AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services — 100 Questions

Question 1

A development team wants to deploy a microservices-based application using containers. They want to orchestrate the containers with automatic scaling and rolling updates, but they want to avoid managing the underlying infrastructure such as virtual machines. Which Azure compute service meets these requirements?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is the correct choice because it provides a managed Kubernetes orchestration platform that handles container deployment, automatic scaling, and rolling updates. To fully avoid managing virtual machine infrastructure, you can enable virtual nodes (backed by Azure Container Instances), which allow pods to run on serverless infrastructure without managing any VMs. This meets the team's requirement to avoid managing underlying infrastructure.

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Azure Virtual Machines

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Azure Container Instances

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Azure App Service

Question 2

A company has a virtual machine running a legacy application that needs high-performance, low-latency storage for transactional data. They need to attach a storage solution that provides the highest IOPS and throughput. Which Azure managed disk type should they choose?

Accepted Answer

D) Ultra Disk. Ultra Disk is the correct choice because it offers the highest IOPS and throughput of any Azure managed disk, with sub-millisecond latency, making it ideal for high-performance, low-latency transactional workloads. It supports up to 300,000 IOPS and 4,000 MB/s throughput per disk (depending on disk size), and allows independent scaling of IOPS and throughput without requiring a disk swap.

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A) Standard HDD

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B) Standard SSD

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C) Premium SSD

Question 3

A company wants to migrate an on-premises application to Azure. The application requires consistently high disk throughput for database files. They plan to use Azure virtual machines with managed disks. Which disk type should they choose to get the highest possible IOPS and throughput at a premium cost?

Accepted Answer

Ultra Disk. Ultra Disk (Option C) is correct because it provides the highest IOPS and throughput of any Azure managed disk type, with sub-millisecond latency, making it ideal for I/O-intensive workloads like database files. It is designed for premium cost scenarios where maximum performance is required, offering configurable IOPS and throughput independent of disk size.

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Standard SSD

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Premium SSD v2

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Standard HDD

Question 4

A company needs to run a simple background job that runs every hour for 10 minutes. They want to containerize the job but do not want to manage a container orchestration platform. Which Azure service is simplest and most cost-effective?

Accepted Answer

Azure Container Instances. Azure Container Instances (ACI) is the simplest and most cost-effective choice because it allows you to run a containerized job directly without managing any underlying infrastructure or orchestration platform. For a short-lived hourly job that runs for only 10 minutes, ACI provides fast startup and per-second billing. To schedule the job to run every hour, combine ACI with a scheduler such as Azure Logic Apps or Azure Automation, but ACI itself is the container execution service. The `--restart-policy Never` flag ensures the container doesn't restart after it finishes, which is appropriate for a one-time job execution.

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Azure Kubernetes Service

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Azure Batch

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Azure Functions

Question 5

A company needs to share a set of files between multiple Azure VMs using the SMB protocol. They require a managed file share that can be mounted simultaneously by multiple VMs with permissions managed via Active Directory. Which Azure storage services should they use? (Select all that apply.)

Accepted Answer

Azure Files. Azure Files provides fully managed SMB file shares that can be mounted concurrently by multiple Azure VMs and supports Active Directory authentication. However, Azure NetApp Files is also a managed file share service that supports SMB and NFS, can be mounted by multiple VMs, and supports Active Directory permissions. Therefore, both A and D satisfy the criteria as written. The question needs to be revised to differentiate between them (e.g., cost, performance, or service tier), or the correct answer set should include both.

Answer

Azure Blob Storage

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Azure Disk Storage

Question 6

A company is developing a web application that will be deployed to Azure App Service. The application experiences unpredictable spikes in traffic, and the company wants the number of instances to automatically increase during high demand and decrease during low demand to optimize costs. The company also needs to use a custom domain name and ensure the application is accessible over HTTPS. Which App Service plan tier should the company choose?

Accepted Answer

Standard. The Standard tier is the correct choice because it supports all three requirements: autoscaling, custom domains, and HTTPS (SNI-based SSL/TLS binding). The Free tier does not support custom domains or autoscaling. The Shared tier supports custom domains but does not support HTTPS for custom domains and lacks autoscaling. The Basic tier supports custom domains and HTTPS but lacks autoscaling. Therefore, Standard is the minimum tier that meets all requirements.

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Free

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Shared

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Basic

Question 7

A company plans to deploy a three-tier web application in Azure. The application consists of web servers, application servers, and database servers. The company wants to protect the virtual machines (VMs) from planned maintenance events (e.g., OS updates) and unplanned hardware failures. They want to ensure that at least one VM in each tier remains available during such events. The solution should be deployed entirely within a single Azure region. What should the company use for the VMs?

