AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate - Mrt

Bootstrapping refers to the process of automatically initiating or setting up a system or application. In this context, all of the given options can be accomplished through bootstrapping. By bootstrapping, one can install the most current security updates, ensuring that the system is protected against vulnerabilities. It also allows for the installation of the current version of the application, ensuring that the system has the latest features and bug fixes. Additionally, bootstrapping can be used to configure Operating System (OS) services, enabling the system to function optimally. Therefore, all of the above options can be achieved through bootstrapping.

Each AWS region is composed of multiple locations called Availability Zones. Availability Zones are isolated data centers within a region that are designed to be independent from each other in terms of power, cooling, and network connectivity. They are connected through low-latency links and provide fault tolerance and high availability for running production systems. By distributing resources across multiple Availability Zones, organizations can ensure that their systems remain operational even if there is a failure in one of the zones.

A region in AWS refers to a physical location around the world where AWS clusters data centers. It is a geographical area that consists of multiple availability zones, each containing one or more data centers. Regions are completely independent and isolated from each other, allowing users to deploy resources in different regions to achieve high availability and fault tolerance.

To enable a test for how the application will react to a database failover in a multi-Availability Zone setup, the team can force a Multi-AZ failover by rebooting the primary instance using the Amazon RDS console. This action will trigger the failover process, causing the primary instance to switch to a standby instance in another Availability Zone. By performing this test, the team can evaluate the application's resilience and ensure that it can handle a database failover smoothly.

Storing the data on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) with lifecycle policies that change the storage class to Amazon Glacier after one year, and delete the object after seven years, is the most cost-efficient storage plan. This plan takes into account the fact that records older than a year are unlikely to be accessed, allowing for a lower-cost storage option like Amazon Glacier. Additionally, deleting the object after seven years ensures compliance with the legal requirement of storing the financial trading records for that duration.

Session state, shopping cart, and product catalog are good candidates to store in a cache because they are frequently accessed and their data does not change frequently. Caching these objects can help improve performance by reducing the need to retrieve the data from the original source every time it is requested. Additionally, caching can help reduce the load on the system and improve scalability. On the other hand, bank account balance is not a good candidate for caching as it is sensitive information that needs to be up-to-date and accurate at all times.

To lock down the IAM administrator user accounts, three steps can be taken. Firstly, adding multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security by requiring additional verification beyond just a password. Secondly, implementing a password policy on the AWS account ensures that strong passwords are used, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. Lastly, applying a source IP address condition to the policy that only grants permissions when the user is on the corporate network further restricts access to the accounts, making them more secure.

IAM (Identity and Access Management) is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows users to manage access to their AWS resources. Password policies and MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) are both IAM security features. Password policies help enforce strong password requirements and enhance the security of user accounts. MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide additional authentication factors, such as a temporary code generated by a mobile app, in addition to their password. Consolidated Billing and Amazon DynamoDB global secondary indexes are not IAM security features, but rather different services or features provided by AWS.

To maintain high availability for the web servers and database servers, you should have a total of four subnets. This is because high availability typically involves distributing resources across multiple availability zones (AZs) to ensure redundancy and fault tolerance. In this case, you will need two subnets for the web servers, one in each AZ, and two subnets for the database servers, also one in each AZ. By having four subnets, you can distribute the workload and resources across multiple AZs, ensuring that if one AZ goes down, the services can still operate from the other AZ.

The launch configuration is referenced by the Auto Scaling group instead of being part of it because it allows for flexibility in managing the instances. By separating the launch configuration, it becomes easier to change the instance type, AMI, or security groups associated with the instances without disrupting the Auto Scaling group. This flexibility is beneficial when rolling out patches or making changes to the instances without affecting the overall functioning of the Auto Scaling group. Therefore, all of the given options are correct explanations for why the launch configuration is referenced by the Auto Scaling group.

Auto Scaling is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows companies to automatically adjust their compute capacity based on demand. In the case of flash sales, where there is a sudden spike in traffic to the e-commerce website, Auto Scaling can dynamically increase the compute capacity to handle the increased load. This helps ensure that the website remains responsive and can handle the high traffic without any performance degradation or downtime. Auto Scaling can also automatically decrease the compute capacity once the traffic subsides, helping to optimize costs by only using the required resources.

The best type of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) identity to create for the application to access Amazon S3 and Amazon DynamoDB is an IAM role. IAM roles provide temporary credentials that can be assumed by trusted entities, such as EC2 instances, without the need for long-term access keys. This allows for secure and controlled access to the identified services without the need for managing individual user credentials.

