This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe cloud concepts. 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 company wants to use a cloud service that provides a fully managed database, including automated backups, patching, and high availability, without managing any underlying servers. Which cloud service model is this?
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Why wrong: IaaS would require managing the database on a VM.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS includes managed database services like Azure SQL Database.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why wrong: SaaS provides complete applications, not just database services.
Container as a Service (CaaS)
Why wrong: CaaS allows running containers, not managed databases.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
This scenario describes a fully managed database service where the provider handles backups, patching, and high availability, and the customer does not manage any underlying servers. This is the definition of Platform as a Service (PaaS), which provides a managed platform (including database engines like Azure SQL Database) where the customer only manages data and schema, while the provider handles the OS, runtime, and infrastructure.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Why this is correct
PaaS includes managed database services like Azure SQL Database.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why it's wrong here
SaaS provides complete applications, not just database services.
Container as a Service (CaaS)
Why it's wrong here
CaaS allows running containers, not managed databases.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse PaaS with IaaS because both can host databases, but IaaS requires the customer to manage the OS, database software, and patching, whereas PaaS abstracts all server management away.
Detailed technical explanation
In PaaS database offerings like Azure SQL Database, the provider automates patching via the SQL Server engine’s built-in update mechanism and uses Always On Availability Groups for high availability at the storage layer, transparent to the customer. The customer connects via standard TDS (Tabular Data Stream) protocol over port 1433 and manages only logical constructs like databases, logins, and indexes, while the physical server, OS, and SQL Server instance are abstracted. A real-world scenario is a retail app using Azure SQL Database to automatically failover during a regional outage without any manual intervention or server reconfiguration.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
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FAQ
Describe cloud concepts — This question tests Describe cloud concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Platform as a Service (PaaS) — This scenario describes a fully managed database service where the provider handles backups, patching, and high availability, and the customer does not manage any underlying servers. This is the definition of Platform as a Service (PaaS), which provides a managed platform (including database engines like Azure SQL Database) where the customer only manages data and schema, while the provider handles the OS, runtime, and infrastructure.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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