Public Cloud Provider Ownership in Shared Responsibility Model

CDL By islever Editorial Last updated

Cloud Computing Models and Shared Responsibility Trust and security in the cloud

Short answer

AD Hardware maintenance and Hardware capacity management are functions owned by the public cloud provider under the shared responsibility model.

Question

An organization decides to migrate their on-premises environment to the cloud. They need to determine which resource components still need to be assigned
ownership.
Which two functions does a public cloud provider own? (Choose two.)
  1. Hardware maintenance Correct Answer
  2. Infrastructure architecture
  3. Infrastructure deployment automation
  4. Hardware capacity management Correct Answer
  5. Fixing application security issues

Key Takeaways

The main trap is selecting infrastructure-related tasks that customers actually perform (like automation or architecture) instead of physical/hardware-level management which the provider retains.

Identify which two functions a public cloud provider owns from options including hardware maintenance and capacity management. Understand the boundary between 'of the cloud' and 'in the cloud' responsibilities.

Common mistake: Choosing C (Infrastructure deployment automation) because it sounds like 'infrastructure,' but this is a customer-side DevOps task, whereas the provider owns the underlying hardware capacity (D) and maintenance (A).

Expert Analysis

The Shared Responsibility Model is the core concept here. In public cloud infrastructure (IaaS), the provider owns and manages everything 'of' the cloud, while the customer owns everything 'in' the cloud.

A. Hardware maintenance: Correct. The provider manages physical servers, storage devices, and networking gear. Customers do not touch hardware.

D. Hardware capacity management: Correct. The provider handles scaling, provisioning, and managing the underlying resource pool to ensure availability. This is part of the infrastructure layer owned by the CSP.

Why B and C are wrong: These are customer responsibilities. Infrastructure architecture (designing VPCs, subnets) and deployment automation (Terraform scripts, CI/CD pipelines) are 'in the cloud' tasks performed by the customer.

Why E is wrong: Fixing application security issues is a customer responsibility ('security in the cloud'). While the provider secures the underlying OS/hypervisor, the application code, data, and access controls are the customer's duty.

The most attractive trap is confusing 'Infrastructure Deployment Automation' (C) with 'Hardware Capacity Management' (D). Both involve managing resources, but C is a software/process task done by the customer, while D is a physical/logical capacity task done by the provider.

Official Reference

https://cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/security/shared-responsibility-shared-fate

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

When faced with Shared Responsibility questions, mentally split the stack into Physical/Data Center (Provider) vs. Application/Data (Customer). Any option involving physical components, power, cooling, or raw hardware scaling belongs to the provider. Any option involving configuration, code, or logical network design belongs to the customer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the cloud provider manage virtual machine scaling?

No, VM scaling configuration (Auto Scaling groups) is a customer responsibility. However, the provider manages the underlying host capacity that supports those VMs.

Who fixes vulnerabilities in the guest OS?

In IaaS, the customer is responsible for patching and securing the guest OS. The provider patches the hypervisor and physical hardware.

More CDL FAQ →

Community Votes

A
50%
D
48%
B
2%

50% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 25 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 25

  1. cookieMr 👍 8
    The Cloud Provider is responsible for the security "of the cloud" infrastructure. This includes the underlying hardware, data centers, networking, and the core services. It takes care of managing and protecting these foundational components to ensure the availability, reliability, and security of the cloud infrastructure. The customer is responsible for the security "in the cloud" or the security of their applications and data running on cloud services.
  2. KC_go_reply 👍 4
    Infrastructure would mean the cloud provider would manage your VMs etc, so I disagree
  3. Kamlakar 👍 4
    AD are correct!
  4. ucsdmiami2020 👍 3
    Per Google docs, at a minimum when considering IaaS, the cloud provider is responsible for Hardware, Boot, Hardened Kernel and IPS, Storage and etc. https://cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/security/shared-responsibility-shared-fate
  5. Waffle0906 👍 2
    The Cloud Provider takes care of infrastructure. This includes hardware, data centers, networking, and the core services.
Show 20 more comments
  1. Ritesh_Sahu 👍 2
    A & D is the right answer
  2. Swollenbadger 👍 2
    Giveaway = "hardware"
  3. chai_gpt 👍 2
    AD is correct
  4. Surek 👍 2
    Answer is AD
  5. dwibo1 👍 1
    I'd say A & D. CSP is generally responsible for the maintenance of all its hardware. Whereas customer is responsible for how the application-side is run in those hardware.
  6. azrap 👍 1
    Hardware Maintenance and Infrastructure Deployment A and C. Hardware capacity is cover under Infrastructure Devployment
  7. Pou1ze 👍 1
    Hardware is closely related to Cloud provider (Share Responsability Model)
  8. Sp4nner 👍 1
    Keyword "HARDWARE". no client will touch hardware hence answers are A&D
  9. gireeshbengeri 👍 1
    Hardware maintainance is from cloud provider even security handling
  10. juangt 👍 1
    Cloud provider takes care of HW maintenance and Capacity management
  11. KanikaA 👍 1
    Hardware maintenance & capacity mgmt is managed by cloud provider.
  12. lzuccolo 👍 1
    Mantenimiento del hardware y capacidad/ampliacion del mismo
  13. star2anand 👍 1
    A. Hardware Maintenance and D. Hardware capacity management
  14. Jackey0117 👍 1
    A. Hardware maintenance B. Infrastructure architecture
  15. ealcober 👍 1
    theres no hardware keyword. bad pointed.
  16. xxdrei 👍 1
    Key Word: "Hardware" By: Arjay
  17. SrR97 👍 1
    A Y D son correctas
  18. zambonini 👍 1
    Solution A and D
  19. prachisri 👍 1
    CD answer
  20. AntimSapien 👍 1
    A and D

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