Accepted Answer

Create an Availability Set containing two VMs per tier, configured with two fault domains and five update domains.. An Availability Set distributes VMs across fault domains (different hardware) and update domains (different maintenance groups), ensuring that during planned maintenance or an unplanned hardware failure, at least one VM per tier remains available. Availability Zones protect against datacenter-level failures, but the question specifically mentions planned maintenance events and hardware failures, which are handled by fault domains and update domains within a datacenter. Therefore, an Availability Set is the appropriate solution within a single Azure region.

Answer

Deploy the VMs across three Availability Zones (Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3) within the region.

Answer

Configure a single Virtual Machine Scale Set that includes all the VMs for all three tiers.

Answer

Use a Virtual Machine Scale Set with autoscale configured to always keep a minimum number of VMs running.

Question 8

A company has an on-premises datacenter with critical line-of-business applications. They plan to migrate some workloads to Azure but need a reliable, high-bandwidth, and low-latency connection that does not traverse the public internet. The connection must be dedicated and guaranteed for a consistent network experience. Which Azure service should the company use?

Accepted Answer

Azure ExpressRoute. Azure ExpressRoute provides a dedicated, private connection from on-premises to Azure that does not traverse the public internet, offering higher reliability, lower latency, and higher bandwidth than internet-based connections. This meets the requirement for a guaranteed, consistent network experience for critical line-of-business applications.

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Azure VPN Gateway (site-to-site)

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Azure Virtual WAN

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Azure Bastion

Question 9

A company is migrating a legacy on-premises application to Azure. The application runs on multiple Windows Server virtual machines and requires a shared file system that multiple servers can mount simultaneously using the SMB protocol. The data must also be accessible from on-premises servers in a hybrid configuration. The IT team wants to minimize management overhead and avoid provisioning additional servers solely for file sharing. Which Azure service should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Files. Azure Files provides fully managed SMB file shares that can be mounted simultaneously by multiple Windows Server VMs, both in Azure and on-premises, without provisioning a dedicated file server. It supports SMB 3.0 for hybrid access and offers minimal management overhead. While Azure NetApp Files also provides SMB, Azure Files is the simpler and more cost-effective choice for general-purpose file sharing, aligning with the requirement to minimize management overhead.

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Azure Blob Storage

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Azure Disk Storage

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Azure NetApp Files

Question 10

A global e-commerce company needs to store product catalog data that must be available for reads and writes from multiple Azure regions simultaneously. The application requires consistently low latency (single-digit milliseconds) for writes from any region, and the database must automatically replicate all changes across regions with conflict resolution. The company wants a fully managed database service with native multi-region write support. Which Azure database service should the company use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB is the correct choice because it is a fully managed NoSQL database service that natively supports multi-region writes with automatic replication across any number of Azure regions. It guarantees single-digit millisecond latency for reads and writes at the 99th percentile, and provides built-in conflict resolution policies (e.g., last-writer-wins or custom) to handle concurrent updates from different regions. This makes it ideal for globally distributed applications requiring consistent low-latency writes and automatic replication.

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Azure SQL Database

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Azure Database for PostgreSQL

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Azure Cache for Redis

Question 11

A company plans to migrate their on-premises file server to Azure. The file server stores shared documents that are accessed by multiple Windows and Linux virtual machines using the SMB protocol. The company wants a fully managed cloud file share that can be mounted simultaneously by multiple VMs, and they want to minimize management overhead. Which Azure service should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Files. Azure Files provides fully managed SMB file shares that can be mounted simultaneously by multiple Windows and Linux VMs. It uses the SMB 3.0 protocol, supports both Windows and Linux clients, and eliminates the need to manage the underlying storage infrastructure, minimizing management overhead.

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Azure Blob Storage

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Azure Disks

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Azure NetApp Files

Question 12

A global e-commerce company runs its website on Azure virtual machines in two different Azure regions: West US and East US. The company wants to distribute incoming web traffic to the region that provides the lowest latency for each user. Additionally, if one region becomes unavailable, all traffic should automatically fail over to the healthy region. The solution must not require any changes to the web application code. Which Azure service should the company use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Traffic Manager. Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that directs incoming web traffic to the region with the lowest latency based on the user's DNS resolver location. It supports automatic failover by routing traffic to the next healthy endpoint if a region becomes unavailable, and it requires no changes to the web application code because it operates at the DNS level.

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Azure Load Balancer

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Azure Application Gateway

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Azure Front Door

Question 13

Which Azure service acts as a reverse proxy to protect, accelerate, and deliver web applications with SSL termination and layer 7 load balancing?

