MS-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
A multinational corporation needs to design a cloud strategy that allows them to keep sensitive financial data on-premises while using public cloud for customer-facing apps. Which deployment model should they adopt?
⚠ Common exam trap
MS-900 often tests the confusion between hybrid and multi-cloud — candidates pick multi-cloud because it sounds more flexible, forgetting that multi-cloud means multiple public providers, not on-prem plus public.
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 combines on-premises infrastructure with public cloud services, connected so workloads and data can span both environments. Keeping sensitive financial data on-premises for compliance while running customer-facing apps in the public cloud is the textbook hybrid scenario, since it preserves data residency and control where required while gaining public cloud elasticity elsewhere.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Hybrid cloud
Why this is correct
Hybrid cloud combines on-premises infrastructure with public cloud services, letting the corporation retain sensitive financial data in its own datacentre while hosting customer-facing apps in the public cloud. This directly satisfies the stem's split requirement, unlike pure public or private models. Microsoft Entra ID can broker identity across both environments.
- ✗
Private cloud
Why it's wrong here
A private cloud dedicates infrastructure to one organisation but does not combine it with public cloud services, so the customer-facing apps would lack the required public hosting. It is tempting because it maximises control over sensitive data, and it would be correct if all workloads had to remain on dedicated infrastructure.
- ✗
Public cloud
Why it's wrong here
Public cloud places all workloads on shared provider infrastructure, so the sensitive financial data could not remain on-premises. It is tempting because it delivers the customer-facing apps cheaply and elastically, and it would be correct if no data-residency or on-premises retention requirement existed.
- ✗
Multi-cloud
Why it's wrong here
Multi-cloud means using several public cloud providers, which still leaves the financial data hosted publicly rather than on-premises. It is tempting because it addresses vendor diversity and resilience, and it would be correct if the requirement were avoiding lock-in across two or more hyperscalers.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on MS-900
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Which TWO cloud deployment models allow an organization to run some workloads on-premises and some in the public cloud?
hard- A.Community cloud
- B.Private cloud
- C.Multi-cloud
- ✓ D.Hybrid cloud
- E.Public cloud
Why D: Hybrid cloud is the deployment model that explicitly combines on-premises infrastructure (private cloud) with public cloud services, allowing workloads to run in both environments. The other options do not specifically enable this combination: private cloud is typically on-premises only; public cloud is off-premises; multi-cloud involves multiple public clouds but not on-premises; and community cloud is a shared model that may or may not span on-premises and public cloud, but it is not defined by that combination.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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