AZ-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company runs a web application that experiences sudden spikes in traffic during promotional events. They want to automatically add more virtual machines during high demand and remove them when traffic subsides, paying only for the resources used. Which cloud computing benefit does this scenario describe?

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

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. This scenario describes elasticity, which is the ability of a cloud system to automatically provision and de-provision resources (such as virtual machines) in response to real-time demand changes. The key phrase 'automatically add more virtual machines during high demand and remove them when traffic subsides, paying only for the resources used' directly matches the cloud computing benefit of elasticity, where scaling is dynamic and resource usage is metered, ensuring cost efficiency.

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Scalability

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High availability

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Fault tolerance

Question 2

A company is evaluating moving its on-premises applications to the cloud. The IT manager wants to avoid upfront hardware costs and instead pay for resources on a monthly basis based on usage. Which cloud characteristic enables this financial model?

Accepted Answer

Consumption-based pricing. Consumption-based pricing is the cloud characteristic that allows organizations to pay only for the resources they actually use, such as compute hours, storage GBs, or data transfer, without any upfront hardware costs. This model shifts IT spending from a capital expenditure (CapEx) to an operational expenditure (OpEx), aligning costs directly with usage. The IT manager's requirement to avoid upfront costs and pay monthly based on usage is the exact definition of consumption-based pricing.

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Measured service

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Rapid elasticity

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Resource pooling

Question 3

A company is considering moving its IT infrastructure to the cloud. The CFO wants to understand the financial impact: instead of purchasing servers and paying for maintenance, the company will pay a monthly fee based on usage. This shift represents moving from which type of expenditure to which?

Accepted Answer

From capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx). This shift represents moving from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx). CapEx involves upfront costs for physical assets like servers, which depreciate over time, while OpEx involves ongoing, usage-based payments for cloud services. In Azure, this aligns with the consumption-based model where you pay only for resources consumed (e.g., VM hours, storage GBs), eliminating large initial investments and shifting financial risk to the provider.

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From operational expenditure (OpEx) to capital expenditure (CapEx)

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From direct expenditure to indirect expenditure

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From variable expenditure to fixed expenditure

Question 4

A company wants to increase the number of virtual machines it uses during peak hours and decrease them during off-peak hours without manual intervention. Which characteristic of cloud computing does this represent?

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. Elasticity is the cloud characteristic that allows resources to automatically scale out (increase) during peak demand and scale in (decrease) during off-peak hours without manual intervention. This matches the company's requirement for dynamic, automatic adjustment of virtual machine counts based on workload changes.

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High Availability

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Scalability

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Load Balancing

Question 5

A startup wants to use a cloud-based email service without installing any software on their own computers. They access the service through a web browser and the provider manages all updates and maintenance. Which cloud service model does this represent?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). This scenario describes Software as a Service (SaaS) because the startup is using a fully managed cloud-based email application accessed via a web browser, with no local installation required. The provider handles all updates, maintenance, and infrastructure, which is the defining characteristic of SaaS. Examples include Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, where the consumer only uses the software without managing the underlying platform or infrastructure.

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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

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Platform as a Service (PaaS)

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Anything as a Service (XaaS)

Question 6

A bank needs to keep some sensitive customer data on-premises due to regulatory requirements, but wants to use cloud services for less sensitive workloads. Which cloud deployment model should they adopt?

Accepted Answer

Hybrid cloud. A hybrid cloud model combines on-premises infrastructure (private cloud) with public cloud services, allowing the bank to keep sensitive customer data on-premises to meet regulatory requirements while using the public cloud for less sensitive workloads. This approach provides a unified management plane and secure connectivity (e.g., VPN or Azure ExpressRoute) between the two environments, ensuring compliance and flexibility.

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Public cloud

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Private cloud

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Community cloud

Question 7

A company is moving from an on-premises data center to Azure. Instead of paying a large upfront cost for servers, they will pay a monthly subscription fee based on usage. This represents a shift from which type of expenditure to which?

Accepted Answer

Capital expenditure to Operational expenditure. This scenario describes a shift from Capital Expenditure (CapEx) to Operational Expenditure (OpEx). CapEx involves upfront, long-term investments in physical assets like servers, while OpEx is a pay-as-you-go model where costs are incurred based on actual usage. Azure's subscription model eliminates the need for large initial capital outlays, aligning costs with consumption.

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Operational expenditure to Capital expenditure

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Direct cost to Indirect cost

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Fixed cost to Variable cost

Question 8

A startup wants to quickly deploy a web application without worrying about server maintenance. They only want to focus on writing code and deploying it. Which cloud service model best fits this requirement?

Accepted Answer

B) Platform as a Service (PaaS). Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a managed hosting environment where the cloud provider handles the underlying infrastructure (servers, storage, networking, OS patches) while the customer focuses solely on deploying and managing their own code and data. This directly matches the startup's requirement to avoid server maintenance and concentrate on writing and deploying code.

