AZ-204 Practice Test 47 — 15 Questions

Question 1

You are deploying a container group to Azure Container Instances that runs a stateful application. The application writes data to the /data directory. You need to ensure that the data is preserved if the container restarts. Which volume mount type should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Files share. Azure Files shares provide persistent, shared storage that can be mounted into Azure Container Instances (ACI) using the SMB 3.0 protocol. This ensures that data written to the /data directory survives container restarts because the share exists independently of the container lifecycle. EmptyDir volumes are ephemeral and tied to the pod's lifetime, making them unsuitable for stateful applications that require data persistence across restarts.

Answer

EmptyDir

Answer

Secret

Answer

ConfigMap

Question 2

You are developing a solution that needs to run a background task every 10 minutes to clean up temporary files in Azure Blob Storage. You want to use Azure Functions with the Consumption Plan to minimize cost. Which trigger type should you use?

Accepted Answer

TimerTrigger. B is correct because TimerTrigger is designed for scheduled execution of background tasks at fixed intervals, such as every 10 minutes. It uses a cron expression to define the schedule and runs on the Consumption Plan, which scales to zero when idle, minimizing cost. This makes it the ideal choice for periodic cleanup of temporary files in Azure Blob Storage.

Answer

HTTPTrigger

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BlobTrigger

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ServiceBusTrigger

Question 3

You are deploying a sensitive configuration to Azure Container Instances. The configuration must be encrypted at rest and not visible in the container logs. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Key Vault with managed identity and secret volumes. Azure Key Vault with managed identity and secret volumes is the correct choice because it allows you to mount secrets as files into the container without exposing them in environment variables or logs. The secrets are encrypted at rest in Key Vault and are only accessible via a managed identity assigned to the container group, ensuring the configuration remains secure and invisible in container logs.

Answer

Environment variables in the container group

Answer

Azure Files volume mounted into the container

Answer

ConfigMap in a Kubernetes cluster

Question 4

A long-running claims processing function must process thousands of independent files. The developer wants status tracking, checkpoints, and replay-safe orchestration. Which Azure Functions capability should be used?

Accepted Answer

Durable Functions orchestrator. Durable Functions orchestrator is correct because it provides built-in support for status tracking, checkpoints (via event sourcing), and replay-safe orchestration, which are essential for a long-running claims processing function that must handle thousands of independent files reliably. The orchestrator function manages state and execution flow, automatically saving progress and allowing replay from checkpoints in case of failures, ensuring exactly-once processing semantics.

Answer

Timer trigger only

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Azure Policy remediation

Answer

Blob lifecycle management

Question 5

A web app for a webhook processor needs separate staging and production environments. The team must warm up the new version before swapping traffic. Which App Service feature should be used?

Accepted Answer

Deployment slots. Deployment slots are the correct feature because they enable separate staging and production environments within the same App Service plan, allowing you to warm up the new version in a staging slot before performing a zero-downtime swap with the production slot. This directly supports the requirement for traffic swapping after warm-up, which is a core capability of slot-swapping in Azure App Service.

Answer

Backup and restore

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App Service access restrictions

Answer

Always On only

Question 6

You are implementing a Durable Functions orchestration that calls an activity function which may fail transiently. You want to retry the activity up to 3 times with a 5-second delay and exponential backoff. Which code snippet should you use?

Accepted Answer

await context.CallActivityWithRetryAsync("Activity", new RetryOptions(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), 3), input);. Option B is correct because the Durable Functions SDK provides the `CallActivityWithRetryAsync` method, which accepts a `RetryOptions` object to configure retry count and delay. The `RetryOptions` constructor takes `TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5)` as the first retry interval and `3` as the maximum number of attempts, including the initial call. This built-in method handles exponential backoff automatically, eliminating the need for manual retry logic.

Answer

await context.CallActivityAsync("Activity", input);

Answer

await context.CallActivityAsync("Activity", input, new RetryOptions(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), 3));

Answer

Use a durable timer and a loop to retry manually.

Question 7

You deploy a container to Azure Container Instances. The container needs to persist data when it restarts. You mount an Azure Files share to a directory inside the container. Which volume type is this?

Accepted Answer

azureFile. Option C is correct because Azure Container Instances supports mounting an Azure Files share as a volume to persist data across container restarts. The `azureFile` volume type references a pre-created Azure storage account and file share, which is mounted into the container's filesystem using SMB 3.0 protocol. This ensures data survives container crashes or restarts, as it is stored externally in Azure Files.

Answer

emptyDir

Answer

gitRepo

Answer

secret

Question 8

An App Service application uses a staging deployment slot connected to a staging database and a production slot connected to a production database. Both use an app setting called 'DbConnectionString'. After a slot swap, the production slot starts using the staging database connection string. What configuration change prevents this?

Accepted Answer

Mark the 'DbConnectionString' app setting as a deployment slot setting (sticky) so it remains bound to its slot across all swaps. Option A is correct because marking the 'DbConnectionString' app setting as a deployment slot setting (also called a sticky setting) ensures that the setting remains bound to its slot during a swap. When a slot swap occurs, Azure App Service automatically moves non-sticky app settings and connection strings to the target slot, but sticky settings are excluded from the swap and stay with their original slot. This prevents the production slot from accidentally picking up the staging database connection string after the swap.