The Query operation in Amazon DynamoDB is used to retrieve items from a table based on the primary key or secondary index. In this scenario, since the photo metadata is stored in the DynamoDB table, the Query operation would be the appropriate choice to retrieve the metadata attributes efficiently. The Query operation allows for more precise retrieval of data by specifying the key conditions and can handle large amounts of data efficiently.

When an EC2 instance fails to pass the health checks configured on the Elastic Load Balancer (ELB), the ELB will stop sending traffic to that instance. This means that the instance will no longer receive any requests from the ELB until it passes the health checks again. The other options mentioned in the question are not true. The instance does not get terminated automatically, quarantined for root cause analysis, or replaced automatically by the ELB.

On Demand instances in Amazon EC2 allow users to pay a set hourly price for compute. This pricing model provides full control over when the instance launches and terminates, making it suitable for applications with short-term, irregular workloads or unpredictable usage patterns. Users can launch instances as needed without any upfront commitment or long-term contract. This flexibility makes On Demand instances a convenient choice for users who require immediate access to compute resources without any long-term commitment or pre-planning.

A Network Access Control List (ACL) in Amazon VPC acts as a stateless firewall. It is a set of rules that control inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet level. ACLs are associated with subnets and evaluate traffic based on rules defined for each subnet. They can allow or deny traffic based on protocols, ports, and IP addresses. Unlike security groups, which are stateful, ACLs do not keep track of the state of connections. Instead, they evaluate each packet individually. Therefore, ACLs are considered stateless firewalls in Amazon VPC.

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is the best suited AWS database service for traditional Online Transaction Processing (OLTP). OLTP involves a high volume of small, frequent transactions, and requires a database that can handle concurrent reads and writes efficiently. Amazon RDS provides managed relational databases, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server, which are designed to handle OLTP workloads effectively. It offers features like automated backups, automatic software patching, and scalability options, making it a reliable choice for traditional OLTP applications.

AWS CloudTrail is the correct answer because it is a service that records API calls made on your account. It captures detailed information about each API call, including the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, the request parameters, and the response elements returned by the AWS service. CloudTrail delivers log files to your Amazon S3 bucket, allowing you to store, monitor, and analyze the data for various purposes such as security analysis, compliance auditing, and troubleshooting.

For an enterprise application that experiences occasional activity throughout the day, it is important to have a storage type that can handle both high and low workloads efficiently. General Purpose Solid State Drives (SSDs) are a suitable option as they offer a balance between performance and cost-effectiveness. SSDs are faster than magnetic storage and provide better I/O performance, making them ideal for handling occasional bursts of activity. Additionally, they are more reliable and durable compared to traditional magnetic storage. Provisioned IOPS (SSD) and Storage Area Network (SAN)-attached options may be more suitable for applications with consistently high workloads.

Latency-based routing should be applied in this scenario because it allows you to route traffic to the region with the lowest latency or fastest network performance. This ensures that your end users will have the best possible experience when accessing your web application. By measuring the latency between the end user and each AWS region, the DNS can direct the traffic to the region with the lowest latency, reducing network delays and improving overall performance.

Amazon Glacier is designed for storing infrequently accessed data and data archives. It is not suitable for active database storage or frequently accessed data. Glacier is a low-cost storage service that is optimized for long-term retention of data that is rarely accessed but needs to be preserved for compliance or other purposes. It provides secure, durable, and scalable storage for archiving and backup purposes. Therefore, it is the ideal choice for storing infrequently accessed data and data archives. Cached session data and frequently accessed data would require a different storage solution that provides faster access times.

All zones must have a Start of Authority (SOA) record by default. The SOA record is essential as it contains important information about the zone, such as the primary name server responsible for the zone, the email address of the responsible person, and various timing parameters for the zone. This record is crucial for the proper functioning of the DNS system and is therefore required in all zones.

Elastic Load Balancing allows you to distribute traffic across multiple Availability Zones within a region. This means that the load balancer can evenly distribute incoming traffic to multiple instances across different Availability Zones, ensuring high availability and fault tolerance. By spreading the load across multiple zones, it helps to prevent any single point of failure and provides better performance and scalability for applications.

IAM policies in AWS (Amazon Web Services) are written in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. JSON is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and also easy for machines to parse and generate. It uses key/value pairs to represent data, making it a suitable format for defining permissions and access controls in IAM policies. JSON allows for flexible and structured representation of policies, making it the correct format for IAM policies in AWS.

An AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user can have a maximum of two active access keys at one time. Access keys are used to authenticate API requests made to AWS services. Having multiple active access keys allows for seamless rotation and management of keys, ensuring continuous access to AWS resources while maintaining security. By limiting the number of active access keys to two, AWS promotes best practices for security and access management.

