Question 914 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 is migrating its on-premises virtual machines (VMs) to Azure using the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model. The VMs run a custom legacy application that requires specific OS-level configurations. The company's IT team wants to understand which party is responsible for applying operating system security patches after the migration. According to the shared responsibility model, who is responsible for patching the OS of the Azure VMs?

Question 1mediummultiple choice

Read the full NAT/PAT explanation →

A
Microsoft is fully responsible for applying OS patches to the virtual machines.
Why wrong: Incorrect. Microsoft is responsible for patching the underlying physical hosts and hypervisor, but not the guest OS on a customer-deployed VM. The customer has administrative access to the VM and must manage the OS.
B
The company is responsible for patching the operating system on the virtual machines.
Correct. Even though the VMs run on Azure infrastructure, the guest OS is managed by the customer. Patching the OS is part of the customer's responsibility under the shared responsibility model for IaaS.
C
Responsibility is shared equally between Microsoft and the company for OS patching.
Why wrong: Incorrect. For IaaS, the division is clear: Microsoft patches the physical layer and hypervisor, and the customer patches the guest OS. There is no shared responsibility for the same component.
D
Responsibility depends on whether the VM uses Windows or Linux; Microsoft patches Windows VMs and the company patches Linux VMs.
Why wrong: Incorrect. Microsoft does not automatically patch the guest OS of any VM regardless of the OS type. The customer is responsible for maintaining the OS on all IaaS VMs, though Microsoft offers update management tools to assist.

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

✓

The company is responsible for patching the operating system on the virtual machines.

In the shared responsibility model for IaaS, the customer retains control over the operating system, including applying security patches. Microsoft manages the physical host, hypervisor, and Azure infrastructure, but the customer is responsible for OS-level configurations and updates on their virtual machines. This applies to both Windows and Linux VMs, regardless of whether the OS is provided by Azure or the customer.

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.

✗
Microsoft is fully responsible for applying OS patches to the virtual machines.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Microsoft is responsible for patching the underlying physical hosts and hypervisor, but not the guest OS on a customer-deployed VM. The customer has administrative access to the VM and must manage the OS.
✓
The company is responsible for patching the operating system on the virtual machines.
Why this is correct
Correct. Even though the VMs run on Azure infrastructure, the guest OS is managed by the customer. Patching the OS is part of the customer's responsibility under the shared responsibility model for IaaS.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Responsibility is shared equally between Microsoft and the company for OS patching.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. For IaaS, the division is clear: Microsoft patches the physical layer and hypervisor, and the customer patches the guest OS. There is no shared responsibility for the same component.
✗
Responsibility depends on whether the VM uses Windows or Linux; Microsoft patches Windows VMs and the company patches Linux VMs.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Microsoft does not automatically patch the guest OS of any VM regardless of the OS type. The customer is responsible for maintaining the OS on all IaaS VMs, though Microsoft offers update management tools to assist.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often assume Microsoft patches everything in the cloud, but the shared responsibility model clearly delineates that OS patching in IaaS is the customer's duty, not Microsoft's.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the shared responsibility model, IaaS gives the customer the highest level of control and responsibility, including the OS, applications, and data. Microsoft's responsibility ends at the virtualization layer (hypervisor), meaning they patch the host OS (e.g., Azure Hyper-V) but not guest OSes. In a real-world scenario, if a customer fails to apply a critical OS patch (e.g., for CVE-2023-23397), the VM remains vulnerable, and Microsoft will not automatically remediate it.

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: The company is responsible for patching the operating system on the virtual machines. — In the shared responsibility model for IaaS, the customer retains control over the operating system, including applying security patches. Microsoft manages the physical host, hypervisor, and Azure infrastructure, but the customer is responsible for OS-level configurations and updates on their virtual machines. This applies to both Windows and Linux VMs, regardless of whether the OS is provided by Azure or the customer.

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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