MS-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
A company runs a critical application on-premises but wants to extend capacity to the cloud during peak demand without purchasing additional hardware. Which cloud deployment model best describes this strategy?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse 'hybrid cloud' with 'multi-cloud,' but hybrid cloud specifically involves a mix of on-premises and public cloud, while multi-cloud involves multiple public clouds without any on-premises component.
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
✓
Hybrid cloud
A hybrid cloud model combines on-premises infrastructure (private cloud) with public cloud resources, enabling a company to 'burst' into the public cloud during peak demand without purchasing additional hardware. This strategy, often called cloud bursting, allows the critical application to run locally under normal conditions and seamlessly extend capacity to a public cloud provider like Azure during spikes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Public cloud
Why it's wrong here
Public cloud deploys workloads entirely on shared infrastructure owned by a cloud provider, with no direct private networking or identity bridge back to on-premises systems. In this scenario, moving to public cloud would require the company to either migrate the application completely or create a separate connectivity solution (e.g., VPN, ExpressRoute) that is not inherently present. The requirement to 'extend' on-premises while keeping the critical app running points to a model that preserves the existing local footprint, which public cloud alone does not deliver.
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Private cloud
Why it's wrong here
Private cloud is a model where computing resources are dedicated solely to a single organization, typically hosted on-premises or in a colocation facility, and accessed over internal networks. While it could host the critical application, it does not include any mechanism to burst into a public cloud for extra capacity or to leverage cloud-native services. Because the company wants to extend on-premises to handle peak loads, private cloud would just be a continuation of the same capacity constraints, not a hybrid extension.
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Hybrid cloud
Why this is correct
Hybrid cloud is correct because it explicitly combines an on-premises environment with one or more public cloud services, connected through a secure, dedicated network (e.g., VPN gateway, Azure ExpressRoute) and often unified identity for consistent management. This architecture allows a critical application to remain running on-premises while 'bursting' into the public cloud during peak load—scaling out additional instances or offloading batch processing to the cloud. The company's stated goal directly matches the hybrid cloud value proposition of preserving existing investments while gaining elastic capacity and resilience.
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Multi-cloud
Why it's wrong here
Multi-cloud refers to using multiple distinct public cloud providers (e.g., Azure and AWS) to avoid vendor lock-in, improve resiliency, or leverage best-of-breed services, but it does not inherently connect those clouds back to an on-premises data center. The company's requirement is specifically to extend its on-premises application, not to distribute workloads across several public providers. While a multi-cloud strategy could include an on-prem component, that combination is essentially hybrid cloud; standalone multi-cloud lacks the on-premises extension described in the question.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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