Question 26 of 1,411

Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The correct answer is Availability, because the scenario focuses on keeping the e-commerce website accessible during high-traffic holiday seasons and after a primary site failure. Deploying additional web servers and implementing automatic failover to a secondary data center directly supports the availability principle of the CIA triad, which ensures systems and data are accessible when needed by authorized users. On the Microsoft SC-900 exam, this concept tests your ability to distinguish availability from integrity (data accuracy) and confidentiality (restricting access), often using real-world examples like load balancing or disaster recovery. A common trap is confusing failover with data protection, but remember that availability is about uptime and resilience, not preventing unauthorized changes. Memory tip: think of an “always-on” website—if the goal is keeping the lights on during a traffic surge or outage, you are addressing availability.

SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity

This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 operates an e-commerce website that must remain accessible during high-traffic holiday seasons. The IT team deploys additional web servers and implements automatic failover to a secondary data center if the primary site goes down. Which security principle is the company primarily addressing?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.

Question 1easymultiple choice

Full question →

A
Confidentiality
Why wrong: Confidentiality ensures that data is accessible only to authorized users. The scenario does not focus on keeping data secret but on keeping the service running.
B
Integrity
Why wrong: Integrity ensures that data is not tampered with or altered by unauthorized parties. While important, the scenario specifically addresses system uptime and redundancy.
C
Availability
Availability ensures that systems and data are accessible to authorized users when needed. The described measures (additional servers, failover) directly support high availability.
D
Authorization
Why wrong: Authorization determines what resources a user can access. It is a concept within identity and access management, not a primary security principle in the context of uptime and disaster recovery.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Availability

The company is ensuring that the e-commerce website remains operational even during high-traffic periods or after a primary site failure. Deploying additional web servers and implementing automatic failover to a secondary data center directly supports the availability principle, which ensures that systems and data are accessible when needed. This is a core tenet of the CIA triad, and in this scenario, the focus is on uptime and resilience, not on protecting data from unauthorized access or modification.

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.

✗
Confidentiality
Why it's wrong here
Confidentiality ensures that data is accessible only to authorized users. The scenario does not focus on keeping data secret but on keeping the service running.
✗
Integrity
Why it's wrong here
Integrity ensures that data is not tampered with or altered by unauthorized parties. While important, the scenario specifically addresses system uptime and redundancy.
✓
Availability
Why this is correct
Availability ensures that systems and data are accessible to authorized users when needed. The described measures (additional servers, failover) directly support high availability.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Authorization
Why it's wrong here
Authorization determines what resources a user can access. It is a concept within identity and access management, not a primary security principle in the context of uptime and disaster recovery.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often confuse availability with authorization, mistakenly thinking that controlling who can access the site (authorization) is the same as ensuring the site is up and running (availability).

Trap categories for this question

Scenario analysis trap
Confidentiality ensures that data is accessible only to authorized users. The scenario does not focus on keeping data secret but on keeping the service running.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Availability in cloud and on-premises architectures is often achieved through load balancers (e.g., Azure Load Balancer or Application Gateway) that distribute traffic across multiple web servers, combined with health probes that detect failures and trigger automatic failover to a secondary region or data center. This aligns with the concept of a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO), where failover mechanisms minimize downtime and data loss. In Azure, this is commonly implemented using Availability Zones or paired regions with Azure Traffic Manager for global failover routing.

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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SC-900 question test?

Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — This question tests Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Availability — The company is ensuring that the e-commerce website remains operational even during high-traffic periods or after a primary site failure. Deploying additional web servers and implementing automatic failover to a secondary data center directly supports the availability principle, which ensures that systems and data are accessible when needed. This is a core tenet of the CIA triad, and in this scenario, the focus is on uptime and resilience, not on protecting data from unauthorized access or modification.

What should I do if I get this SC-900 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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