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 uses a cloud service where they can rent virtual machines and storage. They have full control over the operating system and applications, while the provider manages the physical hardware. Which cloud service model is being used?
IaaS offers virtual machines, storage, and networking; the user controls the OS and apps, the provider manages the physical hardware.
B
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Why wrong: PaaS provides a platform for developing and running apps without managing the underlying infrastructure, but the user does not have full control over the OS.
C
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why wrong: SaaS delivers software applications over the internet; users do not manage the underlying infrastructure or the application.
D
On-premises deployment
Why wrong: On-premises means the organization owns and manages all hardware and software locally, not a cloud service model.
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 company rents virtual machines and storage, retains full control over the operating system and applications, while the cloud provider manages the underlying physical hardware. In IaaS, the provider abstracts the physical infrastructure (servers, networking, storage) and delivers it as on-demand virtualized resources, which aligns with the customer's responsibility for OS and app configuration.
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 offers virtual machines, storage, and networking; the user controls the OS and apps, the provider manages the physical hardware.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Why it's wrong here
PaaS provides a platform for developing and running apps without managing the underlying infrastructure, but the user does not have full control over the OS.
✗
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why it's wrong here
SaaS delivers software applications over the internet; users do not manage the underlying infrastructure or the application.
✗
On-premises deployment
Why it's wrong here
On-premises means the organization owns and manages all hardware and software locally, not a cloud service model.
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 cloud-hosted resources, but the key differentiator is control over the operating system—IaaS gives OS control, PaaS does not.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IaaS relies on hypervisor technologies (e.g., VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V) to partition physical hardware into multiple virtual machines, each with its own guest OS. The provider manages the physical layer (power, cooling, hardware failures) while the customer configures virtual networks, firewalls, and storage via APIs or management consoles like Azure Resource Manager. A real-world scenario is a company migrating a legacy on-premises application to Azure VMs, where they retain full OS patching and application control but offload hardware maintenance.
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 company rents virtual machines and storage, retains full control over the operating system and applications, while the cloud provider manages the underlying physical hardware. In IaaS, the provider abstracts the physical infrastructure (servers, networking, storage) and delivers it as on-demand virtualized resources, which aligns with the customer's responsibility for OS and app configuration.
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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