220-1101 Virtualization and Cloud Computing Practice Question
A company needs to deploy a cloud environment where the IT team can create virtual machines, configure virtual networks and firewalls, and install custom operating systems, all without managing any physical servers or networking hardware. Which cloud service model BEST meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse PaaS with IaaS because both allow deploying applications, but PaaS does not permit installing a custom OS or managing virtual network components like firewalls.
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
✓
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides on-demand access to virtualized computing resources such as virtual machines, virtual networks, and firewalls, while abstracting the underlying physical hardware. The IT team retains full control over the operating system and network configuration without managing physical servers or networking hardware, which directly matches the requirement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Why it's wrong here
PaaS provides a managed application development and deployment environment, abstracting the underlying servers, operating systems, and networking. Developers deploy code and rely on the provider for runtime and middleware, but they cannot provision or control virtual machines or virtual network configurations. For an IT team that needs to create virtual machines directly, PaaS is the wrong choice.
- ✓
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Why this is correct
IaaS delivers virtualized computing resources, including VMs, storage, and virtual networking, over the internet. The cloud provider maintains the physical data center, while customers retain full control over guest OS, VM sizes, disk configurations, and network topology. This allows an IT team to create and manage virtual machines exactly as the requirement states, making IaaS the correct service model.
- ✗
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why it's wrong here
SaaS offers complete, ready-to-use applications accessed through a browser or client, with the provider managing everything from the application code down to the physical servers. Subscribers normally only manage users and application data, and they have no visibility into or control over the underlying VMs, operating systems, or network infrastructure. Therefore it cannot be used to create virtual machines.
- ✗
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
Why it's wrong here
DaaS is a specific desktop virtualization offering where the provider hosts and manages virtual desktop infrastructure, delivering published desktops to end users. The subscribing IT team can manage desktop images and user assignments, but it does not have administrative access to the hypervisor, virtual network, or underlying VMs that host those desktops. Since the goal is to create arbitrary virtual machines, DaaS is too limited and does not fit the requirement.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud Sync Tools: OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud
Key term
Internet Protocol
Internet Protocol (IP) is the set of rules that governs how data is addressed, routed, and sent from one device to another across networks, including the internet.
Key term
Operating system
An operating system (OS) is the core software that manages a computer's hardware and software resources, providing common services for computer programs.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 220-1101 exam.