Cloud concepts questions test the IaaS/PaaS/SaaS model, shared responsibility, cloud economic benefits and the public/private/hybrid deployment models.
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Domain overview
Use this page to practise cloud concepts questions. AZ-900 questions on this domain are scenario-based — you must identify the correct deployment or service model for a business requirement, not just define the terms.
Exam objectives
IaaS, PaaS and SaaS responsibilities and real-world examples.
Public, private, hybrid and community cloud deployment models.
CapEx vs OpEx trade-offs and the economic case for cloud.
The shared responsibility model between Microsoft and the customer.
IaaS gives you infrastructure control; SaaS gives you only the application.
Hybrid cloud combines on-premises and public cloud — not two public clouds.
The customer is always responsible for data and identity even in SaaS.
CapEx is upfront spend; OpEx is ongoing spend — cloud shifts most costs to OpEx.
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A company's CFO is pleased that they only pay for the compute and storage resources consumed each month, with no upfront hardware costs. This billing model is a direct result of which cloud computing characteristic?
2A startup wants to focus only on developing and deploying its application code without managing underlying servers or operating systems. Which cloud service model best fits this need?
3A cloud provider offers virtual machines, but customers must install, configure, and maintain the operating system and applications. Which cloud service model does this describe?
4A company wants to run a workload that requires the highest level of physical security and control over hardware. They have the budget to purchase and maintain their own data center. Which cloud deployment model should they choose?
5A company runs a virtual machine in Azure that hosts a web application. The company is responsible for configuring the operating system, installing web server software, and managing application updates. The cloud provider is responsible for the physical hardware, networking, and data center security. Which cloud service model does this represent?
6A company uses a cloud service that provides virtual machines. The company manages the operating system, middleware, and applications, while the cloud provider manages the physical hardware, networking, and data center security. Which cloud service model does this represent?
7A company wants to run a critical application that requires dedicated hardware to comply with regulatory isolation requirements. However, they want to avoid the upfront cost of building their own data center. Which cloud deployment model meets these needs?
8A company wants to provide its employees with access to email, calendar, and document editing tools through a web browser without installing any software. The provider manages all maintenance, updates, and security of the applications. Which cloud service model best describes this scenario?
9A hospital must store patient medical records on-premises to comply with strict data sovereignty regulations. However, they also want to use advanced analytics tools hosted on a public cloud platform. Which cloud deployment model best meets their needs?
10In a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, which of the following responsibilities is typically handled by the cloud provider?
11A company uses a cloud service where they can provision virtual machines, install any operating system, and manage all software on those machines. The cloud provider is responsible for the physical hardware, data center security, and network infrastructure. Which cloud service model does this represent?
12A company wants to move its IT infrastructure to the cloud but must keep all customer data within a specific geographic region due to data residency laws. They also want to avoid paying for large upfront hardware costs. Which cloud characteristic best supports this need?
13A company subscribes to a cloud service where they can provision virtual machines, choose the operating system, install any software, and manage all applications. The cloud provider is responsible for the underlying physical hardware and network infrastructure. Which cloud service model is being used?
14A company needs to ensure that their cloud data and applications remain available even if an entire Azure region experiences an outage. They also want to minimize latency by hosting resources in multiple geographic locations. Which cloud concept addresses these requirements?
15A company wants to reduce hardware maintenance costs by moving to the cloud. They need to maintain full control over the operating system, applications, and security configurations, but do not want to manage physical servers or data center facilities. Which cloud service model should they choose?
16A healthcare organization must keep sensitive patient data on-premises due to regulatory compliance, but wants to use cloud services for other applications like customer relationship management and collaboration. Which cloud deployment model best meets this requirement?
17A financial services firm uses a public cloud provider for its customer-facing web application, but stores sensitive client data on its own on-premises servers. A secure VPN connection is used to transfer anonymized data from the public cloud to the on-premises environment for processing. Which cloud deployment model does this describe?
18A company runs a custom application on a cloud provider's infrastructure. The provider manages the physical servers, networking, and storage, but the company installs, configures, and patches the operating system and application. Which cloud service model is this?
19A company wants to use a cloud service where they only manage their data and user access, while the cloud provider handles everything from the physical infrastructure to the applications. Which cloud service model is this?
20A cloud provider offers a service where customers can provision virtual machines, storage, and networks on-demand through a web portal. The customer is responsible for patching the guest operating system. Which cloud service model best describes this offering?
21A marketing manager can access the company's cloud resources from her laptop at home, her tablet while traveling, and her smartphone. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this describe?
22A company runs its customer relationship management (CRM) system using a cloud provider's SaaS offering. They also use virtual machines (IaaS) from the same provider to host a legacy application. In this scenario, who is responsible for patching the operating system of the virtual machines?
