This MS-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 moves its on-premises servers to a cloud provider. The provider supplies the physical hardware, networking, and storage. The company installs and manages the operating system and applications on the virtual machines. Which cloud service model does this scenario represent?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
This scenario describes Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) because the cloud provider supplies the physical hardware, networking, and storage, while the customer retains full control over the operating system and applications. In IaaS, the provider manages the underlying infrastructure (e.g., hypervisor, physical servers, network switches), and the customer is responsible for the guest OS, middleware, and application stack. This aligns with the shared responsibility model where the customer handles OS patching, application configuration, and data management.
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.
✓
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Why this is correct
IaaS gives the customer control over the OS and applications while the provider manages the underlying hardware, storage, and networking.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Why it's wrong here
PaaS provides a managed platform including OS and runtime; the customer does not manage the OS.
✗
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why it's wrong here
SaaS delivers full applications managed by the provider; the customer only uses the software.
✗
Function as a Service (FaaS)
Why it's wrong here
FaaS allows running code in response to events without managing servers, not the scenario described.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse IaaS with PaaS because both involve virtual machines, but PaaS removes OS management — the key differentiator is who installs and patches the operating system.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
FaaS allows running code in response to events without managing servers, not the scenario described.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, IaaS relies on hypervisors (e.g., Hyper-V, VMware ESXi) to virtualize physical servers, and the customer interacts with virtual machines via remote desktop or SSH. The provider typically offers APIs for provisioning storage (e.g., Azure Blob, AWS EBS) and networking (e.g., VPCs, subnets, firewalls). A real-world scenario is a company migrating legacy Windows Server workloads to Azure VMs, where they must still apply monthly security patches and configure IIS or SQL Server themselves.
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
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this MS-900 question in full detail.
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: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) — This scenario describes Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) because the cloud provider supplies the physical hardware, networking, and storage, while the customer retains full control over the operating system and applications. In IaaS, the provider manages the underlying infrastructure (e.g., hypervisor, physical servers, network switches), and the customer is responsible for the guest OS, middleware, and application stack. This aligns with the shared responsibility model where the customer handles OS patching, application configuration, and data management.
What should I do if I get this MS-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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Question Discussion
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