing: Distribute incoming traffic across multiple
instances to improve availability and performance.
5. Auto Scaling: Automatically adjust instance count to handle traffic spikes
during sales or festive seasons.
6. Security Integration: Use AWS WAF and Shield to protect against DDoS
and application-layer attacks.
This combination of AWS services ensures that the e-commerce platform delivers
content quickly, remains available during failures, and scales efficiently to handle
changing traffic loads.

Q3: Comparative Question (5–10 marks)

Question: Compare AWS with traditional on-premise infrastructure in terms of
cost, scalability, and availability.
Answer:

Paramet
AWS Cloud On-Premise Infrastructure
er

Pay-as-you-go, no upfront High capital expenditure for

Cost
hardware investment. hardware purchase.

Scalabilit Instant scaling with Auto Scaling Limited; requires manual hardware
Paramet
AWS Cloud On-Premise Infrastructure
er

y and cloud APIs. purchase and setup

Availabili Multi-Region, Multi-AZ Dependent on single/multiple local

ty redundancy. data centers.

AWS clearly offers more flexibility, lower entry costs, and higher availability
compared to traditional infrastructure.
3. Cloud Service Models – Exam-Ready Notes

Definition
Cloud service models define the level of control and responsibility shared
between the cloud provider and the customer. The three main models are:
1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – Provider delivers virtualized
computing infrastructure over the internet.
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS) – Provider offers a development platform
to build, run, and manage applications without managing underlying
hardware/software.
3. Software as a Service (SaaS) – Provider delivers ready-to-use
applications over the internet.

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

 Description: Provides virtualized hardware resources — servers, storage,
and networking — on-demand.
 Customer Responsibility: Manage applications, runtime, OS, and
middleware.
 AWS Examples:
o Amazon EC2 – Virtual servers.

o Amazon EBS – Block storage.

o Amazon EFS – File storage.

 Advantages:
1. Maximum control over infrastructure.

2. High flexibility for custom configurations.

3. Pay only for what you use — short or long term.

 Disadvantages:
1. Customer must manage security for OS, apps, and data.
 2. Requires technical expertise to maintain and monitor.

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

 Description: Provides an environment for developers to build, test, and
deploy applications without managing the infrastructure.
 Customer Responsibility: Manage data and applications.
 AWS Examples:
o AWS Elastic Beanstalk – Deploy web apps.

o Amazon RDS – Managed relational databases.

o AWS Lambda – Serverless computing.

 Advantages:
1. Simplifies development — no hardware setup required.

2. High scalability and availability.

3. Reduces maintenance workload.

 Disadvantages:
1. Limited control over underlying infrastructure.

2. Vendor-specific limitations in supported languages/frameworks.

3. Software as a Service (SaaS)

 Description: Ready-to-use applications delivered via the internet; no
installation or maintenance required by the customer.
 Customer Responsibility: Use the application and manage user-specific
settings.
 AWS Examples:
o Amazon Chime – Video conferencing.

o Amazon WorkSpaces – Virtual desktops.

o Amazon QuickSight – Business intelligence tool.

 Advantages:
1. No infrastructure or software management required.

2. Accessible from any internet-connected device.

3. Quick deployment and updates.

 Disadvantages:
1. Limited customization options.
 2. Reliance on vendor for feature updates.

Comparison Table

Feature IaaS PaaS SaaS

Control Highest Medium Lowest

Manageme Customer manages Customer manages only Provider manages

nt OS & apps apps & data everything

AWS Elastic Beanstalk, RDS, Chime, WorkSpaces,

EC2, EBS, EFS
Example Lambda QuickSight

Custom app App development, Email, CRM,

Use Case
hosting, storage database hosting collaboration tools

Exam-Style Question Mapping with Full Answers

Q1: Direct Theory Question (10 marks)

Question: Explain the three main cloud service models with AWS examples,
advantages, and disadvantages.
Answer:
Cloud computing service models determine the level of management between
the provider and the customer.
1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):
o AWS provides virtualized resources such as compute, storage, and
networking.
o Examples: Amazon EC2, Amazon EBS, Amazon EFS.

o Advantages: Maximum flexibility, full control, pay-per-use billing.

o Disadvantages: Customer must handle OS and application

security; requires technical expertise.
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS):
o AWS offers platforms for developing and deploying applications
without managing infrastructure.
o Examples: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Amazon RDS, AWS Lambda.

o Advantages: No hardware management, automatic scaling, quick

development cycles.
o Disadvantages: Limited customization and possible vendor lock-
in.
 3. Software as a Service (SaaS):
o Ready-to-use applications hosted on AWS infrastructure.

o Examples: Amazon Chime, Amazon WorkSpaces, Amazon

QuickSight.
o Advantages: Accessible from anywhere, minimal setup, fast
deployment.
o Disadvantages: Limited customization, reliance on vendor for
updates.

