Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation (HCIA–Cloud Computing aligned):
The HCIA–Cloud Computing syllabus clearly defines responsibility boundaries for IaaS. In the IaaS model, the cloud provider delivers basic infrastructure resources, including compute, storage, networking, and virtualization. The user is responsible for managing operating systems, middleware, runtime environments, applications, and data.
Option A is false because virtualization is managed by the cloud provider, not the user. In IaaS, users consume virtualized resources (such as ECS instances) but do not deploy or maintain the underlying hypervisors or virtualization platforms.
Option B is false. Only focusing on applications aligns with the SaaS model, where the provider manages everything else. In IaaS, users must also manage operating systems and system-level configurations.
Option C is also false. Focusing only on applications and data corresponds more closely to PaaS, where the platform handles operating systems and runtime environments.
Option D is the correct description of IaaS responsibilities, because users must manage operating systems (systems) and applications, while the provider manages the infrastructure layer. Therefore, D is not false and is excluded from the answer.
