Question 620 of 1,031

Describe cloud concepts →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

AZ-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question

This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe cloud concepts. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 runs an e-commerce web application on Azure virtual machines that are part of a virtual machine scale set configured with an autoscale rule based on CPU utilization. During a flash sale, customer traffic surges, causing the average CPU utilization across all instances to exceed 75% for five minutes. The scale set automatically provisions three additional VM instances to handle the increased load. After the sale ends, traffic normalizes, CPU utilization drops below 30%, and the scale set automatically removes the extra instances. This scenario best illustrates which characteristic of cloud computing?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

Question 1mediummultiple choice

Full question →

A
Elasticity
Correct. Elasticity is the cloud characteristic that enables automatic provisioning and de-provisioning of resources to match workload demand. The autoscale behavior described—adding instances during high CPU usage and removing them when usage drops—is a textbook example of elasticity.
B
High availability
Why wrong: Incorrect. High availability refers to designing systems to remain operational with minimal downtime, often through redundancy and failover. While a scale set can contribute to availability, the scenario specifically describes scaling up/down based on demand rather than maintaining uptime during failures.
C
Fault tolerance
Why wrong: Incorrect. Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue operating correctly even when one or more of its components fail. The scenario does not describe any failures; it describes adapting to changes in load.
D
Disaster recovery
Why wrong: Incorrect. Disaster recovery involves policies and processes for restoring IT infrastructure and data after a catastrophic event such as a natural disaster or large-scale outage. The scenario is about handling normal traffic fluctuations, not recovering from a disaster.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Elasticity

Elasticity is the ability of a cloud system to dynamically scale resources up or down based on demand. In this scenario, the virtual machine scale set automatically adds three VM instances when CPU utilization exceeds 75% for five minutes and removes them when utilization drops below 30%, demonstrating rapid, automated scaling to match workload changes.

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.

✓
Elasticity
Why this is correct
Correct. Elasticity is the cloud characteristic that enables automatic provisioning and de-provisioning of resources to match workload demand. The autoscale behavior described—adding instances during high CPU usage and removing them when usage drops—is a textbook example of elasticity.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
High availability
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. High availability refers to designing systems to remain operational with minimal downtime, often through redundancy and failover. While a scale set can contribute to availability, the scenario specifically describes scaling up/down based on demand rather than maintaining uptime during failures.
✗
Fault tolerance
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue operating correctly even when one or more of its components fail. The scenario does not describe any failures; it describes adapting to changes in load.
✗
Disaster recovery
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Disaster recovery involves policies and processes for restoring IT infrastructure and data after a catastrophic event such as a natural disaster or large-scale outage. The scenario is about handling normal traffic fluctuations, not recovering from a disaster.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is confusing elasticity (dynamic scaling to meet demand) with high availability (redundancy for uptime), as both involve multiple VMs but serve fundamentally different purposes.

Trap categories for this question

Scenario analysis trap
Incorrect. High availability refers to designing systems to remain operational with minimal downtime, often through redundancy and failover. While a scale set can contribute to availability, the scenario specifically describes scaling up/down based on demand rather than maintaining uptime during failures.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Azure VMSS autoscale uses Azure Monitor metrics and a scale-out/in rule engine that evaluates CPU utilization thresholds over a defined duration (here, 5 minutes) to trigger scaling actions. The scale-out operation deploys new VMs from the configured image, while scale-in gracefully deallocates instances, respecting cooldown periods to avoid flapping. In real-world flash sales, this elasticity prevents over-provisioning costs during normal traffic while ensuring responsiveness during spikes.

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

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

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this AZ-900 question test?

Describe cloud concepts — This question tests Describe cloud concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Elasticity — Elasticity is the ability of a cloud system to dynamically scale resources up or down based on demand. In this scenario, the virtual machine scale set automatically adds three VM instances when CPU utilization exceeds 75% for five minutes and removes them when utilization drops below 30%, demonstrating rapid, automated scaling to match workload changes.

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.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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