Creating a VM in Azure Portal - Practice Exercises

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding VM Size Selection in Azure Portal

You want to create a virtual machine (VM) in Azure Portal for a web application that requires moderate CPU and memory resources. Which VM size category should you select to balance cost and performance?

A General purpose VM sizes (e.g., B-series, D-series)

B Compute optimized VM sizes (e.g., F-series)

C Memory optimized VM sizes (e.g., E-series)

D Storage optimized VM sizes (e.g., L-series)

💡 Hint

Think about a VM that offers a balanced mix of CPU and memory for typical workloads.

General purpose VM sizes provide a balanced CPU-to-memory ratio suitable for most applications, including web servers. Compute optimized are better for CPU-heavy tasks, memory optimized for large memory needs, and storage optimized for heavy disk I/O.

❓ Configuration

intermediate

Choosing the Correct OS Disk Type for a VM

When creating a VM in Azure Portal, you must select an OS disk type. Which option provides the best balance between cost and performance for a general workload?

A Standard SSD

B Standard HDD

C Premium SSD

D Ultra Disk

💡 Hint

Consider a disk type that improves performance over HDD but is more affordable than premium options.

Standard SSD offers better performance than Standard HDD at a moderate cost, making it suitable for general workloads. Premium SSD and Ultra Disk provide higher performance but at higher cost, while Standard HDD is the lowest cost but slower.

❓ Architecture

advanced

Designing a Secure VM Network in Azure Portal

You are creating a VM in Azure Portal that will host a sensitive application. Which network configuration should you apply to maximize security?

A Place the VM in a public subnet with a public IP address and open all inbound ports.

B Place the VM in a private subnet with no NSG and allow all outbound traffic.

C Assign a public IP to the VM and disable the firewall on the VM.

D Place the VM in a private subnet without a public IP and use a Network Security Group (NSG) to restrict inbound traffic.

💡 Hint

Think about isolating the VM from the internet and controlling traffic with rules.

Placing the VM in a private subnet without a public IP prevents direct internet access. Using an NSG allows you to control inbound traffic tightly. Other options expose the VM unnecessarily or lack traffic control.

❓ service_behavior

advanced

Effect of VM Availability Set on Uptime

You create two identical VMs in Azure Portal and place them in the same Availability Set. What is the expected effect on the VMs' uptime?

A Both VMs will be updated and rebooted simultaneously during maintenance.

B The VMs will be distributed across fault and update domains to reduce downtime during maintenance.

C The Availability Set guarantees 100% uptime with no reboots.

D The VMs will share the same physical server to improve performance.

💡 Hint

Consider how Azure manages maintenance to avoid simultaneous downtime.

An Availability Set distributes VMs across fault and update domains, so not all VMs are affected by hardware failures or maintenance at the same time, improving uptime. It does not guarantee 100% uptime or place VMs on the same server.

❓ security

expert

Identifying the Cause of VM Access Failure

You created a VM in Azure Portal with a public IP and configured SSH access. However, you cannot connect to the VM via SSH from your local machine. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

A The VM is placed in an Availability Set.

B The VM's OS disk type is Standard HDD instead of Premium SSD.

C The Network Security Group (NSG) attached to the VM's subnet does not allow inbound port 22.

D The VM size selected does not support SSH connections.

💡 Hint

Check the firewall rules controlling network traffic to the VM.

If the NSG does not allow inbound traffic on port 22, SSH connections will be blocked. Disk type and VM size do not affect SSH access. Availability Sets do not block network access.