AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — 100 Questions

Question 1

You need to deploy 20 identical Azure virtual machines that host the same web application. The solution must support automatic scale-out based on CPU usage and should minimize administrative overhead. What should you deploy?

Accepted Answer

A Virtual Machine Scale Set.. A Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS) is the correct choice because it automates the deployment and management of identical VMs, supports autoscaling based on CPU usage metrics, and minimizes administrative overhead by handling VM creation, load balancing, and scaling policies as a single resource. This aligns with the requirement for 20 identical VMs with automatic scale-out based on CPU usage.

Answer

20 individual virtual machines in the same resource group.

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An availability set.

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Azure Container Instances.

Question 2

A virtual machine named VM-App01 hosts a critical internal application. You need to protect the VM so that it can be restored if the VM is deleted or corrupted. The solution must provide centralized backup management and retention policies. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Backup with a Recovery Services vault.. Azure Backup with a Recovery Services vault is the correct choice because it provides centralized backup management, configurable retention policies, and the ability to restore a VM even if it is deleted or corrupted. Unlike snapshots, Azure Backup stores backups in a separate vault, supports application-consistent backups via the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), and offers long-term retention with backup policies.

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Managed disk snapshots only.

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Azure Site Recovery only.

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Boot diagnostics.

Question 3

You need to restore a deleted file from a backed-up Azure virtual machine without restoring the entire VM. Which Azure Backup capability should you use?

Accepted Answer

File Recovery. Azure Backup's File Recovery capability allows you to mount the VM's recovery point as a drive on your local machine, enabling you to browse and restore individual files without restoring the entire VM. This is achieved by creating an iSCSI target from the recovery point snapshot, which you can connect to from a compatible OS. It is the correct choice for granular file-level recovery from a VM backup.

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Cross-region restore

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Azure Site Recovery failover

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Boot diagnostics

Question 4

You deploy several Windows virtual machines and need to install Microsoft Antimalware on each VM without logging on manually. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

A VM extension.. VM extensions are small applications that provide post-deployment configuration and automation tasks on Azure VMs. The Microsoft Antimalware extension can be deployed to multiple VMs at scale via Azure PowerShell, CLI, ARM templates, or policies, enabling silent installation without manual login.

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An NSG application security group.

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A route table.

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A blob lifecycle rule.

Question 5

Your company hosts an internal web app in Azure App Service. Access must be limited to users connecting from the corporate virtual network over private IP addresses only. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

A private endpoint for the web app.. Option C is correct because a private endpoint assigns a private IP address from your virtual network to the web app, making it accessible only over the corporate network via private IPs. This ensures traffic never traverses the public internet, meeting the requirement for private IP-only access.

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An App Service Environment only.

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Access restrictions based on public IP ranges only.

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A public load balancer in front of the web app.

Question 6

You plan to deploy two virtual machines that run the same line-of-business application. The VMs must remain available during planned maintenance of the Azure platform, but autoscaling is not required. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

An availability set.. An availability set ensures that VMs are distributed across multiple fault domains and update domains within an Azure datacenter. This protects against both hardware failures (fault domains) and planned Azure platform maintenance (update domains), as only one update domain is rebooted at a time. Since autoscaling is not required, an availability set is the correct choice for high availability during planned maintenance.

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A Virtual Machine Scale Set.

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Azure Container Apps.

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A private endpoint.

Question 7

You need to redeploy an Azure virtual machine to a new host while keeping the VM configuration and attached disks. Which action should you use in the Azure portal?

Accepted Answer

Redeploy. The Redeploy action moves the VM to a new Azure host node while preserving the VM configuration, attached managed disks, and network resources. This is used to recover from underlying host failures or performance issues without losing the VM's state or data.

Answer

Resize

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Capture

Answer

Reapply

Question 8

You have a virtual machine scale set that must increase the number of instances automatically when average CPU utilization exceeds 75 percent and decrease when utilization drops below 30 percent. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

An Azure Monitor autoscale rule on the scale set. Azure Monitor autoscale rules allow you to define conditions for automatically scaling out (increasing instances) when average CPU utilization exceeds a threshold (e.g., 75%) and scaling in (decreasing instances) when it drops below a lower threshold (e.g., 30%). These rules are applied directly to the virtual machine scale set, enabling dynamic scaling based on performance metrics.

Answer

A boot diagnostics configuration

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An availability set

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A custom script extension

Question 9

You have an application that writes heavily to Azure-managed disks and requires the highest consistent IOPS and lowest latency. Which disk type should you choose?

Accepted Answer

Premium SSD v2. Premium SSD v2 is the correct choice because it is designed for high-performance workloads, offering sub-millisecond latency and the highest consistent IOPS among Azure managed disks. It supports up to 80,000 IOPS per disk and 1,200 MB/s throughput, making it ideal for write-heavy applications that demand low latency and predictable performance.

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Standard HDD

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Standard SSD

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Archive storage

Question 10

You plan to run a web application on Azure virtual machines and need protection against a single datacenter failure within an Azure region. Which deployment option should you use?

Accepted Answer

Availability zones. Availability Zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying your VMs across two or more zones protects against a single datacenter failure because if one zone goes down, the application continues running in the other zone. This meets the requirement for datacenter-level fault tolerance within a single region.

