Automation/Orchestration refers to which of the following?

• A. Manual provisioning of servers.
• B. A programming paradigm for scripting languages.
• C. Automated configuration management, and coordination of computer systems, applications and services.
• D. A cryptographic key management technique.

Answer: (C)

Automation and orchestration are about using tools to automatically configure infrastructure and coordinate tasks across multiple components so systems, applications, and services work together with minimal human intervention. Automated configuration management means keeping machines in a desired state by applying consistent configurations, software, and patches automatically. Orchestration adds the ability to run and coordinate these automated tasks across many systems in the correct sequence to achieve a larger goal—such as provisioning a server, deploying an application, updating a load balancer, and starting all dependent services in the right order. This combination is what lets IT teams deploy and manage complex environments efficiently.

The other concepts described don’t fit because manual provisioning is the opposite of automation, a programming paradigm for scripting languages is not about coordinating multiple systems, and cryptographic key management is a separate security practice unrelated to automating and coordinating system operations.