NTC/300 Cloud Technologies    

Or you may purchase UOP Tutorials by the Week below...    

NTC/300 Week 1

All Week 1 Tutorials listed below are included in purchase!!

Includes: Proposed Cloud-based Network Environment

Includes: 4-page Summary
Read the Drotos Engineering Cloud Migration Project Overview.
Imagine you are the only IT employee at Drotos Engineering. After discussing the company needs with the company owner, referred to as Senior, you recommended the company transition to a cloud-based IT management solution. Senior directed you to create a high-level overview of what it would take to migrate the company's internal, private network to a cloud-based solution.
Create the following materials to review with Senior:
• A diagram of the current network environment
• A diagram of the proposed cloud-based network environment with annotations of

   what is new or changed from the current environment

• A 3- to 4-page summary that includes:
• A rationale for transitioning from the traditional network environment to a cloud-based

   environment (i.e., how the cloud-based solution is better than trying to modify and

   adapt the current network to meet the business needs)
• The identification of new or different hardware requirements to support the cloud-

    based environment
• A listing of the high-level steps to implement the recommended cloud-based solution
• A listing of additional considerations or information needed to create a more thorough

   listing
• A final opinion as to whether the proposal will address all of the business's needs or whether additional modifications or solutions will eventually be needed
Create your diagrams in Microsoft® Visio® and write your summary in Microsoft® Word.
Note: You will use the proposed cloud-based network diagram in the Week 2 individual assignment, Drotos Engineering: Security Considerations.
Compress your files into a ZIP file.
Submit your assignment.

NTC/300 WEEK 1 Class Discussion Questions (and Answers)

Week 1 DQ: Cloud Constraints

Includes 3 Full Answers to Discussion Question

Define cloud computing workload and environmental constraints. 
Discuss how these concepts affect the performance and the capability of the cloud instance. Consider the effects of each individually as well as combined. 
Offer a solution to reduce cloud constraints on cloud performance. 
Consider suggesting additional solutions of elasticity, shared resources, or infrastructure consolidation to reduce the constraints while highlighting the benefits of the selected solution. 

Week 1 DQ: Cloud Model System Requirements

NTC/300 Week 2

All Week 2 Tutorials listed below are included in purchase!!

Includes: Microsoft Visio Diagram of Proposed Cloud-Based Network Environment

Includes: 2-page Microsoft Word Recommendation

Resource: Drotos Engineering Cloud Migration Project Overview

Continuing with the Drotos Engineering cloud migration project, Senior has agreed to proceed with a cloud-based solution for the organization's applications.
You are now working on establishing the security configurations and technologies for your solution.
Part 1
Revise the Microsoft® Visio® diagram of the proposed cloud-based network environment you created in the Week 1 assignment Drotos Engineering: Cloud Solution Proposal. Your revision should include:
• An explanation of the appropriate security configurations and compliance controls

    needed to meet the basics of the cloud infrastructure design
• An explanation of the appropriate access control list (ACL) to the target objects to

    meet access requirements according to a security template
Part 2
Create a 1- to 2-page Microsoft® Word document that recommends:
• Security technologies to use to meet your security requirements and design
• Automated scanning and monitoring techniques or tools
• High-level steps to implement the tools you recommend; identify the more critical steps
Compress your files into a ZIP file.
Submit your assignment.

NTC/300 WEEK 2 Class Discussion Questions

Discussion Question: Cloud Security

Includes 7 Full Answers to Discussion Question

You work for an IT department that has weekly IT roundtables. This week the topic is cloud security and you will lead one of the conversations.
Select one of the following types of security that can be included in the cloud:
    • Layering
    • Least privilege
    • Separation of duty
Research whether the security type you identified is frequently used by businesses and why or why not.
Post your responses to the following prompts to the discussion area:

   • Provide a short summary about what you found to be the usage of the security type

        in business.
    • Describe the circumstances in which the security type would be appropriate.
    • Describe the circumstances that would indicate the security type would not be

        appropriate.
    • What are some high-level steps to implement the security type?
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider sharing additional information or insights about how technologies may affect the use of security solution. Alternatively, consider sharing an experience or something you read to further the solution described.

Discussion Question: Mandatory and Discretionary Access Control Lists

Includes 2 Full Answers to Discussion Question

Explain the difference between mandatory and discretionary access control lists.
Post your explanation to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider sharing ideas about when to implement these types of access control lists or why these types of lists are used during an implementation of cloud technology. As appropriate, include pros or cons of each type.

Discussion Question: Security Automation

Includes 2 Full Answers to Discussion Question

You are part of a team initiating a new cloud environment. Your team is presenting an overview of the security plans.
You are to give an overview of single sign-on.
Define single sign-on.
Provide an example that explains how single sign-on is used and its benefits.
Research an article describing an implementation of single sign-on that demonstrates the benefit of the example you identified.
Cite your article according to APA guidelines.
Post your answer to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider offering your opinion regarding the potential security risk the automation of access through single sign-on provides and alternative automation ideas.

