Describe cloud concepts
Cloud Models and Use Cases
CoreRecognize public, private, and hybrid clouds from ownership, access, and integration needs.
Aligned to the AZ-900 skills measured as of July 20, 2026; product behavior verified August 23, 2026.
Why this matters
Cloud-model questions are decided by who the environment serves and whether public and private environments must work together—not by slogans about security or location.
Must Know
- A public cloud is operated by a cloud provider that supplies services to multiple customers over provider-owned infrastructure.
- A private cloud is dedicated to one organization. It may be located on-premises or hosted by another provider.
- A hybrid cloud connects private and public cloud environments so workloads and data can operate across both.
- Public cloud commonly fits rapid scale and provider-operated capacity; private cloud fits a dedicated organizational environment; hybrid fits integration or a staged transition between them.
- Cloud model describes deployment and ownership relationships. It is not a security rating.
Compare and Distinguish
- Public vs private: provider-shared capacity for many customers versus an environment dedicated to one organization.
- Private vs on-premises: a private cloud can be hosted; on-premises describes location and ownership of local infrastructure.
- Hybrid vs multicloud: hybrid connects private and public environments; using two public providers alone is multicloud, not necessarily hybrid.
- Public exposure vs public cloud: a public-cloud resource can still require authentication and private networking.
Scenario examples
- A startup chooses public cloud to obtain elastic capacity without first building a datacenter.
- A regulated organization uses a dedicated private environment for a workload whose stated requirement is organizational exclusivity.
- A manufacturer keeps a local system while connecting it to Azure services during a multi-stage migration, creating a hybrid model.
Exam traps
- Public cloud does not make customer data public.
- Private cloud does not always mean on-premises.
- Two Azure regions are not a hybrid cloud; hybrid requires private and public environments.
Key takeaways
- Classify models by ownership and integration.
- Choose hybrid only when both private and public environments are part of the requirement.
- Evaluate security controls independently from the cloud-model label.
Ready for the quiz?
- What makes a private cloud private?
- When does a scenario require hybrid cloud?
- Why is public cloud not a security classification?
Related objectives
- D1.1.S3 — Define cloud models, including public, private, and hybrid
- D1.1.S4 — Identify appropriate use cases for each cloud model