AZ-204 Develop Azure compute solutions Practice Test 12 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Your company runs a batch processing job on Azure Batch. The job processes large datasets and requires access to Azure Storage. You need to ensure that the compute nodes can securely access the storage account without exposing credentials. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Managed identity for the Batch pool. Option C is correct because managed identities for Azure resources allow compute nodes to authenticate to Azure Storage without storing credentials. Option A is wrong because storage account keys are shared secrets. Option B is wrong because SAS tokens can be exposed. Option D is wrong because Azure AD service principals require managing credentials.

Answer

Azure AD service principal

Answer

Storage account access keys

Answer

Shared access signatures (SAS)

Question 2

You are developing an Azure Functions app that processes large files from Azure Blob Storage. When a file is uploaded, the function triggers and reads the entire file into memory, causing high memory usage. You need to optimize the function to handle large files efficiently. Which approach should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Stream the blob content directly to the processing logic. Option A is correct because streaming the blob content directly to the processing logic avoids loading the entire file into memory at once. The Azure Blob Storage SDK supports reading blob content as a stream (e.g., using `BlobClient.OpenReadAsync()`), which allows the function to process data in chunks, significantly reducing memory pressure for large files.

Answer

Use a byte array to read the blob in chunks

Answer

Read the blob content into a temporary file on disk

Answer

Increase the memory allocation of the function app

Question 3

You deploy a containerized application to Azure Container Instances (ACI). The application needs to store configuration settings that might change at runtime. You need to update the configuration without redeploying the container. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Use environment variables in the container group. Environment variables in Azure Container Instances (ACI) can be set at container group creation or updated by redeploying the container group with new values. They are accessible at runtime without modifying the container image, allowing configuration changes without a full redeploy. This is the recommended approach for dynamic configuration in ACI because environment variables are lightweight, secure, and natively supported by the container runtime.

Answer

Mount an Azure Files share and update the configuration file

Answer

Use Application Settings in the container

Answer

Modify the container image to include new configuration

Question 4

Your company has a multi-tier application running on Azure Virtual Machines. The application experiences high CPU usage during peak hours. You need to implement autoscaling for the virtual machine scale set based on CPU usage. The scaling should be aggressive when CPU exceeds 80% and conservative when CPU drops below 30%. Which scaling rule configuration should you use?

Accepted Answer

Scale out when CPU > 80%, scale in when CPU < 30%. Option D is correct because the question explicitly requires aggressive scaling when CPU exceeds 80% and conservative scaling when CPU drops below 30%. The scale-out threshold of 80% triggers rapid addition of instances to handle high load, while the scale-in threshold of 30% ensures instances are removed only when utilization is consistently low, preventing premature scale-in and thrashing. This matches the exact thresholds specified in the requirement.

Answer

Scale out when CPU > 50%, scale in when CPU < 20%

Answer

Scale out when CPU > 90%, scale in when CPU < 10%

Answer

Scale out when CPU > 70%, scale in when CPU < 70%

Question 5

You develop an Azure Durable Functions application that orchestrates a series of activities. The orchestrator function calls activity functions that perform long-running tasks. You need to ensure that the orchestrator function can handle transient errors and retry failed activity functions. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Built-in retry policies in Durable Functions. Durable Functions provides built-in retry policies that can be configured directly on activity function calls within orchestrator functions. This allows you to specify parameters such as max retry count, backoff interval, and retry timeout, enabling the orchestrator to automatically retry failed activities without custom code or external dependencies.

Answer

Polly library for retry logic

Answer

Application Insights alerts

Answer

Azure Storage queue message retries

Question 6

You are deploying an application to Azure App Service that requires a custom startup script to initialize the environment. Where should you place the startup script in the application code?

Accepted Answer

As a startup command in the App Service configuration. Option D is correct because Azure App Service allows you to specify a custom startup command or script in the App Service configuration (under 'General settings' or via the Azure CLI with `--startup-file`). This startup command runs before the application starts, enabling you to initialize the environment, run pre-deployment tasks, or set up dependencies. Placing the startup script in the configuration ensures it is executed by the App Service platform, which handles the runtime environment (Windows or Linux) and integrates with the application lifecycle.

Answer

In the 'web.config' file

Answer

In a 'docker-compose.yml' file

Answer

In the root of the application code as 'startup.sh'

Question 7

Which TWO options are valid ways to authenticate an Azure Functions app to Azure Storage when using a managed identity? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Enable system-assigned managed identity on the function app and grant it the 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role. Option A is correct because enabling a system-assigned managed identity on the function app allows it to authenticate to Azure Storage without storing credentials. Granting the 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role to that identity via Azure RBAC authorizes the function app to perform blob data operations (read, write, delete) using Azure AD tokens, which are automatically managed by the Azure platform.