NTC/300 Week 3

All Week 3 Tutorials listed below are included in purchase!!

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Summary and Plan

Includes: Drotos Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan Summary

Includes: Disaster Recover Plan Process and Business Continuity Plan Process

Resource: Drotos Engineering Cloud Migration Project Overview
The Drotos Engineering cloud migration project is proceeding. Your applications require a 99.9% uptime. You are now working on the disaster recovery and business continuity plan to ensure that occurs. Senior wants to be assured Drotos Engineering is prepared to handle any disaster or business interruptions. Therefore, you decide to prepare a summary of your plan and a sample procedure from your disaster recovery and business continuity (DR/BC) plan to review together.
Part 1
Write a 3-page summary in Microsoft® Word of your DR/BC plan that includes:
    • An overview of your patch management strategy to ensure your systems and

       applications are up-to-date
    • An overview of your backup strategy to ensure applications and all company data is

       available, including:
    • A schedule or plan for full and incremental backups
    • The planned use of automated tools
    • The types of disasters and potential causes of business interruption covered by your

         plan
Part 2
Select an event covered by your DR/BC plan.
Write a high-level DR/BC plan process that would be included in your DR/BC playbook for this event.
    • Use the DR/BC Playbook Procedure Template to document your processes.
    • Each process should be no longer than one page. Outline the DR approach on one

       page and the BC approach on the second.
Refer to the Sample DR/BC Playbook Procedure as needed.
Compress your files into a ZIP file.
Submit your assignment.

NTC/300 WEEK 3 Class Discussion Questions

Discussion Question: Patch Management

Includes 7 Full Answers to Discussion Question

Patch management is critical to ensuring system security and functionality. Non-IT professionals, however, may question the resources dedicated to ensuring proper patch management.
Prepare to justify patch management and to explain how patch management works by answering the following questions:
    • What is the purpose of patch management?
    • What is the order of operations for patching?
    • Are patches cumulative? Why or why not?
Research instances of security breaches that could have been avoided with sound patch management.
Describe one example that could help persuade your non-IT colleagues of the importance and value of patch management.
Post your answers to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider sharing your ideas about what elements should be considered in an overall patch management strategy.

Discussion Question: Cloud Automation Tools and Techniques

Includes 3 Full Answers to Discussion Question

You are working on an IT team designing a cloud solution for a new company. You are responsible for presenting options for automation tools and techniques.
Research currently available automation tools and techniques.
Describe two automation tools and techniques that can be used to assure efficiency in cloud solution operations.
Include the circumstances that would indicate the use of one tool over another or what tools could be used in conjunction with another.
Post your descriptions to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider sharing additional insights about the pros or limitations of the tools and techniques described by your peers.

Discussion Question: Ensuring IT Accessibility and Functionality

Includes 2 Full Answers to Discussion Question
You are an IT manager in a small company. The company executives are leading a two-day disaster planning retreat to review and revise the company's disaster and recovery plans.
You are to present the IT department's plans and processes.
Backup, restore, disaster recovery, and business continuity are all terms near and dear to IT professionals. However, because there will be presentations from many different disciplines (e.g., finance, HR, and production), you decide to start by defining terms from an IT perspective.
Define each of the following terms:
    • Backup
    • Restore
    • Disaster recovery
  • Business continuity
Explain how each term relates to the others and work together to ensure an organization's IT system remains accessible and functional.
Post your responses to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider adding insights to improve your peer's answer clarity or completeness. Alternatively, note something you learned from your peer.

NTC/300 Week 4

All Week 4 Tutorials listed below are included in purchase!!

Includes: SLA Content Summary

Includes: Issue 1 Provisioning Description
Includes: Issue 2 Provisioning Description

Resource: Drotos Engineering Cloud Migration Project Overview
As you are the only IT employee in Drotos Engineering, you persuaded Senior that you need outsourcing support to design, deploy, and maintain the cloud-based solution for your applications.
Note: You must include an introduction and conclusion for each of the following documents. The introduction provides context for what the reader will read and the conclusion is a summary statement of what was presented.
Part 1
As the IT liaison, Senior tasked you with defining the technical components of the SLA with the consultants.
Write a 2-page summary that includes:
    • A listing of the Drotos Engineering IT manager and vendor roles and responsibilities
    • A summary (in narrative or table format) with the acceptable metrics and

       measurements ranges, with definitions and rationale that will ensure optimum

       performance. Include minimum and maximum information for:
    • Disk space use (e.g., for each system, the minimum amount of disk space required by

