Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Practice Test (AZ-900)

Azure Files offers fully managed file shares in the cloud that can be accessed using the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol. It allows users to mount cloud-based file shares directly to Windows, macOS, and Linux environments, making it ideal for applications that need shared storage.

Azure Tables is a storage service that provides a NoSQL key-value store for structured, non-relational data. It is designed for storing large amounts of data in a schema-less way and does not support file sharing via the SMB protocol.

Azure Queues is a messaging service for storing large volumes of messages that applications can access asynchronously. It is used to decouple and distribute workloads but does not support file shares or the SMB protocol.

Azure Disks provides persistent block storage for Azure virtual machines, offering managed disks that can be attached to VMs. While it supports VM storage needs, it does not provide file sharing or SMB access.

Selecting the correct size for a virtual machine is critical as it defines the amount of computing resources such as CPU and memory the virtual machine will have. The size determines the performance characteristics of the VM and affects the cost. Specifying the region is also required for VM creation, but this choice primarily affects data sovereignty and latency, not the compute capacity itself. While resource groups and virtual networks are critical components for organizing and providing services to a VM, they do not define its compute power.

Azure Advisor is an intelligent, personalized cloud consultant that helps you follow best practices to optimize your Azure deployments. It analyzes your resource configuration and usage telemetry, then provides recommendations to help improve the efficiency of your Azure resources. Azure Advisor does not directly manage resources, provide real-time security alerts, or guarantee SLAs for your services; its main purpose is to offer guidance that you can act on to optimize your deployments.

Azure Monitor lets you build custom Azure dashboards that display charts or tables based on metrics and log queries. It is not limited to only Azure resources-data can also come from on-premises or other clouds-and it stores data in specialized metrics and logs stores, not exclusively in Azure Storage. Collecting metrics from Azure virtual machines does not require Azure Arc; Azure Arc is used only for non-Azure (hybrid) machines.

Azure Cloud Shell is the correct answer because it provides a browser-based command-line interface accessible directly from the Azure portal. It supports both Bash and PowerShell environments, allowing you to manage Azure resources without installing anything locally.

Azure CLI installed locally requires installation on your local machine and does not meet the requirement of not installing software.

Azure PowerShell module installed locally also requires local installation.

Azure Portal offers a graphical interface, not a command-line interface that supports both Bash and PowerShell.

AzCopy is the most suitable tool for this scenario as it supports command-line scripting and can resume interrupted file transfers, making it ideal for automated, large-scale data transfers to Azure. Azure Storage Explorer is a graphical tool that can assist in file transfers, but it does not natively support automation or resuming interrupted transfers. Azure File Sync synchronizes files but is primarily intended for synchronizing file servers to Azure Files, not for direct transfers to Blob Storage.

Management Groups in Azure allow you to organize subscriptions into a hierarchy for unified policy and access management. They are the highest level in the Azure resource hierarchy and are ideal for scenarios requiring centralized control over multiple subscriptions.

Resource Groups are used to organize resources within a single subscription.

Resource Locks are used to protect resources from accidental deletion or modification but do not provide hierarchical organization.

Azure Regions refer to geographic locations hosting Azure datacenters and are not used for management hierarchy.

Implementing security controls at multiple levels ensures that if one layer of defense is compromised, other layers continue to secure the system. This layered approach, known as the defense-in-depth model, helps protect against a variety of threats and reduces the likelihood of a successful attack. Relying on a single security layer, simplifying management at the expense of security, or minimizing security measures can leave vulnerabilities exposed.

They should use tags to categorize Azure resources. Tags are name-value pairs that can be applied to resources, resource groups, and subscriptions. By tagging resources with relevant information like department and project, the company can track costs, generate detailed billing reports, and manage resources more effectively.

Azure datacenters are physical facilities that host the server hardware, networking equipment, power, and cooling systems required to run Azure services. They are the actual buildings where the physical infrastructure resides.

Each datacenter is part of an Azure region, which is a geographical grouping of multiple datacenters.

Availability zones are unique physical locations within a region designed for high availability, but they are not the datacenters themselves.

Resource groups are logical containers for organizing Azure resources and do not represent physical facilities.

You should apply tags to resources. Tags are name-value pairs that provide extra information about resources and resource groups. By applying tags, you can categorize resources in ways that make sense for cost tracking, such as by project, department, or environment. This enables detailed cost analysis and reporting based on these custom categories.

Organizing resources into resource groups helps manage resources as a unit but does not provide the flexibility needed for detailed cost tracking across different teams and projects.

Azure Policy enforces organizational standards and compliance but does not assist in assigning custom metadata for cost analysis.

Resource locks prevent accidental deletion or modification of resources but do not help in tracking costs.

A hybrid cloud model integrates both on-premises infrastructure and public cloud services, allowing the company to keep sensitive data in-house while accessing scalable resources from the cloud provider. This model meets the requirements of maintaining compliance with regulations and handling variable computing demands. The public cloud model would not keep data in-house, and the private cloud model wouldn't leverage external cloud resources.

Management groups sit one level above subscriptions. They let administrators apply role-based access control, Azure Policy, and other governance settings that automatically inherit to every subscription contained in the group, giving consistent control at scale. They do not store resources directly-that is done in resource groups inside each subscription. They are also not a billing container and have no influence on where resources are physically deployed.

Cloud environments provide access to centralized tools that can automate administrative tasks such as updates, scaling, and monitoring. This automation reduces manual effort and simplifies management. Unlike on-premises setups, the cloud offers built-in services that streamline these processes. The option of guaranteed peak performance without configuration is incorrect because performance still requires proper management and optimization. Complete control over physical hardware is less flexible in the cloud since the hardware is managed by the cloud provider. Reduced need for backup solutions is not accurate because, despite cloud redundancy, having backup strategies is still essential for data protection.

Azure Service Health is designed to provide interactive and detailed guidance during Azure health events that are personalized to the user's cloud environments and resources, such as service outages or planned maintenance. Azure Monitor, while offering comprehensive monitoring capabilities, focuses on the performance metrics and logs for the services rather than providing the tailored interactive guidance related to service health events. Azure Activity Log primarily records operations that occur in Azure Management, such as changes in services, which does not include interactive guidance during service disruptions. Azure Resource Health checks the health of individual resources, but it doesn't provide the same interactive guidance and detailed notifications as Azure Service Health does for broader service health events.