Preparing for an interview is a complex process – though it might be easy for some out there, most people get anxious, which might increase the chance of not getting their dream job!

Preparing from the right resources before an interview can make a huge difference. You’ll be more confident and will make an impact! That’s what we all need to do, right! 

Yeah, skills matter the most but cracking an interview is a pathway that no one can avoid, and it is a great experience in itself.

If we cannot get through a job interview, how would we use the skills that we own!

The more experience we get, the more we understand the pain points of others.

So, Why are we writing this blog? 

We have had regular discussions amongst our professional community on how to help out beginners as well as working professionals and land them their desired job. 

What role we can play to extend that helping hand to millions out there looking for the answers.

While taking interviews, we observed over time and noticed the difference between the behavior and conduct of a candidate in an interview that made us select or reject that person.

We decided to start a blog series in which we will be covering different topics for interview questions and help you prepare better and ace through that interview.

Stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter – be in the loop!

cloud interview

This time it’s Cloud!

Q1. Describe the different private cloud service models? 

cloud service models
cloud service models
  • IaaS– Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) consists of highly automated compute resources. Businesses can avail of on-demand hardware resources through IaaS without having to make any upfront hardware purchase. IaaS is highly scalable and can quickly access and monitor computers, database storage, and other networking services. 
  • PaaS-Platform as a Service (PaaS) helps customize applications that require cloud components. PaaS helps in streamlining the workflow in situations that involve more than one developer. While developers can manage the applications, businesses get to use the network and storage. 
  • SaaS– Software as a Service (SaaS) refers to the service model where applications are delivered to the user using cloud platforms, and the third party can then manage the applications. They are incredibly convenient to use since they do not require any additional installations. 

Blog: How to start a career in cloud

Q2. What are the benefits of cloud computing?

  • Reduced IT costs
  • Scalability
  • Business continuity
  • Agility
  • Faster time to market

Q3. Basic characteristic of cloud computing? (A different way to ask the question listed above)

  • On-demand self-service
  • Broad network access
  • Resource pooling
  • Rapid elasticity
  • Measured Service

Q4. Compare on-premise and Cloud Computing.

On cloud vs On premise
On cloud vs On-premise

Q5. Mention the layers of PaaS architecture

The five functional phases of a PaaS are:

  • Deployment
  • Provisioning
  • Lifecycle management
  • Service management
  • Reporting

Q6. Why are hybrid clouds so important?

The primary benefit of a hybrid cloud is agility. A digital business needs to change direction quickly. To gain the agility it needs for a competitive advantage, your enterprise might want to combine public clouds, private clouds, and on-Premise resources.

Q7. Difference between traditional and cloud data centers.

The main difference between the Cloud vs. data center is that a data center refers to on-premise hardware while the Cloud refers to off-premise computing. The cloud stores your data in the public Cloud, while a data center stores your data on your own hardware.

Q8. Types of models used for deployment in cloud computing

 PublicPrivateCommunityHybrid
Ease of setup and useEasyRequires IT proficiencyRequires IT proficiencyRequires IT proficiency
Data security and privacyLowHighComparatively highHigh
Data controlLittle to noneHighComparatively highComparatively high
ReliabilityLowHighComparatively highHigh
Scalability and flexibilityHighHighFixed capacityHigh
Cost-effectivenessThe cheapestCost-intensive; the most expensive modelCost is shared among community membersCheaper than a private model but more costly than a public one
Demand for in-house hardwareNoUse Case dependentUse Case dependentUse Case dependent
Cloud Models

Q9. What are the uses of APIs in cloud services?

A cloud API enables end-users to access a cloud provider’s application or services, such as compute infrastructure, storage resources, or monitoring tools. APIs define the possible features and functions of that app or service, along with the details needed to execute them.

Q10. What is scalability in cloud computing?

Cloud scalability refers to how well a system can react and adapt to changing demands. In other words, with an increase in traffic or demand, the resources can be scaled up without losing the quality of service or interruptions. Vice versa, as the demand for resources decreases, the system releases the resources not used, so you don’t continue to pay for resources you don’t need.

Q11. Who are the leading cloud service providers?

Leading cloud providers: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google oracle, Alibaba Cloud.

aws vs azure vs gcp

Read: AWS Vs Azure Vs GCP 

AWS vs Azure

Q12. What are the steps used to design and deploy a cloud architecture?

First of all, try to answer these questions – 

  • The functional requirements of a system (what it should do, e.g. ‘process orders in this format…’)
  • The non-functional requirements (how it should perform, e.g. ‘process at least 200 orders a minute’)
  • Constraints (what is out-of-scope to change, e.g. ‘orders must be updated on our existing mainframe system’).

Important points to consider while architecting an application:

  1. Elastic and highly available
  2. Automation of infrastructure
  3. Implement loose coupling
  4. Remove the single point of failure 
  5. Caching where possible
  6. Release and build pipelines
  7. Rollback and Repair
  8. Practice defense in depth
  9. Favor managed services

Q13. If given an option between AWS, Azure, and GCP – what will you do and why?

This is a tricky question, and there is no right or wrong answer here. Most cloud service provider offer the same set of services. 

