AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services Practice Question
Which Azure service helps migrate on-premises VMware, Hyper-V VMs, and physical servers to Azure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse Azure Site Recovery (a disaster recovery tool) with Azure Migrate (a migration tool), because both involve moving workloads to Azure, but Azure Site Recovery is for replication and failover, not for initial assessment and migration of on-premises servers.
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
✓
Azure Migrate
Azure Migrate is the correct service because it provides a unified platform for assessing and migrating on-premises workloads to Azure, including VMware VMs, Hyper-V VMs, and physical servers. It integrates with Azure Site Recovery for the actual replication and with Azure Database Migration Service for database migrations, but the core discovery, assessment, and migration orchestration for these server types is the primary function of Azure Migrate.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Azure Site Recovery
Why it's wrong here
Azure Site Recovery is incorrect because it is primarily a disaster recovery service that replicates workloads from on-premises or a secondary site to Azure to enable failover during outages. While it can technically be used for migration by failing over a replicated environment, its core design focuses on continuous replication and recovery, not the assessment and planning phases that Azure Migrate offers. Thus, for a planned, structured migration project, Azure Migrate is the more appropriate tool.
- ✗
Azure Data Box
Why it's wrong here
Azure Data Box is incorrect because it is a physical data transfer solution designed for moving large volumes of data to Azure via offline shipping of storage devices. It does not perform server discovery, assessment, or virtual machine migration; it simply provides bulk storage for data ingestion. This makes it unsuitable for migrating running workloads and their configurations, which is the scenario described in the question.
- ✓
Azure Migrate
Why this is correct
Azure Migrate is the correct answer because it is a centralized hub that discovers, assesses, and migrates on-premises servers, including VMware, Hyper-V, and physical machines, to Azure. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools for planning, dependency analysis, and execution of server migrations, making it the appropriate service for a full workload migration. While it can integrate with other services like Site Recovery and Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate itself orchestrates the end-to-end migration process.
- ✗
Azure Database Migration Service
Why it's wrong here
Azure Database Migration Service is incorrect because it is narrowly focused on migrating databases, such as SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL, to Azure database platforms. It does not address the migration of entire servers, including operating systems, applications, and non-database data, nor does it provide server discovery or assessment capabilities. For a holistic server migration that includes infrastructure and VMs, Azure Migrate is the right service, while Database Migration Service would be a complementary tool only if database moves are involved.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-900 exam.