A company has deployed several virtual machines in an Azure virtual network. The IT administrators need to connect to these VMs using RDP and SSH from the internet. However, the company's security policy prohibits assigning any public IP addresses to the VMs and also prohibits exposing the VMs directly to the internet. The solution must be fully managed by Azure and require no additional infrastructure in the virtual network. Which Azure service should the company use?
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.
Distractor review
Azure Virtual Network Peering
Azure Virtual Network Peering connects two virtual networks together, enabling traffic between them. It does not provide remote desktop or SSH connectivity to individual VMs, nor does it address the requirement of securing RDP/SSH access from the internet without public IPs.
Best answer
Azure Bastion
Azure Bastion is a fully managed service that provides secure RDP and SSH access to Azure VMs directly from the Azure portal, using TLS over the internet. It is deployed inside the virtual network and does not require public IP addresses on the VMs, perfectly meeting the security policy requirements.
Distractor review
Azure VPN Gateway
Azure VPN Gateway is used to create site-to-site or point-to-site VPN connections between on-premises networks and Azure. While it does allow secure access to VMs, it typically requires public IP addresses on the gateway, and VMs often still need public IPs for direct RDP/SSH unless additional routing is configured. It is not the optimal managed service for this specific scenario and still exposes the gateway to the internet.
Distractor review
Azure ExpressRoute
Azure ExpressRoute provides a private, dedicated connection from an on-premises network to Azure, bypassing the public internet. However, it does not directly enable RDP/SSH access from the internet, and it requires significant on-premises infrastructure. It is not a fully managed solution for remote administrator access over the internet.
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.
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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: Azure Bastion — Azure Bastion is a fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) that provides secure and seamless RDP and SSH connectivity to virtual machines directly in the Azure portal over TLS. It is provisioned inside the virtual network and eliminates the need for public IP addresses on the VMs, exposing them to the internet. Bastion uses a hardened gateway to protect against port scanning and other threats, meeting the security requirements.
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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