50+ Essential Cloud Computing Interview Questions & Answers

Basic Cloud Computing Interview Questions

1. What is Cloud Technology?

A Cloud is a virtual space on the Internet where users can store digital resources like software, applications, and files. Cloud technology allows computing services, including servers, networks, storage, databases, software, analytics, and intelligence, to be delivered over the Internet. Users can share digital resources across the Internet without the restriction of physical location. 

2. What are the main features of Cloud Computing?

The main features of cloud computing are:

• Agility – Huge amounts of computing resources can be provisioned in minutes
• Location Independence – Resources can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection
• Better Storage – with cloud storage, there are no limitations of capacity like in physical devices
• Multi-Tenancy – resource sharing is possible among a large group of users
• Reliability – data backup and disaster recovery become easier and less expensive with cloud computing
• Scalability – Cloud allows businesses to scale up and scale down as and when needed

3. What are Cloud Delivery Models?

Cloud Delivery models are categories of cloud computing, including:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – the delivery of services like servers, storage, networks, and operating systems on a request basis. 
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) – it combines IaaS with an abstracted collection of middleware services, software development, and deployment tools. PaaS helps developers quickly create web or mobile apps on a cloud.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) – software applications are delivered on-demand in a multi-tenant model.
• Function as a Service (FaaS) – allows end-users to build and run app functionalities on a serverless architecture.

4. What are the different versions of the Cloud? 

There are different models for deploying cloud services:

• Public Cloud – the set of computer resources like hardware, software, servers, storage, etc., owned and operated by third-party cloud providers for use by businesses or individuals. 
• Private Cloud – a set of resources owned and operated by an organization for use by its staff, partners, or customers.
• Hybrid Cloud – a combination of public and private cloud services.

5. Name the main constituents of the Cloud ecosystem.

• Cloud Consumers
• Direct Customers
• Cloud Service Providers

6. Who are the cloud service providers?

Cloud service providers are commercial vendors or companies developing their cloud service capabilities and selling their services to consumers. 

7. Who are Direct Customers?

Direct customers are users who often use the services developed by your business within a cloud environment. They do not know if you’re using a public or private cloud.

8. Who are cloud consumers?

Cloud consumers are individuals or groups within a business unit that use the various cloud services provided to complete a task. 

9. Describe the Cloud Computing Architecture

Cloud computing architecture is divided into:

• The client uses the front end, which consists of client-side interfaces and applications needed to access cloud computing platforms. This includes web servers like Chrome and Firefox, tablets, and mobile devices.
• A service provider uses the back end to manage all resources needed for Cloud computing services. This includes data storage, virtual machines, servers, deploying models, etc.

The different components of the cloud architecture are:

• Client Infrastructure – provides GUI for cloud interaction
• Application – software or platform
• Service – a type of service accessed

10. What are the Cloud Storage Levels?

The standard levels of cloud data storage are:

• Files 
• Blocks
• Datasets
• Objects

11. What is Virtualization?

Virtualization generates a virtual version of an underlying service. Virtualization increases the flexibility and usage of hardware by enabling various operating systems and applications to run simultaneously on the same machine and its hardware. It was first created in the age of mainframes.

12. What is the impact of virtualization in cloud computing?

Virtualization significantly impacts cloud computing. In cloud computing, users store data in the cloud but profit from sharing the infrastructure thanks to virtualization. Cloud vendors handle the necessary physical resources, but they charge high fees for their services, which affects each user and every kind of organization. By helping users or organizations maintain the services that a business needs from outside (third-party) parties, virtualization can help reduce operational costs. 

13. Define Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A content delivery network (CDN) is a collection of geographically dispersed servers that store content close to end consumers. A CDN allows for the transfer of assets such as stylesheets, HTML pages, JavaScript files, pictures, and videos to load Internet content.

14. How can you manage cloud costs?

Tracking and optimizing resource utilization is part of managing cloud expenditures to prevent waste. Using reserved instances for predictable workloads, rightsizing instances, and utilizing auto-scaling to balance resource allocation with demand are some strategies.

