MS-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Test 9 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A cloud provider allows customers to provision virtual machines, storage, and other resources through a web portal without requiring human interaction with the provider's staff. Which cloud computing characteristic does this best illustrate?

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

Accepted Answer

On-demand self-service. The scenario describes a user provisioning resources through a web portal without any human interaction from the provider. This directly matches the NIST SP 800-145 definition of on-demand self-service, where a consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider.

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Rapid elasticity

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Measured service

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Resource pooling

Question 2

A company uses a cloud provider that charges them only for the actual storage and compute resources they consume each month. They can start or stop machines at any time and are billed precisely for what they use. Which cloud computing characteristic does this billing model demonstrate?

Accepted Answer

Measured service. The billing model described—paying only for actual storage and compute resources consumed, with the ability to start/stop machines at any time—directly demonstrates 'Measured service'. This characteristic, defined by NIST SP 800-145, means cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource usage by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, active user accounts). Usage is monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both the provider and consumer.

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Rapid elasticity

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On-demand self-service

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Resource pooling

Question 3

A 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?

Accepted Answer

Measured service. The billing model charges only for actual storage used and compute hours consumed, with no upfront commitments and the ability to adjust usage at any time. This directly aligns with the 'measured service' characteristic, where cloud resource usage is metered, monitored, and billed based on consumption. The key is that the provider tracks and reports usage transparently, enabling a pay-per-use model.

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On-demand self-service

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Rapid elasticity

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Resource pooling

Question 4

A 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?

Accepted Answer

Resource pooling. Resource pooling is the correct answer because the scenario describes a multi-tenant model where the cloud provider's physical and virtual resources are pooled to serve multiple customers, with isolation between tenants. Customers have no knowledge or control over the exact physical location of their resources, which is a defining characteristic of resource pooling as defined by NIST SP 800-145.

Answer

Rapid elasticity

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On-demand self-service

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Measured service

Question 5

An e-commerce website hosted on a cloud provider automatically adds more virtual machines to handle increased traffic during Black Friday and removes them after the event. Which cloud characteristic does this illustrate?

Accepted Answer

Rapid elasticity. Rapid elasticity is the cloud characteristic that enables resources to scale out (add VMs) automatically in response to demand spikes like Black Friday traffic, and scale in (remove VMs) when demand subsides. This is distinct from manual scaling because it happens automatically and dynamically, often using autoscaling policies tied to metrics such as CPU utilization or request count.

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On-demand self-service

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Resource pooling

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Measured service

Question 6

A company moves its on-premises servers to a cloud provider. The provider supplies the physical hardware, networking, and storage. The company installs and manages the operating system and applications on the virtual machines. Which cloud service model does this scenario represent?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). This scenario describes Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) because the cloud provider supplies the physical hardware, networking, and storage, while the customer retains full control over the operating system and applications. In IaaS, the provider manages the underlying infrastructure (e.g., hypervisor, physical servers, network switches), and the customer is responsible for the guest OS, middleware, and application stack. This aligns with the shared responsibility model where the customer handles OS patching, application configuration, and data management.

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Platform as a Service (PaaS)

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Software as a Service (SaaS)

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Function as a Service (FaaS)

Question 7

A cloud user can access their files from a work desktop, a personal laptop at home, and a mobile phone while traveling. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this scenario best illustrate?

Accepted Answer

Broad network access. Broad network access is the correct answer because it describes the ability to access cloud resources from diverse client platforms (work desktop, personal laptop, mobile phone) over the network using standard protocols such as HTTPS, SSH, or VPN. This characteristic ensures that services are available from any location with internet connectivity, not just from a single device or network.

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On-demand self-service

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Resource pooling

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Rapid elasticity

Question 8

A cloud provider bills a customer monthly based on the precise number of gigabytes of storage used and the number of virtual machine hours consumed. Which essential cloud computing characteristic does this billing model demonstrate?

