You work for a company that holds an annual capture the flag (CTF) competition

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Scenario

You work for a company that holds an annual capture the flag (CTF) competition. In the past, competitions had at least 1,500 people competing against one another. There are 250 challenges in the system ranging from general IT to cybersecurity. There is no way to know exactly how long it takes participants to perform a challenge; however, on average, some investigations have determined between 30 seconds to 1 minute. The system must stay up during the competition. It is estimated that each year the number of participants will grow 15%. It has been decided that in the upcoming year, the system will be delivered to contestants from the Cloud as Software as a Service (SaaS) instead of an on-premise system. The main reason for this is that a power outage occurred last year, and the system was not operational for 4 hours during the 72-hour event. Management does not want that to happen again.

You work in a small IT team, and your director of IT asked your team to research Amazon and Microsoft for the CTF system. Facebook developed the CTF system, is open source, and runs on Ubuntu. You will also determine the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the two providers.

Assignment Requirements

You will work in a group for this assignment. First, research the two cloud providers Amazon and Microsoft and provide background information as to why you picked the two you did. The background information should be at least 500 words.

Sample Solution

Researching Cloud Providers for CTF: Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs. Microsoft Azure

Background

Given the critical nature of our annual CTF competition, ensuring system reliability and scalability is paramount. A cloud-based solution offers several advantages over an on-premise system, including:

  • Enhanced Reliability: Cloud providers invest heavily in redundant infrastructure and disaster recovery measures, significantly reducing the risk of downtime due to hardware failures or power outages.
  • Scalability: Cloud platforms can easily scale up or down to accommodate fluctuating loads, ensuring optimal performance during peak usage periods.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Cloud-based solutions offer a pay-as-you-go model, allowing us to optimize costs by only paying for the resources we consume.
  • Security: Cloud providers employ advanced security measures to protect data and applications, reducing the burden on our IT team.

Considering these factors, we have narrowed down our options to two leading cloud providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS, a pioneer in the cloud computing industry, offers a comprehensive suite of cloud services that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of our CTF competition. Some key advantages of AWS include:

  • Extensive Service Catalog: AWS provides a vast array of services, including compute, storage, database, networking, analytics, machine learning, and more. This breadth of offerings allows us to build a robust and flexible CTF platform.
  • Global Infrastructure: AWS operates a global network of data centers, ensuring low-latency access for participants worldwide.
  • Strong Security Features: AWS offers robust security features, such as identity and access management, encryption, and security groups, to protect our CTF platform and sensitive data.
  • Cost Optimization Tools: AWS provides tools like AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Budgets to help us monitor and optimize our cloud spending.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure, a powerful cloud platform, offers a rich set of services that can be leveraged to build a scalable and secure CTF platform. Key advantages of Azure include:

  • Hybrid Cloud Capabilities: Azure seamlessly integrates with on-premises infrastructure, allowing us to leverage existing investments while migrating critical workloads to the cloud.
  • Enterprise-Grade Security: Azure offers robust security features, including Azure Security Center, Azure Active Directory, and Azure Firewall, to protect our CTF platform.
  • Developer Productivity Tools: Azure offers a range of developer tools, such as Visual Studio Code and Azure DevOps, to streamline the development and deployment process.
  • Integration with Microsoft Products: Azure integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products, such as Office 365 and Microsoft Teams, providing a unified experience for our users.

Conclusion

Both AWS and Azure offer compelling solutions for our CTF competition. The optimal choice will depend on specific factors such as the complexity of the CTF platform, the level of security required, and the budget constraints.

In the next phase of our analysis, we will delve deeper into the technical aspects of each platform, including the deployment architecture, scalability considerations, and security best practices. We will also conduct a thorough TCO analysis to determine the long-term costs associated with each provider.

 

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