Accepted Answer

Azure Front Door. Azure Front Door is a global, scalable entry point that acts as a reverse proxy, provides SSL termination, Layer 7 routing, Web Application Firewall (WAF), DDoS protection, and acceleration of web applications. This precisely matches the stem's 'protect, accelerate, and deliver web applications with SSL termination and layer 7 load balancing.' Application Gateway is a regional Layer 7 load balancer but does not offer global acceleration.

Answer

Azure Load Balancer

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Azure Application Gateway

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Azure Traffic Manager

Question 14

Which Azure service provides a managed graph API for accessing Microsoft 365 data, including users, groups, and calendar events?

Accepted Answer

Microsoft Graph. Microsoft Graph is the correct answer because it provides a unified REST API (https://graph.microsoft.com) for accessing Microsoft 365 data, including users, groups, and calendar events. It acts as the gateway to data stored in Microsoft 365 services, replacing the deprecated Azure AD Graph API. Cosmos DB for Graph is a graph database service, not an API for Microsoft 365 data; Azure AD Graph is deprecated; API Management is for managing APIs, not for direct access to Microsoft 365 data.

Answer

Azure Cosmos DB for Graph

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Azure Active Directory Graph API

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Azure API Management

Question 15

Which Azure service provides an integrated development environment and tools for building and deploying applications to Azure directly from a web browser?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cloud Shell. Azure Cloud Shell is a browser-accessible shell that includes Azure CLI, PowerShell, and a lightweight code editor. It allows developers to build, test, and deploy applications to Azure from a web browser without installing tools locally. While it is not a traditional desktop IDE, among the listed options it is the closest match for the browser-based development environment described.

Answer

Azure App Service Editor

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Azure DevOps

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Azure Sandbox

Question 16

Which Azure database service is a globally distributed, multi-model NoSQL database that supports multiple data models and multi-master global distribution?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model NoSQL database service that supports multiple data models and provides multi-master replication for writes in any region. The other options are relational databases or analytics services and do not offer native multi-master global distribution or multi-model support.

Answer

Azure SQL Database

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Azure Database for PostgreSQL Hyperscale

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Azure Synapse Analytics

Question 17

Which Azure storage redundancy option provides the highest durability by replicating data across two paired Azure regions?

Accepted Answer

Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage (GZRS). Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage (GZRS) provides the highest durability among Azure storage redundancy options by synchronously replicating data across multiple Azure availability zones within the primary region (zone-redundant), and then asynchronously copying that data to a paired secondary region. This combination offers 16 nines (99.99999999999999%) durability, protecting against both zonal failures and complete regional outages. Standard Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) only replicates three times within a single region (LRS) before geo-copying, achieving 12 nines (99.9999999999%) durability, but GZRS adds zone-level redundancy for even higher durability.

Answer

Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS)

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Locally Redundant Storage (LRS)

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Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS)

Question 18

Which Azure service provides a way to connect microservices-based applications using patterns like service discovery, circuit breaker, and distributed tracing?

Accepted Answer

Azure Service Fabric. Azure Service Fabric is a distributed systems platform for building, deploying, and managing microservices. It provides built-in service discovery through its Naming Service and supports reliable communication with health/failover handling. Circuit breaker and distributed tracing are common resilience patterns that can be implemented using Service Fabric's Reliable Services/Actors and integrated with Application Insights, but they are not automatic, baked-in features. Among the options, Service Fabric is still the most appropriate answer because it is the dedicated microservices platform.

Answer

Azure API Management

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Azure Kubernetes Service

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Azure Logic Apps

Question 19

Which Azure storage service is optimized for storing transactional records where data is written once and read many times?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage with immutability policies (WORM). Azure Blob Storage with immutability policies (WORM) is correct for write-once-read-many transactional records due to its immutability enforcement. The explanation is accurate, but the trap note mischaracterizes Data Lake Storage.

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Azure Queue Storage

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Azure Files

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Azure Data Lake Storage

Question 20

Which Azure service provides fully managed file shares in the cloud as part of Azure Storage and supports the NFS protocol for Linux clients?

Accepted Answer

Azure Files (NFS protocol). Azure Files is the fully managed file share service in Azure Storage that supports NFS 4.1 for Linux clients. Azure NetApp Files also supports NFS but is a separate NetApp-managed service, not part of Azure Storage. Azure Blob Storage supports NFS 3.0 but is object storage, not file shares. Azure Data Lake Storage is optimized for analytics and does not provide file shares.

Answer

Azure Blob Storage with NFS 3.0

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Azure NetApp Files

Answer

Azure Data Lake Storage