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 Elasticity is the cloud computing characteristic that allows the cloud service to scale up or down the resources dynamically according to the demand. Elasticity can help the organization address the issue of performance degradation from oversubscription of memory in the virtual environment and exhausted physical RAM by automatically allocating more memory resources to the servers when needed and releasing them when not needed. This way, the organization can avoid the risk of running out of memory and ensure optimal performance of the servers. References: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ CLO-002 Certification Study Guide, Chapter 1: Cloud Computing Concepts, Section 1.2: Cloud Computing Characteristics, Page 17

Availability is one of the security objectives that refers to the ability of authorized users to access and use the system and its resources when needed1. Availability is most improved when moving a system to the cloud, as cloud computing offers several benefits that enhance the reliability and accessibility of the system, such as23:

Scalability: Cloud computing allows the system to dynamically adjust the amount of resources allocated to meet the changing demand, without affecting the performance or availability of the system.

Redundancy: Cloud computing provides multiple copies of the system and its data across different locations and servers, ensuring that the system can continue to operate even if one or more components fail.

Backup and recovery: Cloud computing enables the system to regularly backup the data and configuration to the cloud, and restore them quickly in case of a disaster or a failure.

Maintenance and updates: Cloud computing allows the system to receive timely and automatic updates and patches from the cloud provider, without disrupting the availability of the system or requiring downtime.

Service level agreements: Cloud computing offers service level agreements (SLAs) that guarantee a certain level of availability and uptime for the system, and provide compensation or remediation in case of a breach. References: 1: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ Certification StudyGuide, Second Edition (Exam CLO-002), Chapter 4: Cloud Security, Section 4.1: Cloud Security Concepts, Subsection 4.1.1: Security Objectives; 2: IBM, What is Cloud Security? Cloud Security Defined; 3: Spiceworks, What Is Cloud Computing Security? Definition, Risks, and Security Best Practices

Before initiating the project, the first step should be to identify the key stakeholders. The key stakeholders are the individuals or groups who have an interest or influence in the outcome of the project. They may include internal or external parties, such as executives, managers, employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, or partners1. Identifying the key stakeholders is important for several reasons, such as:

Aligning the project goals and expectations: The key stakeholders can help to define the vision, scope, objectives, and requirements of the project. They can also provide feedback and approval throughout the project lifecycle. By involving the key stakeholders from the start, the project team can ensure that the project meets the needs and expectations of the stakeholders and delivers the desired value2.

Securing the project resources and support: The key stakeholders can help to allocate the necessary resources and support for the project, such as budget, time, personnel, equipment, or data. They can also help to resolve any issues or conflicts that may arise during the project. By engaging the key stakeholders from the start, the project team can ensure that the project has the adequate resources and support to succeed3.

Managing the project risks and changes: The key stakeholders can help to identify and mitigate the potential risks and changes that may affect the project, such as technical, operational, legal, or regulatory challenges. They can also help to communicate and implement the changes to the relevant parties. By collaborating with the key stakeholders from the start, the project team can ensure that the project adapts to the changing environment and minimizes the negative impacts4.

The other options are not as suitable as identifying the key stakeholders for the first step of the project because:

The required network performance: The required network performance is the level of quality and speed that the network needs to provide for the cloud application. The required network performance is an important factor to consider for the project, but it is not the first step. The required network performance depends on the type, size, and location of the cloud application, which are determined by the key stakeholders’ input5.

The desired CSP: The desired CSP is the cloud service provider that offers the cloud services and infrastructure for the cloud application. The desired CSP is an important factor to consider for the project, but it is not the first step. The desired CSP depends on the features, benefits, and pricing of the cloud services and infrastructure, which are evaluated by the key stakeholders’ criteria.

The required cloud services: The required cloud services are the cloud-based resources and capabilities that the cloud application needs to function. The required cloud services are an important factor to consider for the project, but they are not the first step. The required cloud services depend on the functionality, scalability, and security of the cloud application, which are defined by the key stakeholders’ requirements.