       the application/person/system to run efficiently)
    • Response time
    • Uptime
   • Vendor to Drotos Engineering reporting requirements
Part 2
During the first few weeks your SLA is in place, you work with the consultant to resolve performance and optimization issues that arise. Your decisions will help create a template for the vendor to follow with later issues. Two issues arose that required documentation.
Issue 1
The baseline performance for your system is 35% below what was projected to access data and store data. Monitoring indicates that the source of the poor performance could be the network, disk, or CPU.
Write a 1- to 2-page description of how the vendor should address the issue using the following resource provisioning/deprovisioning options:
• Usage patterns
• Cloud bursting
• Extending cloud scope, storage, and virtual machines
• Application life cycle
• Business need changes
Issue 2
Your engineering applications are subject to many regulations. You learn that a new security regulation requires the assurance of a 3- second response time to ensure the user's flow of thought remains uninterrupted because of the sensitive nature of the data on the system.
Write a 1- to 2-page description that defines and describes the appropriate provisioning techniques the vendor is to follow to address the new regulation and to ensure your customers' and internal data remain protected.
Compress the following files into a ZIP file:
    • SLA Content Summary
    • Issue 1 Provisioning Description
    • Issue 2 Provisioning Description
Submit your assignment.

NTC/300 WEEK 4 Class Discussion Questions

Discussion Question: Service Level Agreements

Includes 7 Full Answers to Discussion Question

You have been asked by your manager to draft a service level agreement (SLA) with your new third-party cloud service provider.
Identify three components (e.g., uptime or storage availability) you believe are critical to include in the SLA.
Describe the component and why the component is critical to include.
Post your explanations to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider commenting on the value of the component your peer shared and related considerations that should be noted in the SLA. Where appropriate, include the monetary compensation importance.

Discussion Question: Performance Tuning Best Practice

Select a performance tuning best practice you learned about this week and answer the following questions:
    • How does this best practice contribute to an optimized implementation of a cloud system?
    • How does changing data or changes within a cloud environment alter how this best

        practice can be used for tuning?
   • How can this best practice be used to ensure alignment with a service level

       agreement?
Post your answers to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider sharing how a change to data or the environment could affect the value of the best practice.

NTC/300 - Week 5

All Week 5 Tutorials listed below are included in purchase!!

Drotos Engineering: Cloud Troubleshooting
Includes MS Visio Diagram - Part 1 - Access and Performance Issues

Includes MS Visio Diagram - Part 1 - Deploying Cloud Server

Includes MS Visio Diagram - Part 2 - Deploying App Server Issues

Includes MS Visio Diagram - Part 2 - Employee cannot access App

Includes Master MS Visio Diagram showing all processes
• Drotos Engineering Cloud Migration Project Overview
• Section 16, "Flowcharts," of "Visio® 2007 Essential Training" with David Rivers from Lynda.com®
The Drotos Engineering cloud migration project went well. The company is also doing well, and Senior decided to purchase another engineering application to enable the company to pursue another line of business.
Looking back at the initial cloud migration project, you realize that having some troubleshooting documentation and guidance would have been helpful. You decide to create a troubleshooting flow chart, or decision tree, to help with the deployment and implementation of the new software.
Part 1
Use Microsoft® Visio® to create a flow chart that will help identify and resolve issues related to:
• Deploying a new cloud-based application
• Access and performance issues related to a cloud-based application Incorporate the standard cloud troubleshooting methodology and sound logic in your flow charts.
Part 2
Annotate the flow chart to show paths to follow for troubleshooting:
• An issue related to the deployment of an application on a server
• An employee not being able to access an application
Note: You may review Section 16, "Flowcharts," of "Visio® 2007 Essential Training" with David Rivers from Lynda.com® if you are unfamiliar with creating flow charts in Microsoft® Visio®.
Part 3
Provide a 1-page overview in Microsoft® Word of the flow chart.
Include the following in your overview:
• The purpose of the flow chart
• High-level instructions of how to use the flow chart
Compress your diagram and summary into a ZIP file.
Submit your assignment.

NTC/300 WEEK 5 Class Discussion Questions

Discussion Question: Troubleshooting

Includes 7 Full Answers to Discussion Question

You lead an IT team assigned to support users of cloud-based applications. You are concerned the team members do not appreciate the importance of identifying and resolving issues affecting the security or performance of the applications as quickly as possible. You decide to address this at the next team meeting.
Research recent security events of cloud-based systems.
Explain the event and its negative effects.
Describe how a thorough troubleshooting process could have reduced the negative effects of the event.
Post your response to the discussion area.
Respond to at least one of your peers. In your response, consider offering additional troubleshooting options, tools, or other options you believe would have reduced the length or negative effects of the event.

Discussion Question: Disparate Systems

Connecting disparate systems could be a challenge. What challenges could a company face with such connections? Are there security risks? Anything pertinent to note? Anyone can jump in to comment - thank you!