Answer

Store the connection string in Azure Key Vault and reference it via a Key Vault reference in both slots

Answer

Use different app setting names for each slot (e.g., 'StagingDbConnectionString' and 'ProductionDbConnectionString') and swap code manually

Answer

Disable slot swaps and use a CI/CD pipeline to deploy directly to production instead

Question 9

You have an Azure App Service web app that experiences fluctuating traffic. During peak hours, the CPU usage reaches 90% and response times increase. You want to automatically scale out the number of instances when CPU usage exceeds 75% and scale in when it drops below 25%. The scaling should be gradual to avoid thrashing. Which configuration should you use?

Accepted Answer

Configure autoscale rules on the App Service plan scale-out setting, using CPU percentage as the metric with appropriate thresholds and cool-down periods.. Option B is correct because Azure App Service autoscale rules allow you to scale out (increase instance count) when CPU percentage exceeds 75% and scale in (decrease instance count) when it drops below 25%, with configurable cool-down periods (e.g., 5–10 minutes) to prevent thrashing. This directly addresses the fluctuating traffic pattern and gradual scaling requirement using the App Service plan's scale-out blade.

Answer

Enable 'Always On' and configure manual scale based on scheduled times.

Answer

Use Azure Functions with the Consumption Plan to handle the web app logic.

Answer

Deploy the web app to Azure Container Instances and use the scale-on-CPU feature.

Question 10

Images are uploaded to a high-volume Blob Storage account. An Azure Function with a Blob Storage trigger processes each new image. The team has observed processing delays of up to 10 minutes on accounts with large numbers of containers and blobs. They need processing to start within seconds of upload. What should the developer change?

Accepted Answer

Replace the Blob Storage trigger with an Event Grid trigger and create a Blob Created event subscription that targets the Function's endpoint. Option A is correct because Event Grid provides near-real-time event delivery (typically under 1 second) for Blob Created events, eliminating the polling latency inherent in the Blob Storage trigger. The Blob Storage trigger polls Azure Storage logs for new blobs, which can cause delays of up to 10 minutes in high-volume accounts with many containers and blobs. By switching to an Event Grid trigger, the function is invoked directly via HTTP webhook as soon as the blob is created, meeting the requirement for processing to start within seconds.

Answer

Switch to a Timer trigger that runs every 30 seconds and lists newly created blobs via the SDK

Answer

Use a Queue Storage trigger and write blob metadata to the queue from the upload client

Answer

Move the Function to a Premium plan, which uses a dedicated worker and eliminates Blob trigger polling delays

Question 11

Configuration values that control whether a new checkout experience is enabled must be changeable without redeploying the App Service application. The team uses ASP.NET Core. Which Azure service provides the correct combination of runtime configuration reload and feature flag management?

Accepted Answer

Azure App Configuration with the feature management library enabled for ASP.NET Core. Azure App Configuration with the feature management library for ASP.NET Core provides a centralized, managed service that supports dynamic configuration reload without restarting the application and built-in feature flag management. The feature management library integrates with the .NET Core configuration system, allowing feature flags to be evaluated and toggled at runtime via the `IFeatureManager` interface, with automatic refresh based on a configurable cache expiration. This meets the requirement of changing the checkout experience without redeploying the App Service.

Answer

App Service Application Settings with the flag stored as an environment variable

Answer

An ARM template parameter file stored in the application's repository

Answer

An Azure DevOps pipeline variable referenced during the build stage

Question 12

The internal API team is deploying a containerized .NET API that receives sporadic requests — sometimes none for hours, then bursts of activity. Cost is a priority. The team wants the container to stop running when idle and start automatically when a request arrives, with no server management overhead. Which Azure service is the best fit?

Accepted Answer

Azure Container Apps with scale-to-zero enabled on the HTTP ingress. Azure Container Apps with scale-to-zero enabled on the HTTP ingress is the best fit because it allows the container to scale down to zero replicas when idle, automatically stopping the container to save costs, and scales back up to handle incoming HTTP requests with no server management overhead. This serverless platform abstracts Kubernetes infrastructure, meeting the team's requirement for minimal operational burden and cost efficiency.

Answer

Azure Kubernetes Service with the cluster autoscaler set to a minimum node count of zero

Answer

Azure App Service on a B1 (Basic) plan with Always On disabled

Answer

Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets with scheduled scaling to zero instances overnight

Question 13

Match each Azure service to its primary purpose.

Question 14

You are developing an application that writes logs to Azure Blob Storage. Each log entry is small (less than 1 KB) and you need to store millions of entries per day. You want to minimize storage costs and maximize write throughput. Which blob type should you use?

Accepted Answer

Append blobs.. Append blobs are optimized for append operations, making them ideal for logging scenarios where each log entry is appended to the blob. They provide high throughput for write-heavy, sequential append workloads and are cost-effective because they use the same block blob pricing but avoid the overhead of managing individual blocks for each small entry.

Answer

Block blobs with a high block size.

Answer

Page blobs.

Answer

Block blobs with a low block size.

Question 15

You need to store billions of small log entries (each ~200 bytes) generated from multiple IoT devices. The logs are written in chronological order and are rarely updated. You need to run queries that scan large ranges of data by timestamp each day. You want to maximize write throughput and minimize storage costs. Which Azure Storage solution should you choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure Table Storage with a partition key combining device ID and date, and row key as timestamp.. Azure Table Storage is ideal for this scenario because it supports high-volume, low-cost storage of structured log data with efficient range queries. By using a partition key of device ID combined with date, you distribute writes across partitions for high throughput, while the row key as timestamp enables fast, server-side range scans over chronological data without the overhead of a separate index.

Answer

Azure Cosmos DB SQL API with a collection partitioned by timestamp.

Answer

Azure Blob Storage with append blobs and a custom index for timestamp queries.

Answer

Azure SQL Database with a clustered columnstore index.