The WS-Security specifications, as well as the WS-Federation system, are built upon XML, WDSL, and SOAP. SAML is a very similar protocol that is used as an alternative to WS.XML, WDSL, and SOAP are all integral to the WS-Security specifications.

Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
Puppet is a commonly used tool for maintaining system configurations based on policies, and done so from a centralized authority.

Portability is the ability for a cloud customer to easily move their systems, services, and applications among different cloud providers. By avoiding reliance on proprietary APIs and other vendor-specific cloud features, an organization can maintain flexibility to move among the various cloud providers with greater ease. Reversibility refers to the ability for a cloud customer to quickly and easy remove all their services and data from a cloud provider. Interoperability is the ability to reuse services and components for other applications and uses.
Scalability refers to the ability of a cloud environment to add or remove resources to meet current demands.

With SDN, the filtering and forwarding capabilities and administration are separated. This allows the cloud provider to build interfaces and management tools for administrative delegation of filtering configuration, without having to allow direct access to underlying network equipment.
Firewalling and protocols are both terms related to networks, but they are not components SDN is concerned with.

Authentication is the process of proving whether the identity presented by a user is true and valid. This can be done through common mechanisms such as user ID and password combinations or with more secure methods such as multifactor authentication.