- A
Private cloud
Why wrong: Private cloud uses dedicated infrastructure for a single organization — it still requires hardware investment, often on-premises or in a dedicated hosted environment.
- B
Hybrid cloud
Why wrong: Hybrid cloud combines on-premises/private cloud with public cloud — it doesn't eliminate hardware ownership entirely.
- C
Public cloud
Public cloud (AWS) provides on-demand infrastructure over the internet with no upfront hardware investment — resources are shared, provisioned in minutes, and billed per use.
- D
Community cloud
Why wrong: Community cloud is shared among organizations with common concerns (compliance, security) — it still involves dedicated infrastructure not available to the general public.
Question 811 of 1,024
CLF-C02 Cloud Concepts Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cloud concepts. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A small startup wants to launch a new application on AWS without any upfront investment in servers. Which cloud computing deployment model allows them to use AWS infrastructure without owning any physical hardware?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Public cloud
The public cloud deployment model, such as AWS, provides on-demand access to shared computing resources over the internet, allowing the startup to provision virtual servers (e.g., EC2 instances) and other services without any upfront capital expenditure or ownership of physical hardware. This model is ideal for startups because it offers a pay-as-you-go pricing structure, eliminating the need for server procurement, maintenance, and data center management.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Private cloud
Why it's wrong here
Private cloud uses dedicated infrastructure for a single organization — it still requires hardware investment, often on-premises or in a dedicated hosted environment.
- ✗
Hybrid cloud
Why it's wrong here
Hybrid cloud combines on-premises/private cloud with public cloud — it doesn't eliminate hardware ownership entirely.
- ✓
Public cloud
Why this is correct
Public cloud (AWS) provides on-demand infrastructure over the internet with no upfront hardware investment — resources are shared, provisioned in minutes, and billed per use.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Community cloud
Why it's wrong here
Community cloud is shared among organizations with common concerns (compliance, security) — it still involves dedicated infrastructure not available to the general public.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'public cloud' with 'hybrid cloud' because they think hybrid also avoids hardware ownership, but hybrid typically requires some on-premises or dedicated infrastructure, failing the 'no physical hardware' condition.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the public cloud model abstracts physical servers through hypervisors (e.g., AWS Nitro) that enable multi-tenancy, allowing multiple customers to run isolated virtual machines on shared hardware. A real-world scenario where this matters is a startup using AWS Lambda for serverless compute, which automatically scales from zero to thousands of concurrent executions without any server provisioning, relying entirely on the public cloud's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) layer. The key distinction is that the customer never interacts with or owns the underlying physical hosts, which are fully managed by the cloud provider.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Cloud Concepts — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Cloud Concepts — This question tests Cloud Concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Public cloud — The public cloud deployment model, such as AWS, provides on-demand access to shared computing resources over the internet, allowing the startup to provision virtual servers (e.g., EC2 instances) and other services without any upfront capital expenditure or ownership of physical hardware. This model is ideal for startups because it offers a pay-as-you-go pricing structure, eliminating the need for server procurement, maintenance, and data center management.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.
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