Q2: Scenario Question (10 marks)

Question: Your development team needs to build and deploy an application
without spending time managing servers and infrastructure. Which AWS service
model should you choose? Justify your choice with features and AWS examples.
Answer:
The most suitable model is Platform as a Service (PaaS).
Justification:
 No Infrastructure Management: Services like AWS Elastic Beanstalk
allow deployment of applications directly without setting up servers.
 Managed Databases: Amazon RDS handles installation, patching,
backups, and recovery, letting the team focus on application logic.
 Automatic Scaling: PaaS services adjust resources based on demand
without manual intervention.
 Developer Productivity: Teams can use AWS Lambda to run code
without provisioning infrastructure.
 Quick Deployment: Code can be pushed directly from development
environments, reducing time-to-market.
By using PaaS, the team can focus solely on coding and business logic, while
AWS manages servers, OS, and middleware.

Q3: Comparative Question (5–10 marks)

Question: Compare IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS in terms of control, AWS examples,
and suitable use cases.
Answer:

Mod Level of
AWS Examples Suitable Use Cases
el Control

Custom app hosting, testing

IaaS High EC2, EBS, EFS
environments, backups
Mod Level of
AWS Examples Suitable Use Cases
el Control

Elastic Beanstalk, RDS, Web app development, managed

PaaS Medium
Lambda databases, APIs

Chime, WorkSpaces,
SaaS Low Email, CRM, analytics dashboards
QuickSight

5. AWS Global Infrastructure – Exam-Ready Notes

Definition
The AWS Global Infrastructure is the worldwide collection of data centers,
networking, and edge locations that deliver AWS services. It is designed for
high availability, fault tolerance, low latency, and scalability.

Key Components
1. Regions
o A Region is a separate geographic area where AWS hosts data
centers.
o Each Region has multiple, isolated Availability Zones (AZs).

o As of July 2025: AWS has 37 launched Regions, with more

coming soon.
o Example:

 US East (N. Virginia)

 Asia Pacific (Mumbai)
 Europe (Frankfurt)
2. Availability Zones (AZs)
o Each Region consists of two or more AZs.

o An AZ is one or more data centers with independent power,

cooling, and networking.
o They are physically separated (tens of kms apart) but connected
with high-speed, low-latency networks.
o Purpose: If one AZ fails, others continue operation (fault tolerance).

o Current count: 117 AZs worldwide.

3. Edge Locations
 o Edge Locations are Points of Presence (PoPs) where AWS
CloudFront caches content closer to users.
o Improves latency and ensures faster content delivery.

o Over 700+ PoPs globally.

4. Local Zones
o Extension of an AWS Region closer to end-users in metro cities.

o Supports workloads requiring single-digit millisecond latency.

o Example: Los Angeles Local Zone.

5. AWS Outposts
o Allows AWS infrastructure and services to run inside your own
data center (on-premises).
o Extends AWS services for hybrid cloud deployments.

Design Principles
 Fault Tolerance: Multi-AZ setup ensures workloads keep running even if
one data center fails.
 High Availability: Redundant systems prevent downtime.
 Low Latency: Regions and Edge Locations placed strategically near
customer bases.
 Global Reach: Customers can deploy applications in multiple Regions for
global coverage.

Exam-Style Question Mapping with Full Answers

Q1: Direct Theory Question (10 marks)

Question: Explain the AWS Global Infrastructure. Describe the role of Regions,
Availability Zones, and Edge Locations.
Answer:
The AWS Global Infrastructure is a network of data centers and resources across
the world that provides secure, scalable, and low-latency cloud services.
 Regions: AWS divides the world into geographic Regions (e.g., Mumbai,
Frankfurt). Each Region is independent and provides high availability. As of
2025, AWS has 37 launched Regions.
 Availability Zones: Each Region has multiple AZs (117 in total), which
are isolated data centers connected by high-speed networks. They ensure
redundancy and fault tolerance so that if one AZ fails, others continue
operation.
  Edge Locations: With more than 700 Points of Presence worldwide, AWS
uses Edge Locations for caching via CloudFront. This reduces latency and
speeds up content delivery to end-users.
In addition, Local Zones and Outposts extend AWS closer to users or on-
premises environments. Together, these elements provide the backbone for
AWS’s reliability, security, and global reach.

Q2: Scenario Question (10 marks)

Question: A video streaming company wants to provide low-latency content
delivery to users worldwide. Which AWS Global Infrastructure components should
they use and why?
Answer:
The company should use a combination of AWS Regions, Availability Zones,
and Edge Locations.
1. Regions: Deploy application servers in multiple AWS Regions (e.g., North
America, Europe, Asia-Pacific) so that users can connect to the nearest
location.
2. Availability Zones: Distribute workloads across multiple AZs within each
Region to ensure high availability and prevent downtime in case of
failures.
3. Edge Locations: Use Amazon CloudFront, which caches video content
at 700+ Edge Locations globally, ensuring low latency by serving content
from the nearest PoP.
4. Local Zones (if needed): For customers requiring ultra-low latency (e.g.,
in metro cities), AWS Local Zones can host compute resources close to
end-users.
This combination ensures that the streaming platform delivers content quickly,
handles failures gracefully, and provides a smooth viewing experience globally.

