Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals - (AZ-900) Exam Questions

The discussion clarifies that among the listed support plans, Basic does not allow opening new support tickets. All other options (Developer, Standard, and Professional Direct) enable opening new support requests.

The question specifies that data must be readable from both the primary and secondary locations. Geo-redundant storage (GRS) replicates data to a secondary region but is only readable from the secondary region during a failover. Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) provides read access to the secondary region at all times, fulfilling the requirement. Although the discussion contains some confusion regarding "Read-only geo-redundant storage" the correct terminology is "Read-access geo-redundant storage". The core concept is that read access to the secondary region is required, which is provided by RA-GRS.

The question emphasizes minimizing expenses. While Professional Direct does offer architectural guidance, it's a much more expensive option. The Standard support plan provides access to architectural guidance and design assessments at a significantly lower cost. Therefore, recommending Professional Direct does not meet the goal of keeping expenses to a minimum. The discussion correctly points out that Standard is the more cost-effective option for this specific need.

The scenario requires deploying Azure virtual machines. Virtual machines are a core component of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). IaaS provides you with the basic building blocks of computing infrastructure—virtual servers, storage, networks, and operating systems—over the internet. You manage the operating systems, data, and applications. Software as a Service (SaaS), on the other hand, provides ready-to-use applications over the internet. You don't manage the infrastructure, operating systems, or even the application itself (example: Microsoft 365, Salesforce). Since the task is to deploy virtual machines (meaning setting them up and managing them), SaaS is not the appropriate model. Therefore, the solution does not meet the goal.

The scenario requires deploying Azure virtual machines. Virtual machines are a fundamental part of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). IaaS provides you with direct control over the infrastructure, including the operating systems of the virtual machines. You manage the OS, install software, and configure settings. Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides an environment for developing, testing, and deploying applications without managing the underlying infrastructure. With PaaS, you don't have direct access to the operating system of the servers. You deploy your application code, and the PaaS provider manages the rest. Therefore, PaaS is not suitable for deploying virtual machines, making the solution incorrect.

The scenario requires deploying Azure virtual machines. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the correct cloud deployment model for this task. IaaS provides the fundamental building blocks of IT infrastructure—virtual machines, virtual networks, storage, and operating systems—giving you maximum control and flexibility. You manage the operating systems, data, and applications. Since deploying virtual machines is precisely what IaaS is designed for, the solution meets the goal.

The Standard web tier plan fulfills all the requirements for hosting the web applications: Custom domains: Standard supports custom domains. Storage: Standard offers 50 GB of storage per instance, which is more than the required 10 GB for each web app. Dedicated compute instances: Standard provides dedicated compute instances for each web app. Load balancing: Standard includes built-in load balancing to distribute traffic across instances. Cost minimization: Standard is a cost-effective option compared to higher tiers while meeting all the necessary requirements.

Using multiple Azure Active Directories (Azure AD) to segment Azure resources for different divisions is not the most efficient solution. Increased Administrative Overhead: Managing multiple Azure AD directories significantly increases administrative complexity. Each directory requires separate management, potentially leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies. Single Azure AD is More Suitable: A single Azure AD directory, combined with features like: Azure Resource Groups: Provides a logical way to group related Azure resources. Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Allows for granular control over access to resources within the directory. Azure Management Groups: Enables hierarchical organization of subscriptions and resource groups for easier management. This approach offers better segmentation while maintaining a single, centralized management plane, minimizing administrative effort.

The Standard web tier plan in Azure App Service is the most suitable choice that meets all the specified requirements: Custom Domain: The Standard plan allows you to use custom domains, enabling you to configure the miami.weyland.com URL for the website. Multiple Instances: The Standard plan supports scaling out to multiple instances, fulfilling the requirement of deploying the web app to two instances for redundancy and improved performance. SSL Support: The Standard plan includes SSL support, ensuring secure communication over HTTPS. Storage: The Standard plan offers sufficient storage (50 GB) to accommodate the 12 GB requirement. Cost Minimization: While not the absolute lowest cost option, the Standard plan provides the necessary features and capacity for the given requirements at a reasonable cost. Other Azure App Service plans have limitations that prevent them from meeting all the requirements: Basic: Offers a maximum of 10 GB storage, falling short of the 12 GB requirement. Free/Shared: Limited to 1 GB storage and lack features like custom domains and multiple instances.

The solution does not meet the goal. Pay-as-you-go is the Correct Term: The appropriate expenditure model for migrating virtual machines to Azure on a pay-as-you-go subscription is simply "pay-as-you-go" or "consumption-based." This model aligns directly with the pay-as-you-go subscription, where you pay for the resources consumed hourly or per minute. Elasticity is a Feature, Not an Expenditure Model: "Elastic expenditure model" is not a standard term in Azure. Elasticity refers to the ability to dynamically scale resources up or down based on demand. While pay-as-you-go allows for this flexibility, it's a feature of the service, not a distinct expenditure model.