The collective control environment of AWS does not explicitly include energy. The control environment refers to the framework and processes in place to ensure the secure delivery of AWS cloud services. It encompasses various aspects such as people, technology, and processes. However, energy is not directly related to the control environment as it pertains to the physical infrastructure and resources required to power the AWS services, but it is not a part of the control environment itself.

Amazon ElastiCache supports two cache engines: Memcached and Redis. Memcached is a high-performance, distributed memory caching system that is commonly used to speed up dynamic database-driven websites. Redis is an in-memory data structure store that can be used as a cache, database, or message broker. Both Memcached and Redis are popular choices for caching in cloud environments, and Amazon ElastiCache provides support for both of these engines.

Security groups in an Amazon VPC are stateful. This means that any inbound traffic that is allowed is automatically allowed for the outbound traffic as well. In other words, if a request is made from an instance to allow traffic from a specific IP address, the response from that IP address is automatically allowed back to the instance. This simplifies the management of network security as there is no need to create separate rules for inbound and outbound traffic.

DB snapshots, read replicas, and multi-AZ deployment are all techniques that can help meet Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) requirements.

DB snapshots allow you to create a point-in-time copy of your database, which can be used for data recovery in case of a failure.

Read replicas are copies of your database that can be used for read operations, providing high availability and reducing the load on your primary database. In case of a failure, read replicas can be promoted to become the primary database, minimizing downtime.

Multi-AZ deployment involves replicating your database to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone. In case of a failure, Amazon RDS automatically fails over to the standby instance, reducing downtime and meeting RTO requirements.

Amazon CloudWatch provides various metrics for monitoring EC2 instances. These metrics include web server visible metrics such as the number of failed transaction requests, operating system visible metrics such as memory utilization, database visible metrics such as the number of connections, and hypervisor visible metrics such as CPU utilization. These metrics help in monitoring the performance and health of EC2 instances and can be used to set alarms and automate actions based on specific thresholds or conditions.

In an Amazon Simple Workflow Service (Amazon SWF) workflow, the process that implements a task is called the activity worker. The activity worker is responsible for executing the specific activities or tasks defined in the workflow. It receives the task from the workflow and performs the necessary actions or computations required for that task. The activity worker plays a crucial role in the overall execution of the workflow by executing the individual tasks and returning the results back to the workflow.

Amazon CloudWatch supports two types of monitoring plans: Basic monitoring, which is free, and Detailed monitoring, which has an additional cost.

A Network ACL (Access Control List) can deny the traffic from reaching the instances. Network ACLs act as a firewall for controlling inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet level. By configuring the Network ACL rules, you can explicitly allow or deny traffic based on IP addresses, protocols, and ports. In this scenario, you can create a rule in the Network ACL to block traffic from the specific IP address in the foreign country, effectively denying the scanning traffic from reaching your EC2-VPC instances.

To protect the AWS infrastructure, the following actions should be taken:
1. Change the password and add MFA to the root user: This ensures that the root user's password is updated and adds an extra layer of security with Multi-Factor Authentication.
2. Put an IP restriction on the root user: By restricting access to the root user based on specific IP addresses, unauthorized access attempts can be prevented.
3. Rotate keys and change passwords for IAM accounts: This ensures that any keys or passwords generated by the previous administrator are no longer valid, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
4. Delete the administrator's personal IAM account: Removing the administrator's personal IAM account ensures that they no longer have access to the AWS infrastructure and any associated resources.

Amazon DynamoDB is a managed NoSQL database service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is not a supported protocol for Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS). Amazon SNS supports protocols like HTTPS, AWS Lambda, and Email-JSON for sending messages to various endpoints. However, DynamoDB is not a protocol but rather a database service, so it is not a valid option for this question.

Running four Reserved Instances constantly provides a cost-effective solution for steady traffic throughout the year. By reserving these instances, you can take advantage of lower hourly rates. Additionally, adding eight On-Demand Instances on the last day of each month allows you to accommodate the increased traffic without incurring the higher costs associated with running all 12 instances as Reserved Instances. This approach balances cost-effectiveness with the flexibility to handle the spikes in traffic on the last day of each month.

To grant a different AWS account permission to your Amazon SQS queue, you should create an Amazon SQS policy that grants the other account access. This can be done by specifying the AWS account ID of the other account in the policy and defining the necessary permissions for accessing the queue. By creating an SQS policy, you can securely grant access to the queue without sharing your AWS account credentials or creating a user in IAM for the other account. VPC peering is not required for this specific scenario.

Each Availability Zone consists of multiple discrete data centers with redundant power and networking/connectivity. This means that each Availability Zone is made up of multiple physically separate and isolated data centers that are designed to operate independently. These data centers have redundant power sources and networking/connectivity to ensure high availability and fault tolerance.