15. What is serverless computing?

Serverless computing is a cloud computing model in which a cloud provider assumes responsibility for server operations and computer resource management. Since third-party providers automatically deploy servers in the cloud, there are no physical or virtual servers to maintain.

Intermediate Cloud Computing Interview Questions

16. Name the serverless components in cloud computing.

Serverless components enable users to create applications without the complexity of managing physical infrastructure. Codes can be written without the provision of a server.

Serverless machines tend to be virtual machines and container management.

Serverless components also take care of multi-threading hardware allocation.

17. List the advantages and disadvantages of serverless computing.

Advantages:

• Cost-effective
• Simplified operations
• Increases productivity
• Scalable

Disadvantages:

• Can cause latency in response
• Not suited for high-computing operations due to resource limitations
• Not very secure
• Debugging can be challenging

18. What are cloud-enabling technologies?

• Broadband Networks
• Virtualization
• Data Centre
• Web Technology
• Multitenant Technology
• Service Technology

19. Define microservices.

Microservices is the process of creating applications that include code that is independent of each other and of the inherent development platform.

20. Discuss the importance of microservices for a true cloud environment.

Microservices provide benefits like:

• A microservice is designed to serve a specific purpose, so application development becomes simple. 
• Making code changes using microservices is easier and faster because the changes are smaller and simpler compared to a complex integrated application.
• They are scalable; hence, deploying additional instances or change of service is easy.
• A microservice is fully tested and validated. Thus, developers can presume the integrity of new applications without continual testing. 

21. What is a cloud usage monitor?

It is an autonomous, lightweight software program that gathers and processes IT resource usage data. These monitors can exist in various formats, such as Monitoring Agents, Resource Agents, and Polling Agents.

22. How does the monitoring agent monitor cloud usage?

A monitoring agent is an intermediary and event-driven program that thrives as a service agent and exists along the communication paths. It monitors and analyses dataflows and is used to measure network traffic and message metrics.

23. How do resource agents monitor cloud usage?

A resource agent is a processing module that collects usage data through event-driven interactions with resource software. It checks usage metrics based on pre-defined observable events. 

24. How does a polling agent monitor cloud usage?

A polling agent is a processing module that assembles data related to cloud service usage by polling IT resources. It can also monitor the IT resource status in a timely manner.

25. What is blue-green deployment in the context of cloud computing? 

Blue-green deployment is a release management method that reduces risk while minimizing downtime. It provides continuous no-outage updates, quick rollbacks, and dependable testing using two production environments called Blue and Green.

Blue-green deployment is ideal for web applications or microservice scenarios where availability should always be very high. It is widely supported by cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, which usually have many built-in tools for these types of deployments.

26. What is the definition of a hypervisor in cloud computing?

A hypervisor is a type of virtualization software used in cloud hosting to divide and allocate resources across multiple pieces of hardware. A virtualization hypervisor is software that offers abstraction, isolation, and partitioning. A single host system can run many guest operating systems (OS) concurrently due to a hypervisor. 

27. What are the challenges of implementing a hybrid cloud environment?

The challenge for organizations pursuing a hybrid cloud is finding an operating model that easily simplifies operations, reduces management complexity, enables interoperability to improve flexibility, and meets the requirements of various application architectures and digital business objectives.

A hybrid cloud solution works best when a single set of management tools, skills, and workflows can seamlessly extend to a consistent infrastructure common to on-premises, public cloud, and hosted environments.

28. What are the types of hypervisors?

Hypervisors are the fundamental technology behind virtualization or the separation of hardware and software. IT managers can establish several virtual machines on a single host computer. Every virtual machine has its hardware, including a CPU, graphics accelerator, storage, and operating system. There are two types of hypervisor.

Type-1 Hypervisor

A Type 1 hypervisor operates directly on a physical host, which is why it is also referred to as a bare metal hypervisor. On a physical host, a Type 1 hypervisor is installed first and functions similarly to that host's operating system. The physical host's resources, including the CPU, RAM, storage, and network interface, are directly accessible to a Type 1 hypervisor.