The required amount of storage: The required amount of storage is the amount of disk space that the cloud application needs to store its data. The required amount of storage is an important factor to consider for the project, but it is not the first step. The required amount of storage depends on the volume, variety, and velocity of the data, which are influenced by the key stakeholders’ expectations.

Federation is a technology that allows a social media application to authenticate access to resources that are available in the cloud. Federation enables users to sign in to a cloud service using their existing credentials from another identity provider, such as Facebook, Google, or Microsoft. This way, users do not need to create a separate account or password for the cloud service, and the cloud service does not need to store or manage user identities. Federation also simplifies access management, as the identity provider can control which users and groups are allowed to access the cloud service. Federation is based on standards such as OAuth, OpenID Connect, and SAML, which define how identity providers and cloud services can exchange authentication and authorization information. References: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ CLO-002 Study Guide, Chapter 3: Cloud Service Operations, Section 3.4: Identity and Access Management, Page 113.

 Managed services are a type of outsourcing administration in the context of the cloud, where a third-party provider takes over the responsibility of managing and operating cloud services on behalf of the customer. Managed services can include various functions such as maintenance, monitoring, security, backup, recovery, and support. Managed services can help customers to reduce costs, improve performance, enhance security, and focus on their core business. Managed services are different from other types of support, such as audit, community, or premium support, which do not involve the transfer of control or ownership of cloud services to a third-party provider. References: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ Certification Exam Objectives1, CompTIACloud Essentials+ Study Guide, Chapter 2: Business Principles of Cloud Environments2, Outsourcing Cloud Administration

 RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) is a protocol that allows a user to remotely access and control a graphical user interface (GUI) of another computer over a network. RDP can be used to install applications, configure settings, and perform administrative tasks on a cloud-hosted server. RDP is supported by Windows-based operating systems and some Linux distributions. RDP can also be accessed by using third-party software or web browsers. RDP provides a secure and encrypted connection between the client and the server, and supports features such as audio, video,clipboard, printer, and file sharing. RDP would be the best solution for a company that needs GUI-based server access to migrate an application to a cloud hosting platform.

SSH (Secure Shell) is a protocol that allows a user to remotely access and execute commands on another computer over a network. SSH can be used to install applications, configure settings, and perform administrative tasks on a cloud-hosted server. SSH is supported by most operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. SSH provides a secure and encrypted connection between the client and the server, and supports features such as port forwarding, tunneling, and file transfer. However, SSH does not provide a GUI-based access, but rather a command-line interface (CLI) that requires the user to type commands and view text-based output. SSH would not be the best solution for a company that needs GUI-based server access to migrate an application to a cloud hosting platform.

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a protocol that allows a user to securely transfer files between two computers over a network. SFTP can be used to upload or download files to or from a cloud-hosted server. SFTP is supported by most operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. SFTP provides a secure and encrypted connection between the client and the server, and supports features such as file permissions, directory listing, and resume interrupted transfers. However, SFTP does not provide a GUI-based or a command-line access to the cloud-hosted server, but rather a file transfer interface that requires the user to specify the source and destination paths of the files. SFTP would not be the best solution for a company that needs GUI-based server access to migrate an application to a cloud hosting platform.

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is a protocol that allows a user to securely access and exchange information with a web server over a network. HTTPS can be used to browse, submit, or retrieve web pages or data from a cloud-hosted server. HTTPS is supported by most web browsers and web servers, including those that run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. HTTPS provides a secure and encrypted connection between the client and the server, and supports features such as authentication, authorization, and cookies. However, HTTPS does not provide a GUI-based or a command-line access to the cloud-hosted server, but rather a web-based interface that requires the user to use a web browser and follow the web server’s logic and navigation. HTTPS would not be the best solution for a company that needs GUI-based server access to migrate an application to a cloud hosting platform. References: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ CLO-002 Study Guide, page 161-162; CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ Certification Training, CertMaster Learn for Cloud Essentials+, Module 4: Management and Technical Operations, Lesson 4.2: Cloud Networking, Topic 4.2.3: Remote Access Protocols