Q14. What are the security aspects provided with the Cloud?

To make cloud services secure, security applications are deployed in two or more layers.

  • The first layer comprises of the firewall. Note that firewalls can be both hardware and application-based. The function of this security system is to avoid the entry and exit of phony data packets in and out of the system.
  • Request-based access also stands at the network entry. It filters out most unwanted intruders by denying access straightaway.
  • Antivirus and anti-spyware comprise the second layer predominantly. It eliminates threats that have somehow crept into the system.

Q15. Do you see any disadvantages of the Cloud? If yes, how can we find a solution?

There is no good answer to this question. The interviewer is checking to see if you understand how datacenters work or not. You can formulate your answer as per below points:

Any company using cloud infrastructure is at the mercy of the cloud provider. If the cloud datacenter goes down and you aren’t spread across multiple cloud datacenters, you may experience an outage for extended duration. Some other points to consider:

The level of security – By using a cloud computing system means we are entirely entrusted with the security and confidentiality of data to companies that provide cloud computing servers. While this is not a problem with modern infrastructure, but do keep in mind that the datacenter is shared across multiple companies.

If you don’t keep an eye on the resources (Virtual Machines in particular) provisioned, the bill for your cloud computing can go through the roof. Spinning up resources in a cloud environment is easy, but architecting a well designed application in a Private Cloud is not that easy. 

Vulnerable in the event of an attack – because the Cloud Computing work system is online, each component that is on Cloud Computing can be exposed to a wide range; this is a wide-open opportunity for attacks on data or activities stored on the server.

Q16. Before going for a cloud computing platform what are the essential things to be taken into consideration by users?

  • Compliance
  • Loss of data
  • Data storage
  • Business continuity
  • Uptime
  • Data integrity in cloud computing

Q17. In cloud architecture what are the different phases involved?

  • Launch Phase
  • Monitor Phase
  • Shutdown Phase
  • Cleanup Phase

Q18. In Cloud, what are the optimizing strategies?

Always try to harness the true power of cloud computing. Design your application for failure and as a self healing architecture. Provision the resources across multiple data centers in the Cloud, that provides recovery and backup in case of any failure and to keep the data safe.

Q19. State some common uses of cloud computing?

It is important to determine the right type of service for your use-case. Some of the common use cases of cloud computing are:

Hybrid cloud: 
A hybrid cloud is a computing environment that connects a company’s private cloud services and third-party public cloud into a single, flexible infrastructure for running the organization’s applications and workload. With this mix of public and private cloud resources, an organization can choose the optimal cloud for each application or workload as circumstances change. It is more cost-effective to fulfill technical and business objectives with hybrid cloud.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and Platform as a service (PaaS):
On premises servers require a significant investments and not forget the constant patching, upgrade and maintenance of these resources. 

To save costs on this, businesses are turning to provision these resources into cloud environment. The pay-per-use and pay-as-you-go model eliminates heavy upfront investment. With Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), you can get rid of your VMware licensing costs along with all of the hardware you run your virtual servers on.

In case you don’t want to manage the instances and their operating system software you can opt for Platform as a Service (PaaS). When using the PaaS computing model you upload your code to the cloud service and everything is taken care of for you to launch and manage your application in the cloud.

Test and development:
One of the best scenarios for the use of a cloud is a test and development environment. With cloud computing service, there are now readily available environments that you can use to increase business agility.

Cloud storage:
A cloud platform can offer you the possibility of storing your files and accessing, storing, and retrieving them from any web-enabled interface easily and securely. There is also the possibility to store the data either on- or off-premises depending on the regulatory compliance requirements. Data is stored in virtualized pools of storage hosted by a third party based on the customer specification requirements.

Disaster recovery:
Using cloud, the disaster recovery (DR) solutions become cost-effective and faster recovery from a mesh of different physical locations.

Data backup:
Backing up data has always been a complex and time-consuming operation.  Also the time it takes to load the backup devices for a restore operation, which takes time and is prone to malfunctions and human errors can be expensive.

With cloud-based backup, you can now automatically dispatch data to any location with the assurance that neither security, availability nor capacity are issues.

 Q20. What’s the difference between CAPEX and OPEX?

Capital expenditures (CAPEX) are major purchases a company makes that are designed to be used over the long term. Operating expenses (OPEX) are the day-to-day expenses a company incurs to keep its business operational. CAPEX and OPEX each have very different implications for cost control and operational flexibility. Because cloud computing allows organizations to avoid the costs of purchasing physical data center hardware and software in 3 or 5-year cycles, it’s often associated with cost savings.

Q21. What is a well architected framework?

Check out this document on AWS well architected framework.

Check out this document on Azure well architected framework.

Blog: Cloud Well Architected Framework – Best Practices from Azure and AWSca

Q22. What is the difference between scalability and elasticity in cloud computing?

Scalability Vs. Elasticity In Cloud Computing
Scalability vs Elasticity

These were some of the most important and common questions asked in cloud-related interviews, so keep track of these.

For any question or if you are looking for an answer that is not mentioned here, connect with us on Forums. Or comment below on this blog and ask your question.

Good luck on your journey to be a cloud engineer and make yourself proud!

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