Type-2 Hypervisor

Type 2 hypervisors are software layers or frameworks that run on standard operating systems. They work by keeping the visitor and host operating systems apart. Virtual machine services are scheduled by the host operating system and implemented on the hardware. An individual should utilize a Type-2 hypervisor to run different operating systems on their computer.

29. What exactly is meant by direct customers in a cloud ecosystem?

Within the cloud ecosystem, a direct consumer is any individual or organization that has a business relationship with a cloud provider and uses the CSP's services.

30. What is CaaS?

Containers as a Service (CaaS) is a cloud computing service that enables developers to manage and deploy containerized applications. It grants enterprises of all sizes access to portable, readily scalable clouds.

Containerized apps are software code bundled with only the operating system (OS) libraries and dependencies needed to run it. These flexible, executable units, or containers, can function on almost any type of IT infrastructure, including multi-cloud and hybrid cloud setups and on-premises data centers. 

31. What is a hybrid cloud?

A hybrid cloud represents a specific storage and computing environment integrating private cloud services with public cloud and on-premise infrastructure. Hybrid cloud solutions give you the capability to shift and control workloads across different cloud environments, hence offering more flexible configurations related to your business's specific needs. Many organizations tend to choose hybrid cloud platforms to cut costs, minimize risks, and extend already-existing capabilities to support further development in line with digital transformation efforts.

32. What is the difference between private and public clouds?

A public cloud is owned and operated by a third-party cloud provider and offers scalability and availability not found in other models. By providing resources or cutting on demand, companies can dynamically respond to workload fluctuations.

A private cloud represents a range of control and exclusivity: a cloud computing environment dedicated to a single organization, hosted on-premises or in a data center managed by a third-party provider. Private clouds offer greater control and security than public clouds but also cost more.

33. What technologies are enabling the development of cloud computing services?

Several key areas of technology have contributed to the development of cloud platforms. Broadband networks and web technologies created the infrastructure to connect to cloud services. Virtualization and multi-user technologies made it possible to allocate resources efficiently. Additionally, advances in data centers have enhanced the hardware and capabilities required to host cloud platforms.

34. Define service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Service-oriented architecture is a design pattern for developing distributed systems that expose services to other applications across protocols. In a service-oriented architecture, more than one service communicates with each other either by passing data or coordinating the activities of two or more services.

Advanced Cloud Computing Interview Questions

35. What are Cloud-native applications?

It is a software framework characterized by containers, microservices, dynamic orchestration, and continued software delivery. Every part of a cloud-native publication contains its container and is dynamically coordinated with other containers.

36. How does cloud-native foundation define Cloud-native applications?

Cloud-native applications are defined as:

• Container packaged – meaning standard container packaging format used to package applications.
• Dynamically managed – standard format to discover, deploy and scale applications. 
• Microservices oriented – decompose applications into modular, independent services

37. What is Edge Computing?

Unlike the Cloud, Edge computing concerns physical location and latency issues. It is very common in IoT scenarios.

38. What is API Gateway?

API gateways allow a number of APIs to come together as a single gateway for a uniform user experience. The API gateway centrally manages the APIs and provides enterprise-level security. It handles common tasks like statistics, rate limiting, and user authentication.

39. What is Rate Limiting?

A strategy to limit network traffic is to limit how often someone can repeat an action in a certain timeframe. Rate limiting can help eliminate malicious activities and bot impacts.

40. What is encapsulation?

In cloud computing, encapsulation means packaging software code along with all of its dependencies so that it can consistently run on both clouds and on-premises.

41. Name the different data centers deployed for cloud computing.

• Containerized Datacentres
• Low-Density Datacentres

42. What are Containerised Datacentres?

These are traditional data centers that allow extensive customization of servers, mainframes, and other resources. 

43. What are Low-Density Datacentres?

These data centers are optimized to provide a high level of performance. When the space constraint is removed, they have high density. 

