Free AZ-900 practice test: 30 questions with answers

Azure Container Instances runs containers on demand without managing a cluster, which suits short jobs. A permanent Kubernetes node pool is more than the job needs, a physical server requires management, and Virtual Desktop serves user desktops.

Azure Functions runs code in response to triggers such as storage events, without server provisioning. Virtual machines require management, SQL Managed Instance is a database service, and Backup protects data.

Azure SQL Database is a managed relational database with automatic backups and patching. SQL Server on a VM requires the customer to manage the operating system, a laptop is not managed, and Blob Storage holds files, not relational tables.

Blob Storage is designed for unstructured objects such as images and video at scale. Cosmos DB is a database, virtual networks provide connectivity, and Key Vault stores secrets.

Virtual network peering connects two virtual networks so resources communicate privately over the Azure backbone. Public IPs send traffic over the internet, storage accounts hold data, and empty DNS zones do not route traffic.

Azure Front Door provides global HTTP load balancing and routes users to the best healthy backend across regions. Azure Load Balancer works within a region, Storage Explorer is a client tool, and Monitor collects telemetry.

Azure Cache for Redis is an in-memory cache that reduces latency and database load for frequently read data. Archive storage is for rarely accessed data, Stack Hub runs Azure services on-premises, and DevTest Labs provides test environments.

Virtual machines give full control over the operating system and installed software, which the application requires. Functions, Front Door and Logic Apps are managed services that do not provide full OS control.

A region is a geographic area with datacentres, and availability zones are physically separate locations within a region with independent power and cooling. Regions do not have only one zone, zones are not subscriptions, and regions are not tenants.

Service Bus provides durable message queues and topics, so messages wait until the consumer is ready. Redis is a cache rather than a durable queue, Bastion provides remote access, and Advisor gives recommendations.

Cost Management and Billing reports spending, supports breakdowns by tags or scopes, and can send budget alerts. Resource Graph queries resource properties, Bastion provides remote access, and Service Health reports platform issues.

Azure Policy with a deny effect blocks resource deployments that do not meet the rule, such as a missing owner tag. Advisor makes recommendations without blocking, manual tags are not enforced, and Service Health reports platform status.

Azure RBAC with a suitable role scoped to the resource group grants exactly the required permissions at the right scope. Shared passwords and broad ownership give more access than needed, and billing access is unrelated.

ARM templates and Bicep describe resources declaratively, which makes deployments repeatable across subscriptions. Manual portal steps, emailed instructions and spreadsheets are not declarative or repeatable.

Azure RBAC grants scoped permissions, and Microsoft Entra ID manages identities and sign-in for Azure. Shared accounts, disabled authentication and default Owner roles weaken access control.

Azure Advisor analyses resource configuration and usage and recommends improvements across reliability, security, performance, operational excellence and cost. The other services provide storage, traffic distribution and a client tool.

A delete lock prevents deletion of the locked resource or group until an authorized user removes the lock. Tags only label resources, budget alerts notify about cost, and diagnostic settings collect logs.

Resource groups hold resources that share a lifecycle and can be managed, deployed or deleted together. Management groups organize subscriptions, a subscription per resource is impractical, and regions are geographic locations.

Virtual Machine Contributor allows managing virtual machines without granting permission to manage access. Owner and User Access Administrator can change role assignments, and Reader cannot create virtual machines.

The Activity Log records control-plane operations on resources, such as creation and deletion, with the caller and time. Advisor, the Pricing Calculator and the Marketplace do not record administrative activity.

Consumption-based billing turns large upfront hardware purchases into operating costs that follow usage. Capital expenditure and on-premises licensing describe the older model, and hybrid ownership still retains physical data centres.

Elasticity lets resources scale up and down automatically or quickly to match demand. Fixed capacity cannot follow the peak, single tenancy describes dedicated hardware, and manual provisioning is slow.

Availability zones are physically separate datacentres within a region that protect against datacentre-level failures. Reserved instances are pricing commitments, Azure Policy enforces rules, and Cost Management tracks spending.

Regions are geographic areas where Azure resources are deployed, so choosing a region controls where data is stored. Resource groups, management groups and service principals organize or identify resources and do not set geography.

A hybrid cloud combines on-premises infrastructure with public cloud services connected together. A public-only model runs everything in the cloud, a community cloud is shared by an industry group, and a disconnected private cloud has no link to Azure.

PaaS provides a managed platform where the provider handles the operating system, patching and underlying infrastructure while the customer deploys applications. IaaS leaves OS management to the customer, and on-premises or colocation keep all management in-house.

Exchange Online and Dynamics 365 are complete applications that the provider runs and maintains, which is the SaaS model. Azure SQL Database is a platform service, virtual machines are infrastructure, and self-managed Kubernetes nodes leave the customer responsible for management.

Management groups organize subscriptions into a hierarchy where policies and role assignments are inherited. Tags label resources, network security groups filter traffic, and Bastion provides remote access.

Horizontal scaling adds more instances of a component to share the load. Vertical scaling increases the size of one instance, while single-threading and disk changes do not add capacity in this way.

Redundancy removes single points of failure so that one component can fail without stopping the service. A single large server, removed monitoring and disabled backups each increase the risk of an outage.