MS-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
A retail company experiences sudden traffic spikes during holiday sales. Which cloud characteristic would best help them handle this without overprovisioning?
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
✓
Rapid elasticity
(Rapid elasticity) is correct because it enables cloud resources to automatically scale up or down to handle sudden traffic spikes without the need for overprovisioning. Option A (Broad network access) refers to accessibility over the network, not scaling. Option B (Measured service) is about metering and billing for usage. Option D (Resource pooling) involves multi-tenant sharing of resources.
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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Broad network access
Why it's wrong here
Broad network access only means services are reachable over the network from diverse clients; it does nothing to scale capacity during traffic spikes. It is tempting because cloud services are accessed remotely, and it would be correct when the requirement is ubiquitous connectivity rather than handling variable load.
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Measured service
Why it's wrong here
Measured service meters and bills consumption per use; it does not automatically add or remove capacity during demand spikes. It is tempting because pay-per-use billing avoids paying for idle resources, and it would be correct when the requirement is usage-based cost transparency rather than elastic scaling.
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Rapid elasticity
Why this is correct
Rapid elasticity lets the retailer scale compute and storage outward automatically during holiday demand and release capacity afterwards, paying only for consumption. This satisfies the constraint of handling sudden traffic spikes without overprovisioning fixed on-premises hardware.
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Resource pooling
Why it's wrong here
Resource pooling lets providers serve multiple tenants from shared physical infrastructure; it does not itself provision additional capacity when demand surges. It is tempting because pooling underpins multi-tenancy and cost sharing, and it would be correct where the requirement is tenant isolation or shared infrastructure economics.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This MS-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MS-900 exam.