CV0-004 Operations and Support Practice Question
A cloud administrator is responsible for a Microsoft Azure environment. The administrator needs to ensure that virtual machine (VM) disks are backed up daily and that backups are retained for 30 days. The administrator also needs to be able to restore individual files from the backups. Which TWO actions should the administrator take to meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Azure Site Recovery, which is for disaster recovery replication, with Azure Backup, which provides scheduled backups and file-level restore.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure Azure Backup for the VMs using the Azure VM backup extension and associate them with the backup policy.
To back up Azure VM disks daily with 30-day retention and file-level restore, the administrator must create a Recovery Services vault and configure a backup policy with the desired schedule and retention. Then, the VMs must be configured for Azure Backup using the VM backup extension and associated with that policy. Together, these actions provide the required backup and restore capabilities.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Install the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent on each VM and configure a backup schedule.
Why it's wrong here
The MARS agent is used to back up files, folders, and system state from on-premises machines or Azure VMs to a Recovery Services vault. While it can back up files, it does not back up the entire VM disk image in the way Azure VM backup does, and it requires per-machine agent management. For VM disk backup with file-level restore, the Azure VM backup extension is the appropriate solution, not the MARS agent.
- ✗
Create an Azure Storage account with blob versioning enabled and configure lifecycle management.
Why it's wrong here
Blob versioning and lifecycle management apply to data stored in Azure Blob Storage, not to VM disks. They can protect against accidental overwrites or deletions of blobs and transition data to cooler tiers, but they do not back up VM disks or provide file-level restore from a VM backup. This approach does not meet the daily VM disk backup and 30-day retention requirements.
- ✓
Configure Azure Backup for the VMs using the Azure VM backup extension and associate them with the backup policy.
Why this is correct
Azure Backup for VMs uses an extension installed on the VM to take snapshot-based backups of the OS and data disks. Associating the VMs with the backup policy created in the Recovery Services vault ensures the daily schedule and 30-day retention are applied. This, combined with the vault and policy, enables file-level recovery from the VM backups, fully meeting the administrator's requirements.
- ✓
Create a Recovery Services vault and configure a backup policy with a daily schedule and 30-day retention.
Why this is correct
A Recovery Services vault is the Azure resource used to store backup data for IaaS VMs and other workloads. Configuring a backup policy with a daily schedule and 30-day retention directly meets the daily backup and retention requirements. The vault also enables file-level recovery from VM backups, which satisfies the need to restore individual files. This is the correct foundational action for Azure VM backup.
- ✗
Enable Azure Site Recovery for the VMs and configure a replication policy.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Site Recovery is designed for disaster recovery by replicating VMs to a secondary region or on-premises location. It provides failover and failback capabilities, not daily backups with 30-day retention or file-level restore. While it can help with business continuity, it does not meet the specific backup schedule, retention, and file recovery requirements described in the scenario.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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