- A
Deploy the VMs in different availability zones.
Placing VMs in different availability zones separates them across datacenters within the region, which protects against a single datacenter outage.
- B
Place the VMs in the same availability set.
Why wrong: An availability set helps with host and update domain failures, but it does not protect against a full zone-level outage.
- C
Choose an Azure region that supports availability zones.
Availability zones are only usable in supported regions, so the deployment must be placed in a region that offers them.
- D
Use a proximity placement group for the VMs.
Why wrong: A proximity placement group improves latency by keeping resources close together, but it is not a resilience feature.
- E
Use a snapshot of the operating system disk.
Why wrong: A snapshot helps with recovery, but it does not keep a running workload available during an outage.
AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of deploy and manage azure compute. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A business wants a line-of-business VM workload to keep running if one Azure datacenter in the region goes offline. Which two deployment choices should the administrator use? Select two.
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
Deploy the VMs in different availability zones.
Option A is correct because deploying VMs across different availability zones protects against a single datacenter failure. Each availability zone is a physically separate datacenter within an Azure region, with independent power, cooling, and networking. If one zone goes offline, the VM in the other zone remains operational, ensuring business continuity for the line-of-business workload.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Deploy the VMs in different availability zones.
Why this is correct
Placing VMs in different availability zones separates them across datacenters within the region, which protects against a single datacenter outage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Place the VMs in the same availability set.
Why it's wrong here
An availability set helps with host and update domain failures, but it does not protect against a full zone-level outage.
- ✓
Choose an Azure region that supports availability zones.
Why this is correct
Availability zones are only usable in supported regions, so the deployment must be placed in a region that offers them.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a proximity placement group for the VMs.
Why it's wrong here
A proximity placement group improves latency by keeping resources close together, but it is not a resilience feature.
- ✗
Use a snapshot of the operating system disk.
Why it's wrong here
A snapshot helps with recovery, but it does not keep a running workload available during an outage.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse availability sets (which protect against rack-level failures within a single datacenter) with availability zones (which protect against full datacenter outages), leading them to select option B instead of A and C.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Availability zones are unique physical locations within an Azure region, each with its own independent power source, cooling system, and network infrastructure. To use availability zones, the Azure region must support them (e.g., East US 2, West Europe), and the VM SKU must be zone-resilient. For production workloads, you should deploy at least two VMs across two different zones and use a load balancer (e.g., Azure Standard Load Balancer) to distribute traffic, ensuring automatic failover if one zone fails.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — This question tests Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy the VMs in different availability zones. — Option A is correct because deploying VMs across different availability zones protects against a single datacenter failure. Each availability zone is a physically separate datacenter within an Azure region, with independent power, cooling, and networking. If one zone goes offline, the VM in the other zone remains operational, ensuring business continuity for the line-of-business workload.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This AZ-104 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-104 exam.
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