To restrict access to Amazon S3 data, you can use the following features:

1. Create a pre-signed URL for an object: This allows temporary access to the object through a generated URL, which can have an expiration time.

2. Use an Amazon S3 Access Control List (ACL) on a bucket or object: ACLs provide fine-grained control over who can access the bucket or object by specifying permissions for individual AWS accounts or groups.

3. Use an Amazon S3 bucket policy: Bucket policies define access permissions for the bucket and its contents, allowing you to specify which AWS accounts or IAM users have access and what actions they can perform.

These features provide different methods for controlling access to Amazon S3 data, ensuring that only authorized users can access the data.

GET or LIST after a DELETE: When a DELETE operation is performed on an object in Amazon S3, it may take some time for the deletion to be fully propagated across all the storage nodes. Therefore, if a GET or LIST operation is performed immediately after the delete, it is possible to get stale data.

GET after overwrite PUT (PUT to an existing key): If a PUT operation is performed to overwrite an existing object in Amazon S3, it may take some time for the new version of the object to be fully propagated. If a GET operation is performed immediately after the overwrite PUT, it is possible to get stale data from the previous version of the object.

To accept incoming traffic, a listener must be configured on an Elastic Load Balancing load balancer. A listener is responsible for checking for connection requests from clients and forwarding them to the appropriate target group. It defines the protocol and port number that the load balancer uses to listen for incoming traffic. Without a listener, the load balancer would not be able to receive and distribute incoming traffic effectively. Therefore, configuring a listener is essential for accepting incoming traffic on an Elastic Load Balancing load balancer.

In order to structure the design of their Amazon SWF environment, it is advised to use a single domain containing multiple workflows. This allows the workflows to interact with each other. Using multiple domains, each containing a single workflow, would not allow for this interaction. Similarly, collapsing all activities to within a single workflow would limit the ability for workflows to interact. Using Amazon SQS and Amazon SNS would not be suitable as they do not provide the same level of workflow management and coordination as Amazon SWF.

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) object storage differs from block and file storage in two ways. Firstly, objects in Amazon S3 contain both data and metadata, allowing for additional information to be stored alongside the actual data. This metadata can include details such as the object's creation date, author, or any other relevant information. Secondly, objects in Amazon S3 are stored in buckets. Buckets act as containers for objects and provide a way to organize and manage the stored data. This hierarchical structure allows for easy management and retrieval of objects within the storage system.

Enabling S3 versioning on the bucket allows for the preservation of previous versions of objects in the bucket. This means that even if a file is accidentally deleted or overwritten, the previous versions can still be accessed and restored. By enabling versioning, you can protect your S3 data from both accidental deletion and accidental overwriting, providing an added layer of data protection and ensuring data integrity.

The Public DNS name and Elastic IP address can be used to address an Amazon EC2 instance over the web. The Public DNS name is a globally unique identifier that can be used to access the instance from the internet. The Elastic IP address is a static, public IP address that can be associated with the instance, providing a fixed address that can be used to access the instance over the internet.

Amazon Redshift is a cloud-based data warehousing solution that is optimized for online analytical processing (OLAP) workloads. It is designed to handle large volumes of data and perform complex queries quickly. Therefore, a reporting database supporting back-office analytics and a data warehouse used to aggregate multiple disparate data sources are both good fits for running on Amazon Redshift. These workloads require a high-performance and scalable solution, which Amazon Redshift provides. However, a transactional database supporting a busy e-commerce order processing website and managing session state and user profile data for thousands of concurrent users are not mentioned as good fits for Amazon Redshift, as these workloads typically require a transactional database system with high concurrency and low latency.

Some of the key characteristics of Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) are that all objects have a URL, meaning they can be accessed and shared easily. Amazon S3 can also store unlimited amounts of data, providing scalable storage solutions. Additionally, Amazon S3 uses a REST (Representational State Transfer) API, allowing developers to interact with the service programmatically.

S3 bucket namespace is shared and global among all AWS users, meaning that bucket names must be unique across all accounts. Bucket names can contain alphanumeric characters, and each bucket is associated with a specific region. All data stored in a bucket resides in that region. Additionally, buckets can be transferred from one account to another using the API.

Data stored on Amazon EBS is automatically replicated within an Availability Zone, which ensures high durability and availability of data. Amazon EBS volumes can also be encrypted transparently to workloads on the attached instance, providing an additional layer of security for sensitive data.

Deploying additional Spot Instances to assist in processing the orders would be a cost-effective way to drain the queue for orders. Spot Instances are spare computing capacity available at a lower price compared to On-Demand or Reserved Instances. By deploying additional Spot Instances, you can increase the processing power and speed up order processing without incurring high costs. This solution is suitable for handling the temporary increase in orders during the weekend sale without the need for long-term commitments or high expenses.