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A) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

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C) Software as a Service (SaaS)

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D) Functions as a Service (FaaS)

Question 9

A company is considering moving its on-premises workloads to the cloud. They want to reduce their carbon footprint by using a cloud provider that uses renewable energy. Which cloud computing benefit is most directly related to this goal?

Accepted Answer

C) Sustainability. Sustainability directly addresses the goal of reducing carbon footprint through the use of renewable energy. Cloud providers like Microsoft Azure invest in renewable energy projects and carbon offset programs, enabling customers to lower their environmental impact by consolidating workloads in energy-efficient data centers. This benefit is explicitly tied to environmental responsibility, not operational metrics like uptime or resource scaling.

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A) High availability

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B) Scalability

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D) Elasticity

Question 10

A company wants to pay only for the compute resources they actually use, with no upfront costs. They can scale up or down based on demand. Which cloud pricing model does this describe?

Accepted Answer

B) Pay-as-you-go. The pay-as-you-go model (also called consumption-based pricing) allows a company to pay only for the compute resources they actually consume, with no upfront costs or long-term commitments. This model provides the flexibility to scale resources up or down based on real-time demand, aligning costs directly with usage. It is the standard pricing model for most cloud services, including Azure virtual machines and App Service plans, when no reservation or spot discount is applied.

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A) Reserved capacity

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C) Spot pricing

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D) Hybrid benefit

Question 11

A company runs a seasonal e-commerce application. During holidays, traffic increases tenfold, but the company does not want to over-provision resources for the rest of the year. They want to add or remove server capacity automatically based on real-time demand and pay only for what they use. Which cloud computing characteristic does this scenario describe?

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. Elasticity is the cloud computing characteristic that enables automatic scaling of resources up or down based on real-time demand. In this scenario, the e-commerce application needs to handle a tenfold traffic increase during holidays without over-provisioning for the rest of the year, which is exactly what elasticity provides by adding or removing server capacity dynamically and charging only for what is used.

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High availability

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Reliability

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Fault tolerance

Question 12

A startup is building a mobile app backend and wants to use cloud services. They want to focus entirely on writing code and deploying features without worrying about server maintenance, operating system patches, or scaling infrastructure. Which cloud service model best fits this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS). Platform as a Service (PaaS) is the correct model because it abstracts the underlying infrastructure, including servers, operating systems, and scaling, allowing developers to focus solely on writing code and deploying features. Azure App Service is a prime example of PaaS, providing built-in load balancing, auto-scaling, and patching without developer intervention.

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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

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Software as a Service (SaaS)

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Function as a Service (FaaS)

Question 13

A hospital stores sensitive patient data in the cloud. They want to ensure that data remains secure and that the cloud provider has implemented strict physical security controls, such as biometric access and 24/7 surveillance at datacenters. Which aspect of the shared responsibility model does this describe?

Accepted Answer

Responsibility of the cloud provider for physical security. The shared responsibility model delineates that the cloud provider is responsible for the security 'of' the cloud, which includes physical infrastructure controls like biometric access and 24/7 surveillance at datacenters. This question specifically asks about physical security controls, which fall under the provider's domain regardless of the deployment model (IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS). Therefore, option B is correct because the provider must secure the physical premises housing the servers and storage.

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Responsibility of the customer for network security

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Responsibility of the customer for data classification

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Responsibility of the customer for identity and access management

Question 14

A company wants to reduce its carbon footprint by using a cloud provider that invests in renewable energy. They want to ensure that their workloads in Azure run in datacenters that are among the most energy-efficient. Which Azure benefit is most directly related to this goal?

Accepted Answer

Environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability is the Azure benefit that directly addresses the company's goal of reducing its carbon footprint by using a cloud provider that invests in renewable energy and operates energy-efficient datacenters. Microsoft has committed to being carbon negative by 2030 and powers its Azure datacenters with 100% renewable energy, making this the most relevant benefit for the stated objective.

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Economies of scale

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Scalability

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Security and compliance

Question 15

A company is moving from an on-premises data center to the cloud. Previously, they paid a large upfront sum for hardware and then annual maintenance fees. Now they pay a monthly subscription based on actual usage of compute and storage. This shift represents moving from which type of expenditure to which?

Accepted Answer

From CapEx to OpEx. The scenario describes a shift from paying a large upfront sum for hardware (a capital expenditure, or CapEx) to a monthly subscription based on actual usage (an operational expenditure, or OpEx). In cloud computing, CapEx involves significant upfront costs for physical infrastructure, while OpEx involves ongoing, pay-as-you-go costs for services like compute and storage. This transition is a fundamental benefit of cloud adoption, allowing organizations to avoid large initial investments and instead pay for what they consume.

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From OpEx to CapEx

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From variable to fixed costs

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From direct to indirect costs