AZ-900 Describe Azure management and governance Practice Question
Which Azure pricing option offers the GREATEST discount compared to pay-as-you-go pricing for a stable, predictable workload that will run continuously for one year?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse Azure Hybrid Benefit with a direct discount on compute, but it only reduces software licensing costs, not the underlying VM compute rate, so it does not offer the greatest discount for a continuous workload.
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 Reserved VM Instances
Azure Reserved VM Instances provide a significant discount (up to 72%) over pay-as-you-go pricing when you commit to a one-year or three-year term. For a stable, predictable workload that runs continuously for one year, this option offers the greatest savings because it is specifically designed for long-term, steady-state usage.
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 Spot VMs
Why it's wrong here
Azure Spot VMs provide access to unused Azure capacity at steep discounts, often up to 90%, but they can be evicted by Azure at any time when capacity is needed elsewhere. This makes them fundamentally unsuitable for a stable, predictable, continuously running production workload, as eviction would cause downtime.
- ✓
Azure Reserved VM Instances
Why this is correct
Azure Reserved VM Instances offer a significant discount (up to 72%) in exchange for a one- or three-year commitment. For a stable, predictable workload that must run continuously, this commitment aligns perfectly with the usage pattern and locks in lower costs, making it the best option among those listed.
- ✗
Azure Hybrid Benefit
Why it's wrong here
Azure Hybrid Benefit is a licensing benefit that allows you to use your existing Windows Server or SQL Server licenses on Azure, reducing the cost of the software itself. It does not inherently provide a VM infrastructure discount; it can be combined with Reserved Instances, but by itself it does not offer the deep, predictable cost savings that the scenario requires.
- ✗
Azure Dev/Test pricing
Why it's wrong here
Azure Dev/Test pricing is a discounted rate intended solely for development and testing scenarios, not production workloads. Because the question specifies a stable, predictable workload that must run continuously in production, this pricing model would violate the licensing terms and is therefore an incorrect choice.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This AZ-900 question is part of Courseiva's 981-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.