Data Residency Restrictions in Cloud Computing

A.

Multitenancy is the aspect of cloud computing that involves having multiple customers and applications running within the same system and sharing the same resources.

Although considerable mechanisms are in place to ensure isolation and separation, the data and applications are ultimately using shared resources.

Broad network access refers to the ability to access cloud services from any location or client.

Portability refers to the ability to easily move cloud services between different cloud providers, whereas elasticity refers to the capabilities of a cloud environment to add or remove services, as needed, to meet current demand.

The correct answer is A. Multitenancy.

Multitenancy is a characteristic of cloud computing where multiple tenants or customers share the same physical resources, such as servers, storage, and network infrastructure, in a cloud environment. This is achieved through virtualization technologies that create isolated environments for each tenant, allowing them to run their applications on the same physical infrastructure without interfering with each other.

However, if an application has strict legal requirements that the data cannot reside on systems that contain other applications or systems, then the multitenancy aspect of cloud computing would be prohibitive in this case. This is because the use of shared resources in a multitenant environment increases the risk of data leakage and exposure to other applications or systems that may be running on the same infrastructure.

In such scenarios, the application may need to be run on dedicated physical servers, which can provide the necessary isolation and security controls to meet the legal requirements. This approach may result in higher costs and lower elasticity compared to a cloud-based solution, but it would provide the necessary security assurances to the application's data.

Broad network access, portability, and elasticity are not necessarily prohibitive in this case. Broad network access is a fundamental characteristic of cloud computing, and it enables users to access cloud services over the internet from anywhere in the world. Portability refers to the ability to move applications and data between different cloud providers or deployment models, which may be desirable for various reasons, such as cost optimization and avoiding vendor lock-in. Elasticity refers to the ability to scale resources up or down based on demand, which is a key benefit of cloud computing and can help organizations optimize their resource utilization and costs.