AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. 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 finance archive stores critical blobs in an Azure region that supports availability zones. The data must survive a single zone failure and also remain available if the primary region becomes unavailable. The team does not need a read-only endpoint in the secondary region during normal operations. Which two redundancy models satisfy the requirement? Select two.
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
GZRS
D (GZRS) is correct because it combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) within the primary region to survive a single zone failure with geo-redundancy (GRS) to replicate data asynchronously to a secondary region, ensuring availability if the primary region becomes unavailable. Since the team does not need a read-only endpoint in the secondary region during normal operations, GZRS (which does not provide read access to the secondary region unless a failover occurs) meets the requirement without the extra cost or feature of RA-GZRS.
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.
✗
LRS
Why it's wrong here
LRS keeps copies inside one datacenter only, so it does not address a zone outage or a region outage.
✗
ZRS
Why it's wrong here
ZRS protects against a zone failure, but it does not replicate the data to another region for regional disaster recovery.
✗
GRS
Why it's wrong here
GRS adds geo-replication, but the primary copy is not zone-redundant, so it misses the single-zone failure requirement.
✓
GZRS
Why this is correct
GZRS combines zone redundancy in the primary region with geo-replication to the paired region, meeting both resilience goals.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
RA-GZRS
Why this is correct
RA-GZRS provides the same zone-redundant and geo-replicated protection as GZRS, with optional read access to the secondary region.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse GZRS with RA-GZRS, assuming that geo-redundancy always provides read access to the secondary region, or they overlook that ZRS alone cannot handle a regional outage, leading them to incorrectly select ZRS or GRS instead of the correct combination of zone and geo redundancy.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
GZRS (Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage) uses synchronous replication across three availability zones in the primary region (ZRS) and then asynchronously replicates to a single data center in the secondary region using LRS. The asynchronous replication to the secondary region has a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of typically 15 minutes, meaning data loss is possible only within that window during a regional disaster. In contrast, RA-GZRS adds read access to the secondary region, which is not required here, making GZRS the more cost-effective choice.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Implement and Manage Storage — This question tests Implement and Manage Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: GZRS — D (GZRS) is correct because it combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) within the primary region to survive a single zone failure with geo-redundancy (GRS) to replicate data asynchronously to a secondary region, ensuring availability if the primary region becomes unavailable. Since the team does not need a read-only endpoint in the secondary region during normal operations, GZRS (which does not provide read access to the secondary region unless a failover occurs) meets the requirement without the extra cost or feature of RA-GZRS.
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: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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