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

Question 1

A company uses Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) from a cloud provider. They have deployed virtual machines running a custom application. The cloud provider supplies the physical hardware, networking, and storage. Who is responsible for patching the operating system of the virtual machines?

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

Accepted Answer

The customer. In an IaaS model, the cloud provider is responsible for the physical infrastructure (hardware, networking, storage), but the customer retains responsibility for the guest OS and application stack. Patching the operating system of virtual machines is a customer task because the customer controls the OS image and has full administrative access to the VM. This follows the shared responsibility model where the provider secures the hypervisor and physical layer, while the customer secures the OS and applications.

Answer

The cloud provider

Answer

Both the provider and the customer share equally

Answer

A third-party managed security service provider

Question 2

An administrator is reviewing a request from users who need to avoid buying servers upfront and pay monthly based on usage. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Operational expenditure (OpEx) model. The requirement to avoid upfront server purchases and pay monthly based on usage directly aligns with the operational expenditure (OpEx) model, a key cloud computing benefit. In cloud services, OpEx shifts costs from capital expenditure (CapEx) to a pay-as-you-go or subscription-based model, eliminating the need for large upfront hardware investments. This is a fundamental concept in Microsoft Azure and other cloud platforms, where resources like virtual machines are billed monthly based on actual consumption.

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Question 3

A tenant administrator is advising a department that wants to deploy application code without maintaining the operating system or runtime platform. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS). PaaS lets developers focus on code while the provider manages the platform, runtime, and underlying infrastructure.

Answer

Private cloud

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Question 4

A business stakeholder asks how Microsoft 365 can help them use hosted email without managing mail servers. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). Microsoft 365 delivers hosted email (Exchange Online) as a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, where Microsoft manages the mail servers, patches, and infrastructure. The stakeholder simply uses the service via a web browser or client without any server administration. This aligns with the SaaS model, which provides ready-to-use applications over the internet.

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Community cloud

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Question 5

While preparing a Microsoft 365 adoption plan, a consultant is asked to add and remove capacity quickly when demand changes. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Rapid elasticity. Rapid elasticity is a core cloud computing concept defined by NIST (SP 800-145) that allows resources to be provisioned and released elastically, often automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with demand. In Microsoft 365, this means the consultant can quickly add or remove user licenses, storage, or service capacity via the admin center or PowerShell without manual hardware provisioning, directly matching the requirement to adjust capacity on demand.

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Question 6

During a Microsoft 365 planning workshop, understand which security tasks Microsoft handles and which remain with the customer. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Shared responsibility model. The shared responsibility model defines which security tasks are managed by Microsoft (e.g., physical security, hypervisor patching) and which remain with the customer (e.g., user access, data classification). This directly matches the requirement to understand task ownership during a planning workshop. Options like Microsoft Planner, DLP, and sensitivity labels are specific features, not the overarching cloud concept that clarifies responsibility boundaries.

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Question 7

A business stakeholder asks how Microsoft 365 can help them create a short-term test environment and delete it after the pilot. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Agility. Agility is the correct answer because it refers to the ability to rapidly provision and deprovision resources, such as creating a short-term test environment and deleting it after a pilot. Microsoft 365's cloud-based infrastructure enables on-demand scaling and resource lifecycle management, allowing organizations to spin up environments quickly and tear them down without long-term commitments or hardware procurement delays.

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Question 8

While preparing a Microsoft 365 adoption plan, a consultant is asked to use provider-managed infrastructure shared by multiple customers. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Public cloud. The requirement for provider-managed infrastructure shared by multiple customers directly maps to the public cloud deployment model. In a public cloud, the cloud provider owns and manages the physical hardware, software, and supporting infrastructure, which is shared across multiple tenants (multi-tenancy). This is the core definition of public cloud as opposed to private or hybrid models.

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Question 9

A service owner is comparing Microsoft 365 capabilities and needs to use a dedicated environment controlled by one organization. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Private cloud. A private cloud is a dedicated environment controlled by a single organization, providing exclusive access and management over resources. This matches the requirement for a dedicated environment, as opposed to public cloud or hybrid models where control is shared or distributed.

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Question 10

A help desk lead is documenting the correct Microsoft 365 approach to increase from 100 to 2,000 users without buying new mail servers. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Scalability. Scalability is the correct answer because it refers to the ability of a cloud service like Microsoft 365 to dynamically allocate resources to accommodate growth from 100 to 2,000 users without requiring the purchase or provisioning of additional on-premises mail servers. Microsoft 365's multi-tenant architecture and elastic infrastructure automatically handle user load increases, making scalability the cloud concept that directly matches this requirement.

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Question 11

A compliance-aware administrator is selecting the right Microsoft 365 capability to explain why providers can lower unit costs by operating at large scale. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Economies of scale. Economies of scale is the correct answer because it directly describes the cost advantage that cloud providers achieve by operating at massive scale. By aggregating compute, storage, and network resources across millions of customers, providers like Microsoft can spread fixed costs (data centers, hardware, cooling, staffing) over a larger base, reducing the per-unit cost for each tenant. This is a foundational cloud concept, not a specific security or productivity feature.

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Question 12

A department head asks which Microsoft 365 option should be used to review uptime commitments for Microsoft cloud services. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Service Level Agreement (SLA). The Service Level Agreement (SLA) is the correct choice because it is the formal document published by Microsoft that defines the uptime commitments, availability guarantees, and financial remedies for Microsoft cloud services. The department head needs to review uptime commitments, which is exactly what the SLA covers, not a security or project management feature.

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Question 13

During a Microsoft 365 planning workshop, explain why Microsoft 365 is cloud-based despite local Office apps. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Cloud-hosted service backend. Microsoft 365 is considered cloud-based because its core services—such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and the Microsoft 365 admin portal—are hosted and managed in Microsoft's cloud datacenters. Even though local Office apps (e.g., Word, Excel) run on the client device, they rely on a cloud-hosted service backend for licensing validation, data synchronization, and feature updates. This backend enables centralized management, automatic updates, and seamless integration with cloud services like OneDrive and Teams, which is the defining characteristic of a cloud-based platform.

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Question 14

A tenant administrator is advising a department that wants to stop maintaining local file servers by using managed cloud storage. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Reduced infrastructure maintenance. Moving from on-premises file servers to managed cloud storage (e.g., Microsoft OneDrive, SharePoint Online, or Azure Files) eliminates the need for the department to handle hardware procurement, patching, backups, and physical maintenance. This directly aligns with the cloud benefit of reduced infrastructure maintenance, a core concept in the MS-900 exam's 'Describe cloud concepts' domain.

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Question 15

A business stakeholder asks how Microsoft 365 can help them identify what remains a customer responsibility in Microsoft 365. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Managing users, permissions, and data governance. The question asks which cloud concept or benefit helps identify customer responsibilities in Microsoft 365. Managing users, permissions, and data governance directly aligns with the shared responsibility model, where the customer is always responsible for their own data, user identities, and access policies. This option encapsulates the customer's duty to control who has access and how data is governed, which is a core cloud concept.

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels