Section A
Application Question(s)
80 Marks
Question 1
1.1 As an IT professional, you will have a vested interest in ensuring that the
workplace environment is conducive to the well-being of individuals and equipment,
and that it does not pose any negative impacts on the environment. The organization
you are working for has migrated to a Hybrid cloud model State the advantages and
disadvantages of a hybrid cloud model
( 6 Marks )
Advantages :
Cost-Cost is an important consideration when switching to a cloud solution.
Hybrid cloud is one such method for scaling operations on a budget.
Reliability- Because there are fewer potential outages, hybrid cloud services are
more dependable.
Deployment-The hybrid cloud is designed to meet the needs of organizations (the
optimization process).
Scalability-Hybrid clouds are well-known for their ability to adapt to the needs of
organizations.
Flexibility- Businesses can take advantage of both public and private cloud services
by utilizing hybrid cloud.
Agility-The ability to customize a hybrid cloud ensures that the company is
adaptable enough to meet customer needs.
Disadvantages :
Security-Security concerns are common among users who want to upload sensitive
data to a hybrid cloud. Hybrid clouds have many security flaws because of how they
are designed.
Visibility- Maintaining visibility over a hybrid cloud service can be difficult. Cost
issues could arise as a result of the rise in idle instances.
Investment- Building an enterprise cloud necessitates a sizable investment even
though a hybrid cloud is less expensive to run.
Compatibility- Cloud compatibility has been found to be another issue in a hybrid
cloud environment. in relation to the infrastructure, in particular. An on-site installed
infrastructure is more powerful than a public infrastructure.
Networking- Network bottlenecks may occur during data transmission between the
Public and Private cloud models. When utilizing a public cloud, data is always sent
over the open internet. The notoriously slow public internet has a significant impact
on performance. especially for applications and tasks that necessitate rapid
processing.
Control- Users of hybrid clouds are constantly plagued by a lack of control.
To enhance operations, interactions between the public and private cloud models
are required. In other words, a private infrastructure needs to be modified in order to
be compatible with a public cloud. The problem is that users are powerless to alter
this.
1.2 In the Hybrid cloud model, why is high availability and scaling important
(4 Marks
Low Latency and High Availability
The hybrid model can help the enterprise overcome availability issues.
High availability makes it possible for crucial services to be quickly restored and
made accessible to users following a disaster, which aids in disaster recovery. It
makes it possible for services to quickly switch over between sites, reducing the
impact of disruptions on business operations. Although public cloud services are
rarely ineffective, when they are, client organizations may suffer catastrophic results.
Private clouds and local data centers can act as backups for public cloud outages,
but organizations should split their workload between public and private clouds
(hybrid clouds) to truly ensure airtight availability. To ensure service continuity even if
the public cloud infrastructure fails, it is ideal to keep your critical data in the private
cloud and/or your local data center. The factors listed above also apply to latency;
utilizing the hybrid cloud model can help shorten the distance that data must travel.
Scalability
In the highly competitive business environment of today, scaling up is essential to
satisfy growing market demand. The best option is a hybrid cloud.
Public cloud infrastructure is highly scalable, whereas private cloud infrastructure
scales more slowly. Because it combines the two models, hybrid cloud enables
businesses to cost-effectively scale up the public portion of their cloud infrastructure
as needed.
In a hybrid cloud model, scalability is crucial because it enables the organization to
adjust its resource levels to suit shifting business demands. In order to meet the
increased demand for services during peak times, the organization must scale up its
resources; however, during lean times, it can scale down its resources in order to
reduce costs.
1.3 Explain what is meant by the following types of clouds private cloud, public cloud,
community cloud, cloud with a cloud, multi-cloud, and multitenancy cloud
( 10 Marks )
Public Cloud- Anyone can use the public cloud to access systems and services.
It's possible that the public cloud is less secure because it's open to all users. In a
public cloud, cloud infrastructure services are made online accessible to large
industry groups or the general public.
Private Cloud- In stark contrast to the private cloud deployment model is the public
cloud deployment model. It is a personal space for a single user (customer).
It is not necessary to let others use your hardware. Private clouds and public clouds
are different in how you manage all of the hardware. It also goes by the name
"internal cloud," and it refers to the ability to access systems and services that are
located within a particular organization or geographic boundary.
Hybrid Cloud-By putting a layer of proprietary software between the public and
private realms, hybrid cloud computing combines the best aspects of both.
You can host the app in a secure location and take advantage of the cost savings
provided by the public cloud by utilizing a hybrid solution. Organizations can move
data and applications between different clouds using a combination of two or more
cloud deployment techniques, depending on their requirements.
Community Cloud- It makes systems and services accessible to a variety of
organizations. It is a distributed system created by combining the features of various
clouds to satisfy the particular needs of a community, industry, or business.
The infrastructure of the community may be shared by the organization that has
shared objectives or duties. It is typically run by a third party or a union of a few
different local organizations.
Multi-cloud- The hybrid cloud deployment strategy, which combines resources from
both public and private clouds, is comparable. Instead of fusing private and public
clouds, multi-cloud makes use of numerous public clouds. Public cloud providers still
experience errors despite providing a variety of tools to improve the dependability of
their services.
The occurrence of an incident in two distinct clouds at the same time is extremely
rare. Therefore, multi-cloud deployment further improves the high availability of your
services.
( Total = 20 Marks )
Question 2
2.1 What types of access controls should the healthcare organization consider
implementing to protect patient data
( 10 Marks )
Role-based access control (RBAC): Popular access control technology called
RBAC restricts system access based on the roles and responsibilities of users.
Healthcare organizations can use RBAC to make sure that only users who are
authorized based on their job roles have access to patient data.
Mandatory access control (MAC): Based on a classification of system-wide
security, MAC restricts what users can do. It assigns sensitive labels to data and
limits access based on those labels. Healthcare organizations can benefit from the
help of MAC in limiting access to sensitive patient data and ensuring legal
compliance.
Discretionary access control (DAC): Owners can manage who has access to their
data using DAC, a type of access control. In healthcare settings, DAC can be used
to give doctors access to medical records for the patients they are treating but not for
other patients.
Two-factor authentication (2FA): With two-factor authentication (2FA), users must
present two different forms of identification in order to access a system, adding an
extra layer of security to the authentication process. 2FA can be used by healthcare
organizations to make it harder for unauthorized users to access patient data.
Audit trails: Audit trails keep track of every action involving an electronic health
record, including user logins, accesses, and modifications. Healthcare organizations
can monitor system activity and spot potential security breaches using audit trails.
2.2 How can RBAC be used to control access to patient data in the healthcare
organization?
( 10 Marks )
Role-based access control (RBAC) can be used in healthcare organizations to
control access to patient data by assigning specific roles to users and granting them
only the access required to perform their job functions.
Here's how RBAC can be used in a healthcare organization:
Identify roles: Physicians, nurses, office staff, and IT personnel are just a few
examples of the occupations that the healthcare organization has identified as
needing access to patient data.
Assign permissions: For each role, the organization determines the level of access
necessary and grants that access.