Cloud Technology and Services practice questions

Answer: A) Amazon Redshift

• ARedshift is a columnar, massively parallel data warehouse for analytics and BI workloads on very large datasets, with features like Redshift Spectrum to query data directly in S3.
• BRDS is tuned for transactional (OLTP) workloads, not petabyte-scale analytical queries.
• CDynamoDB is a NoSQL key-value store for high-volume operational access patterns, not a data warehouse.
• DElastiCache is an in-memory cache, not an analytical warehouse.

Answer: A) Amazon Neptune

Amazon Neptune is the AWS purpose-built graph database for highly connected data. It queries relationships with Gremlin, openCypher, or SPARQL.

• ACorrect. Neptune is a fully managed graph database built for highly connected datasets. It can store billions of relationships and query them with millisecond latency using Gremlin, openCypher, or SPARQL. Typical uses include social networks, recommendation engines, fraud detection, and knowledge graphs.
• BIncorrect. Redshift is a columnar data warehouse for large-scale SQL analytics. It isn't a graph engine for navigating relationships.
• CIncorrect. DynamoDB is a key-value and document database built for fast lookups by key. It isn't purpose-built for multi-hop traversal of arbitrary relationships.
• DIncorrect. ElastiCache is an in-memory cache, usually placed in front of another data store to speed up reads. It isn't a graph database for modeling and querying relationships.

Answer: A) Amazon RDS

• AAmazon RDS is a managed relational database service that handles provisioning, OS and database patching, backups, and failover for engines like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.
• BRunning a database on EC2 leaves OS and database administration entirely to the customer — the opposite of what was asked.
• CS3 is object storage, not a relational database engine.
• DCloudFront is a content delivery network, unrelated to databases.

Answer: A) Amazon EventBridge

• AEventBridge natively ingests events from AWS services, custom apps, and partner SaaS sources, filters them with rules, and includes a schema registry — going beyond SNS/SQS for event-driven integration.
• BSQS is a point-to-point queue, not a rule-based multi-source event bus.
• CKinesis handles high-volume record streaming with shard-based processing, not SaaS event routing with rules and a schema registry.
• DStep Functions orchestrates workflow steps; it isn't an event bus.

Answer: A) AWS DMS

AWS DMS supports migrations that replicate ongoing changes, so the source database stays operational and is kept in sync with the target until a brief cutover.

• ACorrect. AWS Database Migration Service loads the existing data and then replicates ongoing changes to keep the source and target in sync. Downtime is limited to a short cutover.
• BIncorrect. CloudFront is a content delivery network that caches content at edge locations. It does not migrate or replicate databases.
• CIncorrect. DataSync transfers file and object data between storage systems such as NFS, SMB, Amazon S3, Amazon EFS, and Amazon FSx. It does not replicate ongoing transactional changes from a live database to Amazon RDS.
• DIncorrect. Athena is a serverless service for running SQL queries against data in Amazon S3. It is not a database migration tool.

Answer: A) Amazon Lightsail

• ALightsail offers pre-configured virtual private servers, databases, and networking at a fixed, low monthly price with a simplified console — designed for simple workloads and users new to AWS.
• BThat's the full-control path the question is specifically trying to avoid for a simple site.
• CEKS is managed Kubernetes — far more complexity than a simple website needs.
• DAWS Batch runs batch computing jobs, not persistent simple websites.

Answer: A) Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service)

• ASNS is a pub/sub service: publishers send a message to a topic and it is fanned out to all subscribers — Lambda, SQS queues, HTTP endpoints, email, or SMS.
• BSQS is a point-to-point message queue where one consumer processes each message; it is not fan-out pub/sub on its own.
• CFirehose delivers streaming data to destinations like S3 or Redshift; it is not a notification pub/sub service.
• DStep Functions orchestrates multi-step workflows; it is not a messaging fan-out service.

Answer: A) Amazon Kinesis

• AThe Kinesis family (Data Streams, Data Firehose, Managed Service for Apache Flink) ingests and processes high-volume streaming data in near real time.
• BRedshift is a data warehouse for batch analytical queries, not a real-time streaming ingestion service.
• CGlacier is cold archival storage, the opposite of real-time processing.
• DSnowball is for offline bulk data transfer, not live streaming.

Answer: A) Amazon CloudFront

• ACloudFront is a content delivery network that caches content at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency for end users.
• BDirect Connect is a dedicated private link between a data center and AWS — not a global content cache.
• CRoute 53 is DNS with routing policies; it directs requests but does not cache content.
• DGlobal Accelerator improves availability and routing for TCP/UDP traffic but does not cache static content at the edge.

Answer: A) A NAT gateway in a public subnet

• AA NAT gateway allows outbound internet access for private-subnet instances while blocking unsolicited inbound connections.
• BGiving private instances a public path both directions defeats the purpose of keeping them private.
• CA customer gateway represents the on-premises end of a VPN, unrelated to outbound internet for a subnet.
• DPeering connects two VPCs privately; it does not provide internet access.