AZ-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
An Azure service guarantees 99.95% uptime for virtual machines deployed with two or more instances in an availability set. If the monthly uptime falls below this percentage, customers can receive a service credit. What does this guarantee represent?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse a formal, financially-backed SLA with an internal SLO, mistakenly thinking any published uptime number is automatically an SLO, when in fact the presence of a service credit mechanism is the key differentiator for an SLA.
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
✓
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
This guarantee is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) because it is a formal, published commitment from Microsoft regarding the uptime percentage (99.95%) for a specific Azure service (Virtual Machines in an Availability Set), and it includes a financial remedy (service credits) if the commitment is not met. SLAs are contractual agreements that define the level of service a customer can expect and the compensation for failures.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Why this is correct
An SLA is a formal contract that defines the guaranteed uptime percentage (like 99.95%) for a service, and specifies the service credits or compensation if the provider fails to meet that commitment. In Azure, SLAs are per-service and tier-specific, so the 99.95% figure for virtual machines reflects a contractual promise, not just a measurement or target. The guarantee is legally binding and comes with defined remedies for customers.
- ✗
Service Level Objective (SLO)
Why it's wrong here
An SLO is an internal target or goal that a service provider aims to achieve, often set more stringent than the SLA to ensure compliance. The 99.95% uptime for Azure VMs is a public contractual commitment with financial penalties, which is characteristic of an SLA rather than an SLO. SLOs are typically used for operational monitoring and may not include compensation clauses.
When this WOULD be correct
An SLO would be correct in a scenario where a cloud provider internally sets a target of 99.95% uptime for a service but does not offer any service credits or contractual guarantees for failing to meet that target. For example, a question stating 'An Azure service aims to achieve 99.95% uptime but does not provide compensation if it fails' would make SLO the correct answer.
- ✗
Service Level Indicator (SLI)
Why it's wrong here
An SLI is a quantitative measurement of a specific aspect of service performance, such as the actual uptime percentage observed over a period. In this scenario, the 99.95% figure is a promised threshold, not an observed metric, so it cannot be an SLI. SLIs are used to calculate whether an SLO or SLA has been met, but they are not the agreement itself.
When this WOULD be correct
An exam question asks: 'Which term describes the actual measured uptime percentage of a service over a given period?' In that context, SLI is correct because it refers to the quantitative measurement of a service's performance.
- ✗
Service Health
Why it's wrong here
Service Health is an Azure portal feature that provides real-time information about incidents, maintenance, and health status of Azure services. It does not establish any contractual guarantee or define uptime percentages; it only reports on the current and historical operational state. The 99.95% number is a legal commitment from the SLA, not a health dashboard metric.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asking: 'Which Azure tool provides real-time information about service outages, planned maintenance, and health advisories?' would have Service Health as the correct answer, as it monitors the current state of Azure services.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Service Level Agreement (SLA)Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
An SLA is a formal contract that defines the guaranteed uptime percentage (like 99.95%) for a service, and specifies the service credits or compensation if the provider fails to meet that commitment. In Azure, SLAs are per-service and tier-specific, so the 99.95% figure for virtual machines reflects a contractual promise, not just a measurement or target. The guarantee is legally binding and comes with defined remedies for customers.
✗Service Level Objective (SLO)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The question describes a formal, legally binding commitment with a specific uptime percentage and a penalty (service credit) for non-compliance, which is the definition of an SLA, not an SLO. An SLO is an internal target without legal or financial consequences.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An SLO would be correct in a scenario where a cloud provider internally sets a target of 99.95% uptime for a service but does not offer any service credits or contractual guarantees for failing to meet that target. For example, a question stating 'An Azure service aims to achieve 99.95% uptime but does not provide compensation if it fails' would make SLO the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates often confuse SLO with SLA because both involve uptime percentages and targets. The similarity in acronyms and the common use of 'objective' in both terms lead to selecting SLO without recognizing the contractual and remedial aspects unique to an SLA.
✗Service Level Indicator (SLI)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A Service Level Indicator (SLI) is a specific metric measuring a service's performance, such as uptime percentage, but the question describes a contractual commitment with a credit provision, which is an SLA, not just a measurement.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An exam question asks: 'Which term describes the actual measured uptime percentage of a service over a given period?' In that context, SLI is correct because it refers to the quantitative measurement of a service's performance.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates confuse SLI with SLA because both involve uptime percentages; they may think any mention of a specific percentage guarantee is an SLI, not recognizing that SLI is the measured value, not the contractual promise.
✗Service HealthWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Service Health refers to the overall status and performance of Azure services, not a contractual guarantee or metric for uptime and credits. The question describes a specific uptime percentage and credit policy, which is an SLA.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asking: 'Which Azure tool provides real-time information about service outages, planned maintenance, and health advisories?' would have Service Health as the correct answer, as it monitors the current state of Azure services.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'Service Health' with 'SLA' because both relate to service reliability, but Service Health is about monitoring current status, not contractual guarantees.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
High Availability and Scalability
Key term
Service Level Agreement
A service level agreement (SLA) is a documented contract that defines the specific level of service a provider guarantees to a customer, including performance metrics, responsibilities, and remedies for failures.
Key term
SLA
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service provider and a customer that defines the level of service expected, including metrics like uptime, response time, and penalties for non-compliance.
About these practice questions
This AZ-900 question is part of Courseiva's 981-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.