Virtualization and Cloud Computing

This chapter covers the two A+ 220-1101 exam objectives related to virtualization and cloud computing. These objectives may comprise 11 percent of the exam questions:

• Core 1 (220-1101): Objective 4.1: Summarize cloud-computing concepts.

• Core 1 (220-1101): Objective 4.2: Summarize aspects of client-side virtualization.

Cloud computing involves using remote servers in the Internet “cloud” to store, manage, and process data instead of using local servers or a personal computer. Cloud servers usually reside in large server farms, where powerful servers host thousands of virtual machines.

Remember that a computer is made up of hardware components that process software instructions. Virtual computing technology creates and runs multiple instances of software operating systems—such as desktops, servers, and even networks—on a single piece of hardware. Multiple software systems sharing the resources of one hardware system is known as virtualization. A single laptop, desktop, or server commonly is used to run two or more different operating systems, such as Linux and Windows 10, at the same time. Figure 4-1 depicts several different servers virtually running on one robust hardware machine.

Cloud computing involves using virtual machines in commercial data centers, to relieve customers of the expense of maintaining a network center. Cloud-based systems enable customers to pay for only the services and capacity they use, which allows businesses to grow their technology capacity as they need it and avoid high up-front costs.

“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz

The “Do I Know This Already?” quiz allows you to assess whether you need to read the entire chapter. Table 4-1 lists both the major headings in this chapter and the “Do I Know This Already?” quiz questions covering the material in those headings so that you can assess your knowledge of these specific areas. The answers to the “Do I Know This Already?” quiz appear in Appendix A, “Answers to the ‘Do I Know This Already?’ Quizzes and Review Questions.”

Table 4-1 “Do I Know This Already?” Section-to-Question Mapping

1. Which cloud computing model allows companies to access software when they need it but avoid the expense of maintaining the software when they do not need it?

1. Resource pooling

2. Rapid elasticity

3. On-demand

4. Hybrid

2. You have been asked to arrange for your team to develop software in a cloud environment. Which of the following services will you seek as a solution?

1. PaaS

2. SaaS

3. IaaS

4. None of these options are correct

3. A company requires high security and high reliability for its network services. What type of cloud environment is likely to meet these requirements?

1. Public cloud

2. External cloud

3. Internal cloud

4. Infrastructure as a Service

4. Which of the following allows users to access remote applications and use them as if they were installed on their own machine?

1. Application virtualization

2. Sandboxing

3. VMM

4. File synchronization

5. What term describes a cloud provider’s capability to rapidly scale up and scale back computing resources as needed?

1. Rapid elasticity

2. Flex data services

3. Virtual data flexing

4. Expansive data services

6. Which of the following are used to create and run a VM? (Choose two.)

1. Hypervisor

2. VMM

3. Emulator

4. Virtual sphere

7. Which of the following is a reproduction of an operating system?

1. Virtual machine

2. VMware Fusion

3. Emulator

4. Hyper-V

8. Which operating systems can be guests on a VM?

1. Windows

2. Linux

3. UNIX

4. None of these options are correct

5. All of these options are correct

9. Which of the following is true?

1. A 32-bit system can host a 64-bit VM.

2. A VMM can create only one operating system per hardware device.

3. A 64-bit system can host a 32-bit system.

4. Only one VM can run at a time on a workstation with one display.

10. Which of the following is true of the BIOS/UEFI when creating a VM?

1. Hypervisors create their own BIOS/UEFI settings.

2. The BIOS/UEFI firmware must support VMs.

3. All BIOS/UEFI firmware supports VMs.

4. A separate hard disk must be installed for each VM.