Accepted Answer

Measured service. The billing model charges based on exact gigabytes of storage used and virtual machine hours consumed, which directly aligns with the 'measured service' characteristic. This means the cloud provider meters resource usage (e.g., storage IOPS, compute hours) and bills only for what is consumed, enabling pay-as-you-go pricing. Measured service relies on telemetry and monitoring systems (e.g., Azure Monitor, AWS CloudWatch) to track usage and generate invoices.

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Resource pooling

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On-demand self-service

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Broad network access

Question 9

A 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?

Accepted Answer

Measured service. The billing model charges based on exact gigabytes of storage used and virtual machine hours consumed, which directly aligns with the 'measured service' characteristic of cloud computing. Measured service means cloud providers meter and bill customers precisely for the resources they consume, often using a pay-as-you-go model. This allows the company to pay only for what they use without upfront commitments, as described in the scenario.

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Rapid elasticity

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Resource pooling

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On-demand self-service

Question 10

A marketing manager needs to provision a new virtual machine to run a temporary campaign analysis. They log into the cloud provider's web portal, select a VM size, configure settings, and start the VM within minutes—all without any human interaction with the provider's IT staff. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this scenario best illustrate?

Accepted Answer

On-demand self-service. The scenario describes a user provisioning a virtual machine independently through a web portal without any human interaction with the provider's IT staff. This directly maps to the NIST-defined essential characteristic of on-demand self-service, where a consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider.

Answer

Resource pooling

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Rapid elasticity

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Measured service

Question 11

Which two statements correctly describe SaaS in a cloud computing model? (Choose 2.)

Accepted Answer

Users access a complete application provided by the cloud service provider.. In the SaaS model, users access a complete application—such as Microsoft 365—that is hosted and managed entirely by the cloud service provider. The provider handles all aspects of the application, including availability, performance, and security, while the user simply consumes the software via a web browser or client. This aligns with the NIST definition of SaaS, where the consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure or even individual application capabilities.

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Customers manage the operating system patching.

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Customers deploy their own runtime environment.

Question 12

A small business wants to use email and collaboration software without maintaining servers, databases, or application updates. Which cloud service model best describes Microsoft 365?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based suite that provides email (Exchange Online) and collaboration tools (Teams, SharePoint) as ready-to-use applications. This aligns with the SaaS model, where the provider manages the underlying infrastructure, platform, and software updates, allowing the customer to simply use the software without server maintenance.

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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

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Platform as a Service (PaaS)

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On-premises hosting

Question 13

A company wants monthly billing based on the number of Microsoft 365 users assigned licenses. Which cloud characteristic does this represent?

Accepted Answer

Measured service. Measured service is a cloud characteristic where usage is metered and billed based on consumption. In this scenario, the company is billed monthly based on the number of Microsoft 365 users assigned licenses, which directly reflects metered usage of the service. This aligns with the pay-per-use model defined by NIST SP 800-145 for cloud computing.

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Fault tolerance

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Resource pooling

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Rapid elasticity

Question 14

A business needs staff to access Microsoft 365 services from different locations using only an internet connection. Which cloud benefit is being used?

Accepted Answer

Broad network access. Broad network access is a core characteristic of cloud computing defined by NIST SP 800-145. It means that resources are available over the network and can be accessed by standard client platforms (e.g., laptops, tablets, smartphones) using only an internet connection, without requiring a dedicated private link or on-premises hardware. In this scenario, staff accessing Microsoft 365 from different locations via the internet directly demonstrates broad network access.

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Capital expenditure spending

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Manual provisioning

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Server virtualization only

Question 15

Which three of the following are characteristics of cloud computing as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Broad network access. NIST SP 800-145 defines cloud computing by five essential characteristics. On-demand self-service allows a consumer to provision computing capabilities automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider. Broad network access means capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations). Resource pooling enables the provider's computing resources to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand.

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Limited scalability

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Dedicated hardware per tenant

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Fixed pricing models