Question 351 of 1,170

Deploy and Manage Azure Compute →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

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 data disk was accidentally deleted from a production VM. The team has a snapshot of that disk from the previous night and wants the fastest Azure-side recovery path with the least risk of overwriting the existing OS disk. What should the administrator do first?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.

Question 1hardmultiple choice

Read the full NAT/PAT explanation →

A
Restore the entire virtual machine from the snapshot and overwrite the current instance.
Why wrong: A snapshot is not a full VM backup workflow in this context, and restoring the whole VM is unnecessary and risky. The requirement is to recover only the missing data disk, not to replace the working operating system disk.
B
Create a new managed disk from the snapshot, then attach that disk to the VM.
The snapshot contains the point-in-time disk state, so the correct first step is to create a new managed disk from it. Once the disk exists, it can be attached to the VM and the data recovered without disturbing the OS disk or other volumes.
C
Convert the snapshot into a temporary storage account and copy the files back manually.
Why wrong: A snapshot is not converted into a storage account. While files can sometimes be copied from mounted disks, the practical Azure recovery step begins by creating a managed disk from the snapshot.
D
Recreate the VM from the same marketplace image and restore only the deleted disk later.
Why wrong: Recreating the VM wastes time and introduces unnecessary change. The operating system disk is still intact, so rebuilding the server does not address the immediate recovery requirement.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Create a new managed disk from the snapshot, then attach that disk to the VM.

Option B is correct because creating a new managed disk from the snapshot and attaching it to the VM is the fastest Azure-side recovery path. This approach directly reuses the existing OS disk without any risk of overwriting it, and the new data disk can be attached within minutes using the Azure portal, CLI, or PowerShell. It avoids any downtime for the VM beyond the brief attach operation.

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.

✗
Restore the entire virtual machine from the snapshot and overwrite the current instance.
Why it's wrong here
A snapshot is not a full VM backup workflow in this context, and restoring the whole VM is unnecessary and risky. The requirement is to recover only the missing data disk, not to replace the working operating system disk.
✓
Create a new managed disk from the snapshot, then attach that disk to the VM.
Why this is correct
The snapshot contains the point-in-time disk state, so the correct first step is to create a new managed disk from it. Once the disk exists, it can be attached to the VM and the data recovered without disturbing the OS disk or other volumes.
Clue confirmation
The clue words "first", "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Convert the snapshot into a temporary storage account and copy the files back manually.
Why it's wrong here
A snapshot is not converted into a storage account. While files can sometimes be copied from mounted disks, the practical Azure recovery step begins by creating a managed disk from the snapshot.
✗
Recreate the VM from the same marketplace image and restore only the deleted disk later.
Why it's wrong here
Recreating the VM wastes time and introduces unnecessary change. The operating system disk is still intact, so rebuilding the server does not address the immediate recovery requirement.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often assume restoring the entire VM from a snapshot is the fastest recovery method, but they overlook that this overwrites the OS disk and causes full downtime, whereas attaching a new disk from the snapshot is both faster and safer.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, a managed disk snapshot is a point-in-time, read-only copy of a disk stored as an incremental snapshot using Azure Blob Storage. When you create a new managed disk from a snapshot, Azure performs a background copy of the underlying page blobs, making the disk available for attachment almost immediately. In a real-world scenario, if the VM is running production workloads, this method allows you to attach the recovered data disk without rebooting the VM (for data disks), minimizing downtime to seconds.

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

A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

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: Create a new managed disk from the snapshot, then attach that disk to the VM. — Option B is correct because creating a new managed disk from the snapshot and attaching it to the VM is the fastest Azure-side recovery path. This approach directly reuses the existing OS disk without any risk of overwriting it, and the new data disk can be attached within minutes using the Azure portal, CLI, or PowerShell. It avoids any downtime for the VM beyond the brief attach operation.

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.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "first", "least". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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