A company deploys a web application on Azure virtual machines (VMs) in an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) model. The company is responsible for managing the guest operating system, the application code, and the data stored on the VMs. According to the shared responsibility model, which of the following security responsibilities does Microsoft retain in this scenario?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Best answer
Protecting the physical datacenter and the underlying hardware
Microsoft retains responsibility for the physical security of datacenters, servers, storage, and networking hardware in all cloud models, including IaaS.
Distractor review
Configuring the operating system firewall on each VM
Configuring the OS-level firewall is a customer responsibility, as the customer manages the guest OS.
Distractor review
Installing and patching the application software
The customer is responsible for managing and patching application software deployed on IaaS VMs.
Distractor review
Managing user access to the application
Identity and access management for the application is the customer's responsibility.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Related practice questions
Related SC-900 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company must retain all customer contracts for 10 years to comply with industry regulations. After 10 years, the contracts must be permanently deleted. Which Microsoft Purview solution should be used to automate this process?
Question 2
A company uses a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) application for customer relationship management. According to the shared responsibility model, which security responsibility is primarily handled by the customer?
Question 3
A company runs a mix of on-premises servers and Azure virtual machines. They deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on all servers. The security team wants to create custom queries to hunt for a specific attack pattern that involves a sequence of events across multiple machines, such as a PowerShell script being downloaded and then executed on several servers. They need to write their own detection rules based on advanced hunting data. Which Microsoft 365 Defender capability should they use?
Question 4
A company runs a consumer-facing e-commerce website and wants to allow customers to sign in using their existing social media accounts such as Google, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Which Microsoft Entra ID solution should they implement?
Question 5
A company has a hybrid identity environment with Active Directory synchronizing to Microsoft Entra ID. They want users to be able to reset their own on-premises passwords via the cloud SSPR portal. What is the minimum license required for this capability?
Question 6
A company uses a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that is delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). According to the shared responsibility model, which security responsibility is primarily handled by the customer?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-900 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Protecting the physical datacenter and the underlying hardware — In the IaaS shared responsibility model, Microsoft is responsible for the physical security of the datacenter, the network infrastructure, and the underlying hypervisor. The customer is responsible for managing the guest OS, applications, data, and configuration of network controls like firewalls.
What should I do if I get this SC-900 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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