This is a brief recap of the Shared Responsibility Model (covered fully in its own earlier chapter) specifically in the context of Azure's cloud offering, before moving into the security-governance chapters that build on it. AZ-900 tests this under objective 1.1.
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A simple way to picture Shared Responsibility in Azure Cloud
A textbook sometimes includes a short recap box restating a key concept from an earlier chapter, right before applying it to something new — not because the reader forgot, but to anchor the next application. This chapter is that kind of short recap, not a full re-explanation.
Quick recap
The Shared Responsibility Model divides security and management responsibilities between Azure and the customer. Physical infrastructure security is always Azure's job; the customer's own data and access management are always the customer's job; everything in between shifts depending on whether the workload uses IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS. See the dedicated Shared Responsibility Model chapter earlier in this guide for the full breakdown, examples, and exam-focus detail.
Why it's worth revisiting here
As this guide moves into governance and security-specific chapters (Azure Policy, RBAC, Defender for Cloud, and others), it's useful to keep this division of responsibility in mind — each of those tools exists specifically to help the customer fulfill *their* side of the shared responsibility split, not to shift that responsibility onto Azure.
Recall the core split
Physical infrastructure: always Azure. Data and access: always the customer. Everything else: depends on IaaS/PaaS/SaaS.
Apply it going forward
As later chapters cover specific governance and security tools, remember those tools exist to help fulfill the customer's side of this split.
See the dedicated Shared Responsibility Model chapter for real-world examples — this recap exists purely to anchor that concept before the governance-focused chapters that follow.
This recap doesn't introduce new exam-focus content beyond what's covered in the dedicated Shared Responsibility Model chapter — refer there for the full exam-relevant detail, common wrong answers, and memory tricks.
This is a brief recap — see the dedicated Shared Responsibility Model chapter for full detail.
Physical infrastructure security is always Azure's responsibility; data and access are always the customer's.
Later governance and security chapters build on this same division of responsibility.
No — this is a brief recap of that same concept, included here to anchor it before the governance and security-specific chapters that follow. See the dedicated chapter for the complete explanation.
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