44. Name some issues with Cloud Computing.

• Security Issues
• Legal and Compliance Issues
• Data Management Issues
• Performance and Quality of Service-Related Issues

45. How does Resource Replication take place in Cloud Computing?

Resource Replication involves creating multiple instances of the same IT resource. It is usually done to enhance a resource’s availability and performance. Virtualization technology helps implement resource replication.

46. How do traditional data centers and cloud data centers differ from one another?

Cloud data centers allow companies to rent computing power, storage, and services over the Internet rather than build their own physical data centers. Traditional data centers are real structures that businesses own and run. Businesses must make significant upfront investments in real estate, networking equipment, servers, and storage. The enterprise must also configure, maintain, secure, power, and cool the data center.

47. Why is Anthos such an important tool for cloud computing?

With Anthos, an application platform that supports hybrid and multi-cloud environments, cloud engineers can develop and deploy reliable applications across the boundaries of on-premises, GCP, and other cloud providers. Additionally, its list of benefits is pretty long: security is robust, automation is included, observability is here, and the setting of its on-premises is available.

48. What is a rolling deployment?

Rolling deployments are a software update method that aims to reduce downtime and risk while deploying new versions of an application. Using rolling deployments, individual parts are gradually replaced instead of the full system being replaced simultaneously.

49. What is the main difference between rolling deployment and blue-green deployment?

In a rolling deployment, servers or nodes in the production environment gradually receive new program versions. In a blue-green deployment, the application is run in two identical environments: the new version is hosted in the green environment, and the current version is run in the blue environment.

50. What is cloud storming?

Cloud Storming is a cloud project brainstorming session in which you work with various cloud computing environments. The cloud engineer would gather all necessary parties to go over the objectives of the exercise before starting any CloudStorming activities. Next, decide what the objectives are and create plans to reach them. Lastly, the ideas will be ranked according to their prospective worth, and an action plan will be drafted to put the selected fixes into practice.

51. What is VDI in cloud computing?

VDI is a type of IaaS that provides two important benefits for distant workers: accessibility and security. Employees using virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can access all their computer resources, including data and apps, from any internet-connected device.

52. Define pay-as-you-go cloud computing.

PAYG (Pay-as-you-go) allows customers to pay for goods or services in full or before using them. It gives customers the flexibility to pay for what they need, eliminating the need for large upfront costs or binding contracts. 

53. Which ethical problems exist in cloud computing?

Cloud computing ethics primarily address ownership, security, and data privacy. When private data is stored on servers run by third parties, questions about data usage and access are raised.

54. How would you safeguard data for transport in cloud computing?

It is important to ensure that your data cannot be intercepted when it is transferred between cloud computing locations. Encryption also ensures that there are no data leaks from any cloud storage, which is crucial.

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FAQs

1. How do you answer the question of what cloud computing is in an interview?

Cloud computing refers to the supply of numerous services via the Internet, such as data storage, databases, servers, networking, and software.

2. Why is cloud computing becoming so popular?

For companies of all sizes, cloud computing solutions like saving cost, flexibility, security, quality control, and competitive edge have much to offer. Thus, companies have shifted from relying only on traditional servers to using cloud computing in their operations with great speed. The pre-provisioning capacity of cloud computing services allows for the quick and sometimes instantaneous addition of new users, clients, and services.

3. What industries benefit the most from cloud computing?

Whether you work in the banking, entertainment, or healthcare industries, cloud computing may help you improve customer service, save expenses, and streamline operations. Real estate, retail, agriculture, insurance, and automobiles are some industries that benefit from cloud computing.

4. How does cloud computing support remote working and collaboration?

Cloud computing, with its safe, scalable, and reasonably priced solutions, has become an indispensable part of modern remote work. It assists businesses in navigating the post-pandemic landscape through improved compliance, data accessibility, and efficient communication. 

5. What are some examples of popular cloud service providers?

The top cloud service providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Tencent Cloud and Oracle Cloud.