RTO stands for Recovery Time Objective, which is a metric that measures the maximum acceptable amount of time that an application or a service can be offline or unavailable after a disruption, such as a server failure, a power outage, or a natural disaster. RTO is a key indicator of the disaster recovery capabilities and objectives of an organization, as it reflects the level of tolerance or impact of downtime on the business operations, reputation, and revenue. RTO is usually expressed in hours, minutes, or seconds, and it can vary depending on the criticality and priority of the application or the service. RTO can help an organization to determine the optimal level of backup, redundancy, and recovery for the application or the service, as well as the potential costs and risks of downtime. RTO can also help the organization to choose the appropriate cloud service model, provider, and deployment option that can meet the disaster recovery requirements and expectations of the organization and its customers12

Therefore, the best explanation of the concept of RTOs for restoring servers to operational use is to reduce the amount of time a particular server is unavailable and offline, as this implies thegoal of minimizing the duration and frequency of downtime, and restoring the normal operations and functionality of the server as quickly as possible.

A hybrid cloud migration approach best describes the scenario where a company decides to move some of its computing resources to a public cloud provider but keep the rest in-house. A hybrid cloud is a type of cloud deployment that combines public and private cloud resources, allowing data and applications to move between them. A hybrid cloud can offer the benefits of both cloud models, such as scalability, cost-efficiency, security, and control. A hybrid cloud migration approach can help a company to leverage the advantages of the public cloud for some workloads, while maintaining the on-premise infrastructure for others. For example, a company may choose to migrate its web applications to the public cloud to improve performance and availability, while keeping its sensitive data and legacy systems in the private cloud for compliance and compatibility reasons. A hybrid cloud migration approach can also enable a gradual transition to the cloud, by allowing the company to move workloads at its own pace and test the cloud environment before fully committing to it. References: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ CLO-002 Study Guide, Chapter 2: Cloud Concepts, Section 2.1: Cloud Deployment Models, Page 43. What is Hybrid Cloud? Everything You Need to Know - NetApp1

A gaming application is a type of SaaS application that requires high compute resources to run the game logic, graphics, physics, and networking. Gaming applications also need to handle a large number of concurrent users and provide low latency and high performance. Therefore, the compute costs from the CSP would be extremely high for a gaming application. On the other hand, a gaming application does not need much storage space, as most of the game data is stored on the client side or in memory. Therefore, the storage costs from the CSP would be relatively low for a gaming application. The other options are not likely to have high compute costs and low storage costs. An email application, a CDN service, and an audio streaming service all need to store large amounts of data on the cloud, which would increase the storage costs. An email application and a CDN service do not need much compute power, as they mainly involve sending and receiving data. An audio streaming service may need some compute power to process and encode the audio files, but not as much as a gaming application. Therefore, the correct answer is C. A gaming application. References: Cloud Computing for Gaming Applications, Cloud Computing for Online Games: A Survey, Cloud Gaming: A Green Solution to Massive Multiplayer Online Games.

 A hash value is a unique code that is generated by applying a mathematical algorithm to a piece of data. Hash values are used to ensure the integrity of data, which means that the data has not been altered or corrupted in any way. By comparing the hash value of the original data with the hash value of the received or stored data, one can verify that the data is identical and has not been tampered with. Hash values can also be used for digital signatures, which provide non-repudiation of data, meaning that the sender or owner of the data cannot deny its authenticity or origin. However, hash values alone do not provide confidentiality or availability of data, which are other aspects of data security. Confidentiality means that the data is protected from unauthorized access or disclosure, and availability means that the data is accessible and usable when needed. Hash values do not encrypt or hide the data, nor do they prevent data loss or downtime. References: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ CLO-002 Study Guide, Chapter 5: Cloud Security Principles, Section 5.2: Data Security Concepts, Page 1471 and Ensuring Data Integrity with Hash Codes - .NET | Microsoft Learn