Answer

Generate a shared access signature (SAS) token and include it in the connection string

Answer

Use the storage account access key in the connection string

Answer

Use the default AzureWebJobsStorage connection string from the function app settings

Question 8

Which THREE factors should you consider when choosing between Azure Container Instances (ACI) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for a containerized workload? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

The need for orchestration of multiple containers. Option A is correct because AKS provides full orchestration capabilities for managing multiple containers across a cluster, including service discovery, load balancing, and scaling. ACI is designed for single-container or simple multi-container groups without native orchestration, making AKS the appropriate choice when complex orchestration is required.

Answer

The need for GPU-accelerated compute

Answer

The availability of Azure Application Gateway Ingress Controller

Question 9

Which TWO Azure services can be used to trigger an Azure Function when a new blob is added to an Azure Storage container? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Azure Event Grid trigger. Option A is correct because Azure Event Grid trigger enables an Azure Function to be invoked automatically when a new blob is created in a Storage account. Event Grid provides a reliable, low-latency event-driven architecture that supports blob created events, making it a valid trigger for this scenario.

Answer

Azure Queue Storage trigger

Answer

Azure Cosmos DB trigger

Answer

HTTP trigger

Question 10

You are developing a web application that processes images uploaded by users. The images must be resized and analyzed for offensive content before being stored. You need to implement the solution with minimal latency and cost. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Use an Azure Function triggered by Blob Storage, with Consumption plan.. Option D is correct because using an Azure Function triggered by Blob Storage on a Consumption plan provides a serverless, event-driven architecture that automatically scales to process each image upload with minimal latency and cost. The Consumption plan charges only for execution time and resources used, making it cost-effective for sporadic workloads, while the Blob Storage trigger ensures immediate processing upon upload without polling or additional infrastructure.

Answer

Use Azure Batch to process images in parallel.

Answer

Use Durable Functions to orchestrate the resizing and analysis.

Answer

Use Azure Logic Apps with a trigger for each upload.

Question 11

You are deploying a containerized application to Azure Container Instances. The application requires a custom domain name and SSL/TLS certificate. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Place an Azure Application Gateway in front of the container group.. Azure Container Instances (ACI) does not natively support custom domain names or SSL/TLS termination. By placing an Azure Application Gateway in front of the container group, you can offload SSL/TLS termination at the gateway layer, map a custom domain via the gateway's frontend IP, and route traffic to the container group's private IP. This is the recommended pattern for adding HTTPS and custom domains to ACI workloads.

Answer

Configure the container to listen on port 443 and map a custom domain.

Answer

Upload the certificate to the container and configure the web server.

Answer

Use a private endpoint with a custom domain.

Question 12

You are developing a microservices application deployed on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). You need to ensure that service-to-service communication is encrypted using mutual TLS (mTLS) without modifying application code. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Deploy Azure Service Mesh and enable mTLS.. Azure Service Mesh (e.g., Open Service Mesh or Istio-based) provides a transparent infrastructure layer that can automatically inject sidecar proxies into pods and enforce mTLS for all service-to-service communication without requiring any changes to application code. This meets the requirement of encrypting traffic with mutual TLS while keeping the application code untouched.

Answer

Use Azure Application Gateway Ingress Controller with mTLS.

Answer

Enable Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) pod-to-pod encryption.

Answer

Configure Azure Network Security Groups to enforce encryption.

Question 13

You have an Azure App Service web app that experiences high CPU usage during peak hours. You need to scale out automatically based on CPU load. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Configure an autoscale rule to scale out based on CPU percentage.. Option C is correct because Azure App Service autoscale rules allow you to scale out (increase instance count) based on a metric like CPU percentage. This automatically adds more instances when CPU exceeds a threshold, distributing the load and reducing CPU usage per instance during peak hours.

Answer

Manually increase the instance count during peak hours.

Answer

Configure an autoscale rule to scale up the App Service plan.

Answer

Use Azure Front Door to distribute load across multiple instances.

Question 14

Which TWO actions should you take to ensure high availability for a stateful ASP.NET application deployed on Azure App Service?

Accepted Answer

Enable ARR Affinity (client affinity) to maintain session state.. Option A is correct because enabling ARR Affinity (client affinity) ensures that all requests from a given client session are routed to the same instance, preserving in-memory session state. Without this, a stateful ASP.NET application would lose session data if subsequent requests are load-balanced to different instances, causing session state errors.

Answer

Scale up the App Service plan to a higher tier.

Answer

Store session state in Azure Files share.

Answer

Disable session state to allow any instance to handle requests.

Question 15

Which THREE factors should you consider when choosing between Azure Functions (Consumption plan) and Azure Container Instances for running a background job that processes messages from Azure Service Bus?

Accepted Answer

Scaling behavior (automatic vs. manual).. Option A is correct because Azure Functions on the Consumption plan automatically scales out based on the number of incoming Service Bus messages, handling up to 200 concurrent instances per function app, while Azure Container Instances require manual scaling or external orchestration (e.g., KEDA) to adjust the number of container groups. This makes scaling behavior a key differentiator when choosing between the two services for a background job.

Answer

Ability to use custom base images.

Answer

Native support for Service Bus trigger.