CPU quota question

[samabc]

You have an Azure subscription that has the following vCPU quotas.
Quota Location Usage
Standard Av2 Family vCPUs North Central US 0 of 15
Standard DSv3 Family vCPUs North Central US 0 of 15
Standard F Family vCPUs South Central US 0 of 15
Total Regional vCPUs North Central US 0 of 15

You plan to create the virtual machines listed below in the order they are listed.
Name Size vCPUs
VM4 A2m_v2 2
VM5 D2s_v3 2
VM6 A8_v2 8

The deployed virtual machines are shown in the table below.
Name Size vCPUs Location Status
VM1 A4_v2 4 North Central US Running
VM2 D8s_v3 8 North Central US Stopped (Deallocated)
VM3 F2s_v2 2 South Central US Running

For each of the following items, choose Yes if the statement is true or choose No if the statement is false. Take note that each correct item is worth one point.

Questions Yes No
You can create VM4 in North Central US Region.

You can create VM5 in North Central US Region.

You can create VM6 in North Central US Region.

After reading this question many times I continue to not understand how to put the pieces together.
I pasted it into Perplexity.ai and Chat GPT. They gave answers different from each other, and both are different than the stated correct answers.
I would love to know what this question is asking and how to go about solving it.
First table of the question says usage is zero of 15, but last table shows “deployed” machines. How can you have “deployed” machines and still be using zero of the quota? What are these “deployed” machines and why are they different from the planned machines?

[Irene-TutorialsDojo]

Hello samabc,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback. This is a great question, and we completely understand how the scenario can feel confusing at first glance. The key detail is that the first table is describing the quota definition (the maximum limits available to the subscription in that region), while the later table is showing the deployed VMs that must be factored into quota usage when evaluating whether new VMs can be created. In other words, “0 of 15” in the quota table does not mean there are no VMs; it simply indicates that the subscription is allowed up to 15 vCPUs in that family and region. The subsequent step in the question then introduces existing VMs, and that’s where the real quota consumption must be calculated.

Accordingly, Azure enforces quotas at two levels: total regional vCPUs and VM size family vCPUs. Importantly, both running and deallocated VMs in a region still count against quota, which is why VM2 in a “Stopped (Deallocated)” state is still considered in use. In this case, VM1 (4 vCPUs) plus VM2 (8 vCPUs) equals 12 already consumed in North Central US, leaving just 3 vCPUs available out of the 15 quota.

So, the “deployed” machines represent the current consumption, and the “planned” machines (VM4, VM5, VM6) are the new requests being tested against the remaining quota. The exercise is really about whether you can calculate which planned VMs can fit into the available quota once existing usage is taken into account. This distinction between quota definition and quota consumption is the core of what the question is asking.

If you have further questions or need additional clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best,

Irene @ Tutorials Dojo

[samabc]

Thank you Irene, your explanation is helpful.

> “0 of 15” in the quota table does not mean there are no VMs; it simply
indicates that the subscription is allowed up to 15 vCPUs in that family
and region.

I do not understand why care is taken to give the usage – which is incorrect. What does “0 of 15” actually mean? If the quota is 15, should the question not state “15”?

> and that’s where the real quota consumption must be
calculated.

So if the “real” consumption is given in the last table, what is “0 of 15” This is a fair question.

[Irene-TutorialsDojo]

Hello Samabc,

Thank you for your insightful question. I understand the confusion regarding the “0 of 15” notation in the vCPU quota table.

The “0 of 15” indicates that, within the Azure subscription, the maximum allowed vCPUs for that specific VM family in the given region is 15. This figure represents the quota limit, not the actual usage. The “0” signifies that, at the time of reference, no vCPUs from that family have been allocated yet.

However, the actual vCPU usage is determined by the VMs that are currently deployed, regardless of their state (running or deallocated). For instance, even if a VM is stopped (deallocated), it still counts against the quota because it has previously consumed vCPUs.

In the scenario, the deployed VMs in the North Central US region are:

• VM1: 4 vCPUs

• VM2: 8 vCPUs (stopped but still counts)

• VM3: 2 vCPUs (in South Central US, not affecting North Central US quota)

This totals 12 vCPUs consumed in the North Central US region, leaving 3 vCPUs available out of the 15 quota.

Therefore, while the “0 of 15” indicates the maximum quota, the actual usage is derived from the deployed VMs, which in this case is 12 vCPUs.

I hope this clarifies the distinction between quota limits and actual usage. If you have further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to ask.

If you have further questions or need additional clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best,

Irene @ Tutorials Dojo

[nope1random]

Hello Irene,

After taking VM1 and VM2 into account, that indeed means that 4+8=12 CPUs have been allocated
Since VM4, VM5 and VM6 would be created in order, that would lead to the following
VM4 is allocated -> total jumps to 12+2=14 (out of 15 max)
Wouldn’t that make make the creation of VM5 fail, because it would lead to 14+2=16 (out of 15 max) ?
Just trying to clarify if the question is taking that order into account or not.

[Irene-TutorialsDojo]

Hello nope1random,

Thank you for your detailed follow-up, and you raise a valid point. After reviewing the scenario again alongside the official Microsoft documentation, your calculation is correct. If we account for both VM1 (4 vCPUs) and VM2 (8 vCPUs) as consuming quota—since Microsoft states that “quota is calculated based on the total number of cores in use both allocated and deallocated”—then the current usage in North Central US is indeed 12 vCPUs, leaving only 3 vCPUs available.

Following the sequential creation order, VM4 would succeed (bringing the total to 14), but VM5 would then fail because it would push the total to 16, exceeding the 15 vCPU limit. We appreciate you and the other community members for bringing this to our attention, as it has helped us identify an inconsistency in both the question data and the provided answers. We will be reviewing and updating this question to ensure accuracy and alignment.

Thank you for your patience and for helping us improve the quality of our practice exams.

Best regards,

Irene @ Tutorials Dojo

[N Pateson V]

Hello Admins,

Just following up on this. Landed on same issues with ChatGPT and Gemini giving different results and Tutorials Dojo answers confusing me all the more (making a 3rd varied answer). Further lookup brought me to this chat. If indeed the error was acknowledged then I wonder why two months later the update still hasn’t been done. This can be misleading if wrong answers are given as correct ones and not rectified. Please look into this ASAP and correct all known issues. While I can see the effort of the authors doing a great job with the preps, falling on an instance like this might cause one to wonder if there’s more issues that have not been fixed, and especially given that the issue is well known and the fix is super simple, there’s absolutely no reason why the wrong version should still be sitting as a prep resource for individuals looking to perfect their skills.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

• This reply was modified 4 months ago by  N Pateson V.

[Suryaday Nath]

The answer explanation contradicts itself that’s why it’s still confusing.

VM2 (8 VCPUs) clearly says that it’s “deallocated”.

“””Deallocating an Azure Virtual Machine (VM) powers it down and releases the underlying physical hardware, effectively stopping compute charges.
Deallocating an Azure Virtual Machine (VM) powers it down and releases the underlying physical hardware, effectively stopping compute charges.”””

So now, once VM4 is created (2 VCPUs) – total comes up to 6 out of 15 used (because VM1 with 4 VCPUs is running).

Now next in line is VM5 to be created because the questions clearly mentions the order. VM5 needs 2 VCPUs so it becomes 8 out of 15 so it should be deployed. Then VM6 needs 8 VCPUs and there’s no quota so it should not be created.

What am I getting wrong here?

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 6 days ago by  Suryaday Nath.