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FC0-U71 Practice Question: Use a cloud service where they provide their own…
A company wants to use a cloud service where they provide their own operating system and applications, but the provider manages the physical hardware and virtualization layer. Which cloud service model does this describe?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse PaaS with IaaS because both involve cloud infrastructure, but PaaS abstracts away the OS management, whereas IaaS gives the customer full OS control, which is the key differentiator in this scenario.
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 virtualized computing resources over the internet, where the customer manages the operating system, applications, and middleware, while the cloud provider handles the physical hardware, storage, and network infrastructure. In this model, the provider manages the virtualization layer (hypervisor) and underlying physical servers, but the customer retains full control over the OS and applications, matching the scenario exactly.
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 supplies the runtime, middleware and often the operating system, so the customer would not provide their own OS. It tempts because PaaS also abstracts hardware and virtualisation, but the stem's customer-managed OS and applications place it at the infrastructure level instead.
- ✓
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Why this is correct
IaaS delivers virtualised compute, storage and networking while the customer retains control of the guest operating system, middleware and applications. The provider's scope stops at hardware and the hypervisor, exactly matching the stem's split of responsibilities.
- ✗
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
Why it's wrong here
DaaS delivers virtual desktops, not customer-managed operating systems on provider-managed infrastructure. It tempts because both are cloud-hosted desktop environments, but DaaS supplies the OS image and applications as a managed service, whereas the stem requires the customer to supply both.
- ✗
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why it's wrong here
SaaS delivers fully managed applications, so the customer supplies neither the operating system nor the applications. It tempts because SaaS also hides hardware and virtualisation, but the stem's requirement that the customer provide both OS and applications contradicts SaaS's complete application management.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This FC0-U71 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 FC0-U71 exam.