- (Topic 4)
A systems administrator is working within a private cloud environment. Over time. random 4K read/write speeds on all VMS in the environment slow down until the VMS are completely unusable, with disk speeds of less than 1MBps. The administrator has gathered the information below:
• There is no correlation between the slowdown and VM/hypervisor resource utilization.
• The network is rated to 40Gbps and utilization is between 1—5%.
• The hypervisors use hundreds of NFSv3 mounts to the same storage appliance, one per VM.
• The VMS on each hypervisor become unresponsive after two weeks of uptime.
• The unresponsiveness is resolved by moving slow VMS onto a rebooted hypervisor. Which of the following solutions will MOST likely resolve this issue?

1. A. Increase caching on the storage appliance.
2. B. Configure jumbo frames on the hypervisors and storage.
3. C. Increase CPU/RAM resources on affected VMS.
4. D. Reduce the number of NFSv3 mounts to one.

Correct Answer: D
The correct answer is D. Reduce the number of NFSv3 mounts to one.
NFSv3 is a network file system protocol that allows clients to access files stored on a remote server. NFSv3 uses TCP or UDP as the transport layer protocol, and typically runs on port 20491.
One of the known issues with NFSv3 mounts is that they can cause performance degradation and unresponsiveness on the client side if there are too many mounts or if there are network connectivity problems. This is because NFSv3 does not handle connection failures or timeouts gracefully, and may keep retrying to access the server indefinitely, blocking other processes or threads. This can result in slow disk speeds, high CPU usage, and system hangs23.
Therefore, one of the possible solutions to this issue is to reduce the number of NFSv3 mounts to one per hypervisor, instead of one per VM. This way, the hypervisor can manage the access to the shared storage appliance more efficiently, and avoid creating too many TCP connections or UDP packets that may overload the network or the server. Reducing the number of NFSv3 mounts can also simplify the configuration and troubleshooting of the network file system.
Increasing caching on the storage appliance may improve the read performance of the NFSv3 mounts, but it will not solve the underlying issue of connection failures or timeouts. Caching may also introduce data inconsistency or corruption issues if the cache is not synchronized with the server.
Configuring jumbo frames on the hypervisors and storage may improve the network throughput and efficiency of the NFSv3 mounts, but it will not solve the underlying issue of connection failures or timeouts. Jumbo frames are larger than standard Ethernet frames, and require that all devices on the network path support them. Jumbo frames may also introduce fragmentation or compatibility issues if they are not configured properly. Increasing CPU/RAM resources on affected VMs may improve their performance in general, but it will not solve the underlying issue of connection failures or timeouts. Increasing CPU/RAM resources may also be costly and wasteful if they are not needed for other purposes.

- (Topic 4)
A company that performs passive vulnerability scanning at its transit VPC has detected a vulnerability related to outdated web-server software on one of its public subnets. Which of the following can the company use to verify if this is a true positive with the least effort and cost? (Select two).

1. A. A network-based scan
2. B. An agent-based scan
3. C. A port scan
4. D. A red-team exercise
5. E. A credentialed scan
6. F. A blue-team exercise
7. G. Unknown environment penetration testing

Correct Answer: AE

- (Topic 2)
Which of the following definitions of serverless computing BEST explains how it is different from using VMs?

1. A. Serverless computing is a cloud-hosting service that utilizes infrastructure that is fully managed by the CSP.
2. B. Serverless computing uses predictable billing and offers lower costs than VM compute services.
3. C. Serverless computing is a scalable, highly available cloud service that uses SDN technologies.
4. D. Serverless computing allows developers to focus on writing code and organizations to focus on business.

Correct Answer: D
This is the best definition of serverless computing that explains how it is different from using VMs (Virtual Machines). Serverless computing is a cloud service model that provides customers with a platform to run applications or functions without having to manage or provision any underlying infrastructure or resources, such as servers, storage, network, OS, etc. Serverless computing is different from using VMs in the following ways:
✑ Serverless computing allows developers to focus on writing code and organizations to focus on business, rather than spending time and effort on managing or scaling VMs or other infrastructure components.
✑ Serverless computing is event-driven and pay-per-use, which means that applications or functions are executed only when triggered by a specific event or request, and customers are charged only for the resources consumed during the execution time.
✑ Serverless computing is more scalable and flexible than using VMs, as it can automatically adjust the capacity and performance of applications or functions according to demand or workload, without requiring any manual intervention or configuration.

- (Topic 4)
A cloud administrator receives an email stating the following:
"Clients are receiving emails from our web application with non-encrypted links."
The administrator notices that links generated from the web application are opening in http://. Which of the following should be configured to redirect the traffic to https://?

1. A. User account access
2. B. Programming code
3. C. Web server configuration
4. D. Load balancer setting

Correct Answer: C
To redirect the traffic from HTTP to HTTPS, the web server configuration should be modified to include a rule that forces the HTTP requests to be redirected to HTTPS. This can be done by using the web server’s configuration file or a .htaccess file. The exact syntax may vary depending on the web server software, but the general idea is to use a rewrite rule that matches the HTTP protocol and changes it to HTTPS. For example, on Apache web server, the following code can be added to the .htaccess file: RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
This code will check if the HTTPS is off, and if so, it will rewrite the URL to use HTTPS and redirect the client with a 301 status code, which means permanent redirection. This way, the clients will always use HTTPS to access the web application, and the links generated from the web application will be encrypted.
User account access (A) is not relevant to the redirection of HTTP to HTTPS, as it only controls who can access the web application. Programming code (B) may be used to generate the links with HTTPS, but it will not redirect the existing HTTP requests to HTTPS. Load balancer setting (D) may also be used to redirect the traffic to HTTPS, but it is not the most efficient or secure way, as it will add an extra layer of processing and expose the HTTP traffic to the load balancer. Therefore, web server configuration © is the best option to redirect the traffic to HTTPS.
Reference: The Official CompTIA Cloud+ Student Guide (Exam CV0-003), Chapter 4:
Cloud Security, Section 4.3: Secure Cloud Services, p. 4-23.

- (Topic 3)
A systems administrator needs to deploy a solution to automate new application releases that come from the development team. The administrator is responsible for provisioning resources at the infrastructure layer without modifying any configurations in the application code. Which of the following would BEST accomplish this task?

1. A. Implementing a CI/CD tool
2. B. Configuring infrastructure as code
3. C. Deploying an orchestration tool
4. D. Employing DevOps methodology

Correct Answer: B
Infrastructure as code (IaC) is a method of provisioning and managing cloud resources using code or scripts, rather than manual processes or GUI tools. This allows for automation, consistency, scalability, and version control of the infrastructure layer. This would be the best option to deploy a solution to automate new application releases that come from the development team without modifying any configurations in the application code. Reference: CompTIA Cloud+ Certification Exam Objectives, Domain 3.0 Maintenance, Objective 3.4 Given a scenario, implement automation and orchestration to optimize cloud operations.