The correct answer is that infrastructure is owned by the provider and shared among multiple customers. This is the defining characteristic of the public cloud deployment model because it operates on a multi-tenant architecture, where the cloud provider owns and manages all physical hardware—servers, storage, and networking—while multiple customer organizations (tenants) securely share that same underlying infrastructure. On the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 exam, this concept tests your understanding of how public cloud differs from private or hybrid models; a common trap is confusing “shared infrastructure” with “shared data,” which is incorrect because tenants remain isolated. The key distinction is that you do not own or manage the hardware—the provider does. To remember this, think of an apartment building: the landlord owns the building and utilities, but many tenants share the same plumbing and electrical systems without seeing each other’s belongings.
AZ-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe cloud concepts. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
Which of the following is a characteristic of the public cloud deployment model?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Infrastructure is owned by the provider and shared among multiple customers
In the public cloud deployment model, the cloud provider owns and manages the physical infrastructure (servers, storage, networking), and that infrastructure is shared among multiple customer organizations (tenants). This multi-tenant architecture is a defining characteristic, enabling economies of scale and on-demand resource allocation. Option C correctly identifies this shared, provider-owned model.
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.
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All hardware is owned and managed by the customer
Why it's wrong here
In public cloud, the provider owns all hardware; customers manage logical resources only.
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Resources are dedicated to a single customer organization
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated resources for a single organization describes a private cloud.
✓
Infrastructure is owned by the provider and shared among multiple customers
Why this is correct
Public cloud infrastructure is owned by the provider and shared (multi-tenant) among multiple customers.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Computing resources are hosted in the customer's own data center
Why it's wrong here
On-premises hosting describes private cloud, not public cloud.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'shared infrastructure' with 'shared data or access,' but public cloud multi-tenancy means the physical hardware is shared while logical isolation (via virtualization and network policies) ensures each tenant's resources and data remain private and secure.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, public cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP use hypervisors (e.g., Hyper-V, KVM) to virtualize physical servers and enforce strong isolation between tenants via hardware-enforced memory and I/O virtualization (e.g., Intel VT-x, AMD-V). This multi-tenant design allows providers to achieve high utilization rates while maintaining security boundaries through technologies like Azure Virtual Network isolation and network security groups (NSGs). A real-world scenario is a single Azure region hosting thousands of customer VMs on the same physical host, with each VM's traffic isolated by virtual switches and ACLs.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-900 question in full detail.
Describe cloud concepts — This question tests Describe cloud concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Infrastructure is owned by the provider and shared among multiple customers — In the public cloud deployment model, the cloud provider owns and manages the physical infrastructure (servers, storage, networking), and that infrastructure is shared among multiple customer organizations (tenants). This multi-tenant architecture is a defining characteristic, enabling economies of scale and on-demand resource allocation. Option C correctly identifies this shared, provider-owned model.
What should I do if I get this AZ-900 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.
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Question Discussion
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