Week 8 Posting - Cloud Storage

This week, the class and I went over the topic of cloud storage and identifying multiple types of data types stored in the cloud. In the realm of cloud security, it’s essential to classify data in a form of different axes. I want to argue that prioritizing different organizational methods will increase security that store these data. During our reading, I learned about 4 types of data classification axis: sensitivity, compliance, lifecycle, and visibility (West, 2022, p. 337). Sensitivity controls who can access the data and whether it can be accessed remotely or strictly on-premises. Compliance proposes the standards and regulations of data storage and movement. Encryption is one of the main topics in this axis. Lifecycle is focused on the duration of data in the specific storage. Lastly, visibility is centered on monitoring data and tracking any sort of movement and transactions.

West, J. (2022b). CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing. Course Technology.

Week 7 Posting - Identity and Access Management

 

This week, the class and I learned about identity and access management. We learned how to evaluate account manage requirements and other technical concerns. During my studies, I learned about common identity and access management (IAM) issues that may hinder and negatively impact performance and productivity. When it comes to issues related to authentication, there are three common areas of impact: expired certificates, misconfigured certificate, and federation /single sign-on issues (West, 2022, p. 288). When certificates expire, it’s common for the system to send a friendly reminder to the user that they’ll expire within a certain duration. In some cases, the certificates will need to be renewed manually. Checking the expiration date of a certificate can help the users to acknowledge when it’ll be time to renew it. In some cases, users attempt the wrong certificate to access or perform a command in the system. If that’s the case, go to the root and configure it correctly. Lastly, mistyping is a common problem when signing to a system. Ensure the credentials are correct and there’s no blockage between the SSO service and service provider’s app (West, 2022, p. 288).

West, J. (2022b). CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing. Course Technology.

Week 6 Posting - Securing Cloud Resources

 

This week, the class and I learned about securing cloud resources and identifying different types of threats to cloud security. System misconfiguration occurs when an application is configured improperly or are missing certain settings or guidelines. This creates a ripple effect that exposes weak spots in the system for threat actors to take advantage of. There are common security weak spots that IT professionals should consider when a security issue arrives: unencrypted data and communications, obsolete security technologies, incorrect hardening settings, security device failure, insufficient security controls and processes, and unauthorized physical access (West, 2022, p. 249). To fix these misconfigurations, the team must consider identifying the root of the problem, evaluate the severity, implement correction, and document the situation. The reason for documenting is for future reference, meaning if this situation occurs again, the team will be prepared.

West, J. (2022b). CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing. Course Technology.

Week 5 Posting - Cloud Connectivity and Troubleshooting

This week, the class went out cloud connectivity and troubleshooting. We learned how VLANs and common network connectivity tools work. I want to shed to light a recent technology that addresses the weaknesses of VLANs in a cloud computing atmosphere called VXLAN or virtual extensible LAN).

This overlay technology creates an “extended” virtual network on top of the current infrastructure. In terms of the OSI model, it is adding a layer 2 overlay structure above layer 3 (West, 2022, p. 183). The VXLAN header is inserted between the outer UDP header and original layer 2 frame. The header itself consist of the VXLAN flags and VXLAN network ID. An optimal time to use VXLAN is when the users need to accomplish any type of network segmentation that goes beyond what the original can deliver since VXLAN enables up to 16 million virtual networks.

West, J. (2022b). CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing. Course Technology.

Week 4 Posting - Cloud Networking

This week, the class covered cloud networking, which involves appropriating IP address spaces in cloud networks, identifying cloud stacks, and configuring network interfaces in the cloud. For me, I found incorporating the OSI model to the Cloud Stack Theoretical model benefits me by learning how to manage and organize the information. Layer 1 is the physical layer. This layer includes servers, cables, hardware, etc. Layer 2 is the virtualization layer. This layer emphasizes the virtualization software and hardware. Layer 3 is the network layer. This layer focuses on managing resources, costs, security, and other services. Layer 4 is the OS layer. This layer is centered around data storage, data processing and workloads. Lastly, layer 5 is the application layer. This layer is for the traditional lower-layer functions. The cloud service provider is responsible for monitoring the physical and virtualization layer (West, 2022, p. 132).

West, J. (2022b). CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing. Course Technology.

Week 3 Posting - Migration to the Cloud

 

            Data transfer is the procedure of migrating data from location A to location B. In the case for cloud computing, it’s the motion of moving data to and from a storage environment. This week, we learned about cloud migration and its functionalities. One terminology I want to bring up is the methodologies of transferring data and the different types of data transfer: public internet, private connection, and offline transfer.

Public internet enables minimal and slow data migrations. Private connections low latency, high availability and increased bandwidth since the user is not competing for connections. One drawback I learned is a private connection often requires a long-term dedicated contract with a specific ISP. Lastly, offline transfer is transferring encrypted data onto a storage device and physically migrating it to the cloud service provider. This could mean package delivery (West, 2022, pp.90-92).

West, J. (2022b). CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing. Course Technology.

Week 2 Posting - Virtual Hardware

Virtual network interface controllers or vNICs physically and virtually connect the virtual machine to other neighboring machines (West, 2022, p. 46). These are the links that enables the host to connect to VMs. Throughout my research, I learned about three common network configurations: bridged, NAT (network address translation), and Host-only mode.

Bridged mode is known to be the easiest route regarding accessibility for VM to connect to a network since it uses the host’s physical network adapters. NAT mode is useful if the user needs to keep their virtual machines private and away from the public eye. NAT is best suited for testing the waters. Lastly, the host-only mode is basically a one-way road. WMs can share data with each other but they cannot communicate with other nodes beyond the host (West, 2022, p. 47).

 

References:

West, J. (2022b). CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing. Course Technology.