Answer

An availability set only

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A proximity placement group

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A single VM with premium SSD

Question 11

You need to run a scheduled script on an Azure virtual machine every time the VM starts. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

A Custom Script Extension. The Custom Script Extension (CSE) is the correct choice because it allows you to run a script on an Azure VM during startup by configuring it as part of the VM's provisioning or by using a scheduled task triggered at boot. CSE downloads and executes scripts from Azure Storage or GitHub, making it ideal for custom initialization tasks that must run every time the VM starts.

Answer

Boot diagnostics

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Azure Policy

Answer

An availability set

Question 12

A Windows VM fails to start after a configuration change. You need to capture screenshots and serial console output to troubleshoot the boot problem. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Boot diagnostics. Boot diagnostics captures serial console output and screenshots of a VM during boot, which is essential for troubleshooting boot failures after a configuration change. This feature provides logs and visual data from the VM's boot process, accessible via the Azure portal or CLI, without requiring guest OS access.

Answer

Azure Backup

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Just-in-Time VM access

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Autoscale

Question 13

You need to reduce compute cost for a development virtual machine that is used only during business hours on weekdays. Which option provides the most direct built-in cost optimization?

Accepted Answer

Enable auto-shutdown on the VM.. B is correct because enabling auto-shutdown on the VM directly stops the VM during non-business hours (e.g., evenings and weekends), eliminating compute costs (which are billed per second while the VM is running). This is a built-in Azure feature that requires no additional infrastructure or manual intervention, making it the most direct cost-optimization method for a development VM with a predictable usage schedule.

Answer

Place the VM in an availability set.

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Convert the OS disk to premium SSD v2.

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Create a site-to-site VPN.

Question 14

A virtual machine scale set must increase instance count when average CPU exceeds 75 percent and decrease when it stays below 30 percent. What Azure feature should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Autoscale settings. Autoscale settings are the correct feature because they allow you to define scale-out and scale-in rules based on performance metrics like average CPU percentage. In this scenario, you would configure a scale-out rule to increase the instance count when average CPU exceeds 75% and a scale-in rule to decrease it when CPU stays below 30%.

Answer

Availability zones

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Azure Policy

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Update management

Question 15

You need to run a script on VM-App02 immediately after deployment to install a custom monitoring agent. The solution should not require opening additional inbound management ports. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Custom Script Extension. The Custom Script Extension (CSE) is the correct choice because it allows you to run a script on a VM immediately after deployment without opening any inbound management ports. CSE downloads and executes scripts on the VM via the Azure fabric, using the VM's outbound connectivity to Azure storage or GitHub, and does not require any inbound port (like RDP or WinRM) to be open. This meets the requirement of not opening additional inbound management ports while enabling post-deployment configuration.

Answer

Boot diagnostics

Answer

An inbound NSG rule for WinRM

Answer

A proximity placement group

Question 16

You need to run a stateless web workload on Azure virtual machines and automatically increase or decrease instance count based on demand. You also want a single management boundary for the VM instances. Which solution should you deploy?

Accepted Answer

A Virtual Machine Scale Set. A Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS) is the correct solution because it provides an autoscaling group of identical VMs that can automatically increase or decrease instance count based on demand (e.g., CPU or memory metrics). It also offers a single management boundary, allowing you to manage, monitor, and scale all instances as a unified resource rather than individually.

Answer

An availability set with individual VMs

Answer

Azure Backup

Answer

A Recovery Services vault

Question 17

You need to deploy several identical virtual machines and ensure that the failure of a single Azure host does not affect all of them. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

An availability set. An availability set distributes virtual machines across multiple fault domains (physical hosts) and update domains within an Azure datacenter. By placing VMs in an availability set, you ensure that a failure of a single Azure host (fault domain) does not affect all VMs, as each VM is placed on a different physical host. This meets the requirement for isolation from a single host failure.

Answer

A proximity placement group

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A private endpoint

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A custom script extension

Question 18

An Azure virtual machine was moved to a host that is experiencing intermittent issues. You need to move the VM to a different Azure host while keeping the existing managed disks and configuration. Which action should you perform?

Accepted Answer

Redeploy. Redeploying the VM (Option C) is the correct action because it moves the VM to a new Azure host node while preserving the existing managed disks, virtual network, and configuration. The Azure platform automatically selects a healthy host, resolves transient hardware issues, and maintains the VM's identity and associated resources.

Answer

Stop

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Restart

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Capture

Question 19

You need to deploy 25 identical Azure virtual machines for a web application and scale the number of instances automatically based on CPU demand. Which Azure compute feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

A Virtual Machine Scale Set. A Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS) is the correct Azure compute feature because it allows you to deploy and manage a group of identical, load-balanced VMs whose number can automatically increase or decrease in response to CPU demand using autoscale rules. This directly meets the requirement for 25 identical VMs with automatic scaling based on CPU metrics.

Answer

An availability set

Answer

A Recovery Services vault

Answer

Boot diagnostics

Question 20

You need to run a script inside an Azure virtual machine after deployment to install application prerequisites. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

A Custom Script Extension. The Custom Script Extension (CSE) is the correct feature because it allows you to run a script inside an Azure VM after deployment, making it ideal for installing application prerequisites. CSE downloads and executes scripts on the VM, supporting both Windows (via PowerShell) and Linux (via Bash) environments, and can be applied during initial provisioning or to an existing VM.

Answer

Azure Policy

Answer

Boot diagnostics

Answer

A proximity placement group