23During a Microsoft 365 planning workshop, host custom applications on virtual machines while managing the operating system. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
24A service owner is comparing Microsoft 365 capabilities and needs to meter compute and storage usage for consumption-based billing. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
25During requirements gathering, an IT manager says the organization must let users provision resources from a portal without provider interaction. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
26A help desk lead is documenting the correct Microsoft 365 approach to keep a workload on-premises while using Microsoft cloud collaboration services. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
27A compliance-aware administrator is selecting the right Microsoft 365 capability to use Microsoft 365 and another public cloud provider for different workloads. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
28A department head asks which Microsoft 365 option should be used to access cloud resources from laptops, tablets, and phones over the internet. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
29An administrator is reviewing a request from users who need to reduce maintenance of power, cooling, and server replacement. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
30A tenant administrator is advising a department that wants to keep services available during a hardware failure. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
31During requirements gathering, an IT manager says the organization must compare service models and identify where the customer manages the most layers. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
32An administrator is reviewing a request from users who need to avoid overprovisioning for a seasonal workload. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
33A help desk lead is documenting the correct Microsoft 365 approach to use hosted email without managing mail servers. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
34During a Microsoft 365 planning workshop, keep a workload on-premises while using Microsoft cloud collaboration services. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
35A service owner is comparing Microsoft 365 capabilities and needs to understand which security tasks Microsoft handles and which remain with the customer. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?
36A company needs a dedicated, private network connection between its on-premises data center and Microsoft's cloud infrastructure to support a hybrid deployment with low latency and high reliability. The connection must not traverse the public internet. Which service should they use?
37A colleague says, 'The public cloud is cheaper because you only pay for the resources you use, like compute hours or storage space.' Which cloud computing characteristic directly supports this pay-as-you-go model?
38A company uses a cloud storage service that automatically increases its storage capacity without any manual intervention as new files are added. This behavior is an example of which cloud computing characteristic?
39A company deploys a custom application on a cloud platform where they manage the operating system and runtime environment, but the cloud provider manages the underlying physical infrastructure, storage, and networking. Which cloud service model is being used?
40A development team uses a cloud service to run applications where the provider manages the runtime environment, operating system, and middleware. The team only writes and uploads code. Which service model are they using?
41A company uses a cloud service where they pay only for the compute hours their virtual machines run. They can increase or decrease the number of VMs instantly based on demand. Which two cloud computing characteristics are demonstrated? (Choose two.)
42A company is deploying a cloud solution where they have the ability to quickly scale up resources during peak demand and scale down during off-peak hours, paying only for what they use. They also need the provider to automatically manage the underlying platform, including patching the operating system. Which combination of cloud characteristics and service model best describes this scenario?
43A business wants to use a cloud solution where they can scale computing resources up or down automatically based on demand and only pay for what they use. The cloud provider manages the underlying hardware. Which two cloud characteristics are being described? (Choose two.)
44An e-commerce company hosts its website on a public cloud IaaS platform. The site experiences varying traffic throughout the year. The cloud provider automatically adds more virtual servers during peak traffic and removes them when demand drops. The company only pays for the resources used during each period. Which two cloud characteristics are demonstrated? (Choose two.)
45Which cloud computing characteristic allows users to provision resources such as virtual machines and storage without requiring human interaction with the service provider?
46A company uses cloud resources and notices that their monthly bill is based on the exact amount of storage and compute hours they consumed. They did not pay for any fixed, unused capacity. Which cloud characteristic does this describe?
47A company's e-commerce website experiences a sudden surge in traffic during a promotional event. The cloud infrastructure automatically adds additional virtual servers to handle the load and removes them when traffic subsides, without any manual intervention from the IT team. Which cloud computing characteristic does this demonstrate?
48A company uses a cloud provider and is billed monthly based only on the exact amount of storage used and the number of compute hours consumed. They can increase or decrease usage at any time without upfront commitments. Which cloud computing characteristic does this billing model primarily demonstrate?
49A company uses a cloud provider that hosts multiple customers on the same physical servers. Each customer's data and applications are isolated, but customers have no knowledge or control over the exact physical location of their resources. Which cloud characteristic does this describe?
50A company uses a cloud provider that charges them based solely on the exact number of gigabytes of storage used and the number of virtual machine hours consumed. They can increase or decrease usage at any time without any upfront commitment. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this billing model demonstrate?
51Which of the following are key characteristics of cloud computing as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)? (Choose all that apply. There are four correct answers.)
52Drag and drop the steps to create a new user account in Microsoft 365 admin center into the correct order.
53Drag and drop the steps to reset a user's password in Microsoft 365 admin center into the correct order.
54Drag and drop the steps to configure a Microsoft 365 group expiration policy in the Azure AD admin center into the correct order.
55An organization uses Microsoft 365 E5 licenses. Users report that Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (e.g., Word, Excel) are slow to open. The IT team considers deploying a cloud-based solution to improve performance. Which cloud service model should they use?
Deep-dive questions
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Cloud concepts questions test the IaaS/PaaS/SaaS model, shared responsibility, cloud economic benefits and the public/private/hybrid deployment models.
The Courseiva MS-900 question bank contains 55 questions in the Describe cloud concepts domain, covering the 8% of the exam attributed to this domain in the official Microsoft blueprint. Click any question to see the full explanation and answer breakdown.
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