Q3: Comparative Question (5–10 marks)

Question: Differentiate between AWS Regions, Availability Zones, and Edge
Locations.
Answer:

Component Description Example Use Case

Deploying applications
Region A geographic area with multiple AZs.
closer to customer bases.

Availability Isolated data center(s) within a Fault-tolerant app

Component Description Example Use Case

Region, connected by low-latency

Zone deployment.
links.

Edge Faster delivery of video,

AWS site that caches content (PoPs).
Location images, web content.

6. AWS Shared Responsibility Model – Exam-Ready Notes

Definition
The AWS Shared Responsibility Model defines the division of security and
compliance tasks between AWS (the cloud provider) and the customer
(cloud user).
 AWS is responsible for security of the cloud (infrastructure).
 Customer is responsible for security in the cloud (data, applications,
configurations).
This model ensures clarity on who handles what in terms of protection,
operations, and compliance.

Responsibilities in Detail
AWS (Security of the Cloud)
AWS is responsible for protecting the infrastructure that runs all AWS services.
This includes:
1. Physical Security: Data centers, hardware, networking, facilities.
2. Global Infrastructure: Regions, Availability Zones, Edge Locations.
3. Networking: Physical and software network layers.
4. Hardware & Software: Host OS, virtualization layer, and foundation
services.

Customer (Security in the Cloud)

The customer manages and secures whatever they deploy in the cloud. This
includes:
1. Data Protection: Encrypting data at rest and in transit.
2. Applications: Securing application code, updates, and patches.
3. Identity & Access Management: Configuring users, groups, roles, and
permissions (via AWS IAM).
4. Operating System: Patching, firewall configuration, antivirus (for EC2
instances).
5. Network Configuration: Setting up security groups, VPC firewalls, and
access rules.

Examples
 AWS Responsibility: Keeping data centers safe from natural disasters,
replacing faulty hardware, ensuring physical access control.
 Customer Responsibility: Deciding who can access S3 buckets,
applying database encryption, and securing application APIs.

Benefits of the Shared Responsibility Model

1. Clear Role Division: Prevents confusion between provider and customer.
2. Improved Security: Both parties secure their part, reducing
vulnerabilities.
3. Compliance Alignment: Easier to meet regulations (HIPAA, PCI-DSS,
GDPR).
4. Scalability: Customers can focus on application security, while AWS
ensures global infrastructure safety.

Exam-Style Question Mapping with Full Answers

Q1: Direct Theory Question (10 marks)

Question: Explain the AWS Shared Responsibility Model. What are the
responsibilities of AWS and the customer?
Answer:
The AWS Shared Responsibility Model is a framework that divides security
responsibilities between AWS and its customers.
 AWS Responsibilities (Security of the Cloud):
AWS ensures the safety of the infrastructure, which includes physical
facilities, networking, hardware, host operating systems, and virtualization
 layers. For example, AWS manages the data centers, monitors power and
cooling, and protects against natural disasters.
 Customer Responsibilities (Security in the Cloud):
Customers are responsible for everything they deploy inside the cloud
environment. This includes data encryption, patching operating systems,
managing IAM users and permissions, securing applications, and
configuring network security groups. For example, if a customer leaves an
S3 bucket open to the public, it is their responsibility.
This model ensures security is a shared task: AWS secures the foundation,
while customers secure their workloads.

Q2: Scenario Question (10 marks)

Question: A company stores sensitive customer data in Amazon S3 but
accidentally makes the bucket public, exposing information online. Based on the
AWS Shared Responsibility Model, who is responsible for this breach? Justify your
answer.
Answer:
In this case, the customer is responsible for the breach.
Justification:
 According to the Shared Responsibility Model, AWS secures the
infrastructure that powers Amazon S3 (e.g., servers, networking, data
center facilities).
 However, the configuration of the S3 bucket (public or private) is
the customer’s responsibility.
 The customer must enforce access control policies, enable encryption, and
monitor bucket permissions.
 AWS provides the tools (IAM, S3 Block Public Access, CloudTrail) but does
not control how the customer configures them.
Thus, the breach occurred due to misconfiguration by the customer, not
AWS.

Q3: Comparative Question (5–10 marks)

Question: Differentiate between AWS responsibilities and customer
responsibilities under the Shared Responsibility Model.
Answer:

Responsibility AWS (Security of the Customer (Security in the

Area Cloud) Cloud)

Physical servers, networking,

Infrastructure —
data centers
Responsibility AWS (Security of the Customer (Security in the
Area Cloud) Cloud)

Hardware & Managed and patched by

—
Host OS AWS

Applications & Managed, updated, and secured

—
Data by customer

Identity & IAM roles, permissions, MFA, key

—
Access rotation

Network Security groups, firewalls, VPC

Global backbone security
Security rules