The answer is Azure Dedicated Host, which provides a dedicated physical server for VMs compliance by offering a single-tenant, hardware-isolated server exclusively for your Azure subscription. This ensures that virtual machines run on a physical machine not shared with any other customer, directly meeting strict compliance and licensing requirements such as Windows Server per-core licensing or SQL Server licensing that mandate dedicated hardware. On the AZ-900 exam, this service tests your understanding of isolation models and licensing scenarios, often appearing as a distractor against Azure Virtual Machines (which run on multi-tenant hardware) or Azure VMware Solution. A common trap is confusing Azure Dedicated Host with Azure Reserved Instances—remember that Dedicated Host gives you the physical server itself, not just a pricing discount. For a quick memory tip, think “Dedicated Host = Dedicated Hardware” to recall that it provides the actual physical server for compliance-driven workloads.
AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe azure architecture and services. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 Azure service provides a dedicated, hardware-isolated physical server for hosting virtual machines to meet compliance and licensing requirements?
Why wrong: Isolated VM sizes are hardware-isolated for the VM but share physical host management with Microsoft — Dedicated Host gives customer control over the physical host.
B
Azure Dedicated Host
Dedicated Host provides a physical server solely for one customer, meeting compliance requirements for hardware isolation.
C
Azure Reserved Instances
Why wrong: Reserved Instances are capacity commitments for cost savings — they don't provide physical isolation.
D
Azure Spot VMs
Why wrong: Spot VMs run on spare capacity at discounts — they don't provide physical isolation or compliance guarantees.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Dedicated Host
Azure Dedicated Host provides a single-tenant, hardware-isolated physical server dedicated to your Azure subscription. This ensures that virtual machines run on a server that is not shared with any other customer, meeting strict compliance and licensing requirements such as those for Windows Server per-core licensing or SQL Server licensing that require dedicated hardware.
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.
✗
Azure Isolated VM sizes
Why it's wrong here
Isolated VM sizes are hardware-isolated for the VM but share physical host management with Microsoft — Dedicated Host gives customer control over the physical host.
✓
Azure Dedicated Host
Why this is correct
Dedicated Host provides a physical server solely for one customer, meeting compliance requirements for hardware isolation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Reserved Instances
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances are capacity commitments for cost savings — they don't provide physical isolation.
✗
Azure Spot VMs
Why it's wrong here
Spot VMs run on spare capacity at discounts — they don't provide physical isolation or compliance guarantees.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Isolated VM sizes (which provide VM-level isolation but not a dedicated physical server) with Azure Dedicated Host, which provides full hardware-level isolation and control.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure Dedicated Host maps to a specific physical server in an Azure datacenter, and you have full control over maintenance events, including the ability to schedule host maintenance. This is critical for scenarios like running Windows Server with Software Assurance that requires dedicated physical cores for licensing, or for regulatory standards like HIPAA or FedRAMP that mandate physical isolation. The host is allocated to your subscription and remains dedicated even when VMs are stopped or deallocated.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
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 Azure architecture and services — This question tests Describe Azure architecture and services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Dedicated Host — Azure Dedicated Host provides a single-tenant, hardware-isolated physical server dedicated to your Azure subscription. This ensures that virtual machines run on a server that is not shared with any other customer, meeting strict compliance and licensing requirements such as those for Windows Server per-core licensing or SQL Server licensing that require dedicated hardware.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Which Azure service provides dedicated physical servers for regulatory or licensing requirements where hardware cannot be shared with other customers?
hard
A.Azure Reserved VM Instances
B.Azure Spot VMs
✓ C.Azure Dedicated Host
D.Azure Isolated VM sizes
Why C: Azure Dedicated Host provides physical servers dedicated to a single Azure subscription, ensuring that hardware is not shared with other customers. This meets regulatory or licensing requirements that mandate hardware isolation, such as specific compliance standards or software licensing agreements that restrict usage to dedicated hardware.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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