- A
Azure Dedicated Host
Azure Dedicated Host provides physical servers dedicated to one Azure subscription. VMs are isolated at the hardware level, and the customer controls maintenance and scheduling. This fully satisfies the compliance requirement for physical server isolation.
- B
Azure Reserved Instances
Why wrong: Reserved Instances are a billing and pricing model that offers discounted rates in exchange for a one- or three-year commitment. They do not provide any physical server isolation; VMs purchased under Reserved Instances may still run on shared physical hardware.
- C
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets
Why wrong: Virtual Machine Scale Sets allow you to deploy and manage a group of identical, load-balanced VMs that can scale in or out automatically. They do not guarantee that the VMs are placed on a dedicated physical host; the underlying hardware may be shared with other tenants.
- D
Azure Confidential Computing
Why wrong: Confidential computing protects data in use by using hardware-based trusted execution environments (e.g., Intel SGX). While this provides strong data encryption during processing, it does not ensure that the entire physical server is dedicated to a single customer. Multiple tenants' VMs using confidential computing can still reside on the same physical host.
Quick Answer
The answer is Azure Dedicated Host, the correct compute solution for achieving physical isolation and full hardware control in Azure. This service provides dedicated physical servers that are not shared with any other customer, directly meeting regulatory compliance requirements for a single-tenant environment. It also grants the company granular control over server hardware maintenance, including the ability to schedule updates and manage the host lifecycle independently, which is critical for applications with strict compliance mandates. On the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 exam, this question tests your understanding of the shared responsibility model and the distinction between multi-tenant and single-tenant compute options. A common trap is confusing Azure Dedicated Host with Azure Reserved Instances or Azure Isolated VMs—remember that only Dedicated Host gives you physical server-level control and visibility. Memory tip: think “Dedicated Host = Dedicated Hardware” to link the service name directly to its physical isolation purpose.
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.
A financial services company must migrate a critical application to Azure. Regulatory compliance requires that the virtual machines (VMs) hosting this application run on physical servers that are dedicated solely to the company and not shared with any other Azure customer. The company needs full control over server hardware maintenance, including the ability to schedule updates and isolate the environment at the physical layer. Which Azure compute solution should the company use?
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 Dedicated Host
Azure Dedicated Host provides physical servers dedicated to a single Azure subscription, ensuring that no other customer's VMs share the hardware. This meets the regulatory requirement for physical isolation and gives the company full control over server hardware maintenance, including the ability to schedule updates and manage the host lifecycle independently.
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 Dedicated Host
Why this is correct
Azure Dedicated Host provides physical servers dedicated to one Azure subscription. VMs are isolated at the hardware level, and the customer controls maintenance and scheduling. This fully satisfies the compliance requirement for physical server isolation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Reserved Instances
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances are a billing and pricing model that offers discounted rates in exchange for a one- or three-year commitment. They do not provide any physical server isolation; VMs purchased under Reserved Instances may still run on shared physical hardware.
- ✗
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets
Why it's wrong here
Virtual Machine Scale Sets allow you to deploy and manage a group of identical, load-balanced VMs that can scale in or out automatically. They do not guarantee that the VMs are placed on a dedicated physical host; the underlying hardware may be shared with other tenants.
- ✗
Azure Confidential Computing
Why it's wrong here
Confidential computing protects data in use by using hardware-based trusted execution environments (e.g., Intel SGX). While this provides strong data encryption during processing, it does not ensure that the entire physical server is dedicated to a single customer. Multiple tenants' VMs using confidential computing can still reside on the same physical host.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Reserved Instances with dedicated hardware, mistakenly thinking a billing commitment provides physical isolation, when in fact Reserved Instances only reduce costs without changing the underlying multi-tenant architecture.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Dedicated Hosts are mapped to a specific physical server in an Azure datacenter, and you can control maintenance windows by using the 'maintenance control' feature to schedule host updates. Under the hood, each Dedicated Host is assigned a unique hardware UUID and is not shared with any other tenant, which satisfies strict compliance standards like PCI-DSS or FedRAMP that require physical isolation. In a real-world scenario, a financial institution might use Dedicated Hosts to run legacy applications that require a specific server configuration or to meet audit requirements for hardware-level separation.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-900 question test?
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 physical servers dedicated to a single Azure subscription, ensuring that no other customer's VMs share the hardware. This meets the regulatory requirement for physical isolation and gives the company full control over server hardware maintenance, including the ability to schedule updates and manage the host lifecycle independently.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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