mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped

A company runs a web application on Azure virtual machines. The application experiences unpredictable traffic patterns with occasional sharp spikes. The operations team wants to configure the infrastructure so that the number of running virtual machines automatically increases during spikes and decreases during low traffic periods, without manual intervention. Which cloud computing characteristic does this requirement describe?

Question 1mediummultiple choice
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A company runs a web application on Azure virtual machines. The application experiences unpredictable traffic patterns with occasional sharp spikes. The operations team wants to configure the infrastructure so that the number of running virtual machines automatically increases during spikes and decreases during low traffic periods, without manual intervention. Which cloud computing characteristic does this requirement describe?

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.

A

Distractor review

High availability

High availability refers to ensuring that services remain operational and accessible with minimal downtime. It does not specifically describe automatic scaling of resources based on demand.

B

Best answer

Elasticity

Elasticity is the correct characteristic. It enables resources (such as virtual machines) to be automatically added or removed in response to changing workload demands, which matches the described requirement.

C

Distractor review

Fault tolerance

Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue operating properly in the event of a failure of one or more components. It does not involve automatic scaling based on load.

D

Distractor review

Geographic distribution

Geographic distribution refers to deploying resources in multiple geographical locations to reduce latency or meet compliance requirements. It does not address automatic scaling of resources.

Common exam trap

Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic

NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.

Technical deep dive

How to think about this question

NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
  • PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
  • Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
  • NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.

TExam Day Tips

  • Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
  • Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
  • Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.

Related practice questions

Related AZ-900 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

More questions from this exam

Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.

Question 1

A developer is building a serverless application that requires integration with an on-premises SQL Server database for real-time data processing. The on-premises network is connected to Azure via a site-to-site VPN. Which Azure service would allow the function to securely access the on-premises database without exposing it to the public internet?

Question 2

A solutions architect is designing a storage solution for a large media company. The company needs to store video files that are accessed infrequently but must be retained for several years for compliance. Which two Azure storage options meet these requirements? (Select two.)

Question 3

A company deploys a multi-tier application using Azure virtual machines. The web tier VMs must be evenly distributed across two distinct data centers within an Azure region to avoid a single point of failure from an infrastructure outage. Which Azure construct should they use to meet this requirement?

Question 4

A company wants to enforce a set of security policies across all their Azure subscriptions. They have created several individual policy definitions. Which Azure construct should they use to group these policies together and assign them as a single package?

Question 5

A company deploys a line-of-business application on an Azure virtual machine. The IT team wants to ensure the application remains secure. According to the shared responsibility model, which of the following security tasks is the sole responsibility of the customer (the company)?

Question 6

A company develops a web API that runs on Azure App Service. The development team wants to deploy a new version of the API to a staging environment, run integration tests against it, and then gradually shift production traffic to the new version. If any issues are detected, they want to immediately roll back to the previous version without redeploying. Which Azure App Service feature should the team use to meet these requirements?

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this AZ-900 question test?

Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Elasticity — Elasticity is the cloud computing characteristic that allows resources to automatically scale up or out to handle increased demand and scale down or in when demand decreases. This is distinct from high availability, which focuses on uptime; fault tolerance, which focuses on continued operation during failures; and geographic distribution, which involves deploying resources across multiple regions for latency or resilience.

What should I do if I get this AZ-900 question wrong?

Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.

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