INTRODUCTION
Cloud computing is becoming more and more popular, and the skill sets required to support cloud computing environments are in high demand. Organizations are examining cloud computing and looking to implement cloud environments to reduce cost and increase IT capabilities.
Why Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing provides something that the IT industry has always needed: a way to increase capacity and add resources as necessary without having to invest in infrastructure. Cloud computing enables an organization to expand its business on demand as it grows.
Growing Need for Cloud Administrators
As more and more organizations adopt a cloud model, the need for cloud administrators increases. Whether the organization is implementing a private cloud, public cloud, or hybrid cloud, it is going to need someone to administer and maintain that cloud environment. Having the skills necessary to support a cloud environment will set you apart as an IT administrator.
Preparing for the CompTIA Cloud+ Exam
This book is designed to help you prepare for the CompTIA Cloud+ certification exam, CV0-002. After successfully passing this exam, you will have demonstrated that you have the knowledge required of IT practitioners working in a cloud environment and that you understand how to deliver a cloud infrastructure. Passing this exam is not an easy step on your way to being a cloud administrator; you will be required to learn new terminology and implementation concepts as they relate to a cloud computing environment.
How This Book Is Organized
This book is divided into chapters based on meeting the objectives of the CompTIA Cloud+ exam. While many individuals taking the exam have been in the IT industry for many years, the terminology used in a cloud computing environment and on the exam may be new to them. Understanding this terminology is a key step to passing the CompTIA Cloud+ exam and becoming a cloud administrator. Throughout the book, you will learn the different components that make up a cloud environment along with the best practices for implementing those components in the cloud. If you are an experienced IT administrator, some of these components will be very familiar to you, but understanding how those components work in a cloud environment could be a challenge. This book is not meant to be a complete guide to cloud computing; it is designed to cover all of the objectives of the CompTIA Cloud+ exam.
Chapter 1: Cloud Computing Concepts, Models, and Terminology This chapter focuses on the terminology as it pertains to a cloud environment. You will learn about the various cloud service models, along with cloud deployment models, object storage, and key terms as they relate to cloud computing.
Chapter 2: Disk Storage Systems Chapter 2 discusses how disk configurations and redundancy are implemented in the cloud. You will learn the different file types that are part of a cloud environment, along with how to use data tiering to maximize the organization’s storage.
Chapter 3: Storage Networking After becoming familiar with the disk storage systems involved in a cloud environment, the next thing to understand is how to implement and provision those disk storage systems. In this chapter, you will learn about the various storage technologies, how to implement them in the most efficient manner, and how to protect storage through high availability and replication.
Chapter 4: Network Infrastructure Network configuration is a primary component of cloud computing. In this chapter, you will learn the different types of network configurations and how to optimize those networks. You will also be introduced to the different network ports and protocols that are part of cloud computing.
Chapter 5: Virtualization Components Virtualization is the key component to cloud computing. This chapter explains the basic concepts of virtualization, including the virtualization host, hypervisor, and virtual machines. You will also learn about virtualized infrastructure service elements, including DNS, DHCP, certificate services, and load balancing.
Chapter 6: Virtualization and the Cloud Chapter 6 expands on what you learned in Chapter 5 and explains the benefits of virtualization in a cloud environment. You will also learn how to migrate an organization’s current environment to a virtual environment using the various tools that are available, including P2V and V2V.
Chapter 7: DevOps DevOps teams are a combination of software development and IT operations that more effectively support applications throughout their life cycle. This chapter covers some primary areas of responsibility for DevOps including monitoring the cloud and tools for remote access and administration. The chapter then presents life cycle management, an overarching concept in DevOps for how applications are specified, developed, tested, deployed, and maintained.
Chapter 8: Performance Tuning Optimizing performance and allocating resources is something that needs careful consideration and planning. You will learn how to configure virtualization host resources and guest resources and how to optimize those configurations.
Chapter 9: Systems Management This chapter explores the nontechnical aspects of implementing a cloud environment. You will learn how to implement the proper policies and procedures as they pertain to a cloud environment, along with best practices for systems management and how to perform system maintenance.
Chapter 10: Security in the Cloud This chapter explains a variety of security concepts as they pertain to a cloud environment. You will learn how to secure the network and the data that is part of the cloud environment.
Chapter 11: Security Best Practices This chapter explains cloud security best practices. You will learn about system hardening, layered security, security governance, and vulnerability management.
Chapter 12: Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Disaster recovery and business continuity are still primary concerns for an organization when implementing a cloud environment. This chapter describes the different options an organization has when building both business continuity and disaster recovery plans and implementing high availability. It ends with a discussion on backup and recovery methods.
Chapter 13: Testing, Automation, and Changes Service and maintenance availability must be considered when choosing a cloud provider. This chapter explains the testing techniques that can be used to ensure adequate performance, proper functionality, and availability. The chapter then introduces methods to automate and orchestrate activities and then discusses how to manage changes and configurations.
Chapter 14: Troubleshooting Knowing how to solve issues effectively will set you apart from other professionals. This chapter teaches you troubleshooting tools, documentation, and analysis. The chapter then introduces CompTIA’s troubleshooting methodology and explains how to troubleshoot deployment, capacity, automation, connectivity, and security issues using the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology.
Glossary In addition, a glossary has been put together to give you a place to go to quickly find key terms that are discussed throughout the book. We hope that it can become a reference to use both during your time studying for the test and after you successfully pass the CompTIA Cloud+ exam.
Certification Summary, Two-Minute Drill, and Self Test Sections
A few of the most important tools in this study guide are the end-of-chapter Certification Summary and Two-Minute Drill sections. In these sections, you will find a high-level review of the chapter and all of the key subject matter that was discussed in the chapter as it pertains to the CompTIA Cloud+ exam.
The questions provided in the Self Test at the end of each chapter are to help you review what you have learned in that particular chapter. They serve as a guide to help you understand what was discussed and to help you determine if more studying is required on a particular subject. Answering all of the questions at the end of the chapters correctly does not guarantee that you will pass the CompTIA Cloud+ exam. Instead, they should be used as a guide to determine how comfortable you are with a given topic.
The Total Tester
Included with this book is access to practice exam software that contains even more practice questions with detailed explanations of the answers. Using this set of practice questions provided in the Total Tester exam engine is another tool to help you prepare for the CompTIA Cloud+ exam. Please see the appendix for more information about accessing the Total Tester.
Moving Forward
At this point, we hope that you are excited about cloud computing and all of the exciting new challenges that come with implementing a cloud computing environment. We wish you luck in your endeavors and want to be the first to welcome you to the field of cloud computing.