Cloud Networking, Virtual Networks, and Load Balancing
Networking in the Cloud
Virtual private networks in cloud environments
Cloud networking commonly uses virtual private clouds, subnets, route tables, security groups, and gateways to isolate resources while enabling controlled communication.
Shared responsibility
Cloud providers manage the underlying infrastructure, while customers are usually responsible for network configuration, access control, and traffic design inside their accounts.
Load balancing
Load balancers distribute traffic across multiple backend servers to improve availability, scale, and fault tolerance. They may operate at layer or layer .
Cloud networking components
| Component | Role |
|---|---|
| VPC or virtual network | Isolated network container |
| Subnet | Partition inside the virtual network |
| Security group | Stateful traffic filter |
| Load balancer | Distributes requests across targets |
What is a primary reason to place multiple servers behind a load balancer?
Load balancing improves resilience and helps absorb more traffic.
Correct answer: To provide scale and failover
What is the difference between a security group and a subnet route table in cloud networking?
They serve different policy roles: one is filtering, the other is forwarding.
Correct answer: A security group filters traffic, while a route table determines where traffic is sent
At which layer does a typical cloud HTTP load balancer most directly make decisions?
Cloud load balancers commonly operate on transport or application details.
Correct answer: Layer 4 or Layer 7
Planning cloud connectivity
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1
Step 1: Define required subnets and address space.
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2
Step 2: Create route and security policies.
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3
Step 3: Decide how inbound and outbound access will work.
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4
Step 4: Test failover and access control before deployment.