AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
A finance VM is backed up daily. The team wants short-lived snapshots so recently changed files can be recovered quickly, but they also need daily recovery points retained for 30 days. Which two backup policy settings should be configured? Select two.
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'instant restore snapshots' with 'recovery points' and may select options like 'Run the backup job every 12 hours' thinking more frequent backups improve recovery speed, when in fact the instant restore snapshot retention setting directly controls the availability of quick file-level restores.
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
✓
Retain instant restore snapshots for 2 days
Instant restore snapshots are short-lived, locally stored snapshots that allow quick recovery of recently changed files. Setting 'Retain instant restore snapshots for 2 days' ensures these snapshots are available for immediate restores without consuming long-term backup storage. Option B is correct because 'Retain daily recovery points for 30 days' meets the requirement for daily recovery points to be kept for the specified retention period, allowing recovery from any of the last 30 daily backups.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Retain instant restore snapshots for 2 days
Why this is correct
Instant restore snapshots are VM-consistent snapshots stored locally with the VM for fast, file-level recovery without network latency. Retaining them for 2 days keeps recent restore points readily available while minimizing the cost of extra local storage. This retention is separate from vault-tier retention, which governs how long backup copies persist in the Recovery Services vault.
- ✓
Retain daily recovery points for 30 days
Why this is correct
Daily recovery points for 30 days means Azure Backup creates one restore point per day and retains each in the vault for a full month. This provides daily point-in-time recovery granularity, exactly matching the requirement for daily backups. Vault-tier recovery points are durable and regionally resilient, unlike the ephemeral local snapshots.
- ✗
Run the backup job every 12 hours
Why it's wrong here
Running the backup job every 12 hours would create twice-daily recovery points, which is a higher frequency than the requested daily schedule. This increases backup and storage costs without providing any benefit, since the scenario explicitly calls for daily backups. Azure VM Backup does support multiple scheduled backups per day, but that capability is not needed here.
When this WOULD be correct
A question where the requirement is to minimize data loss with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 24 hours, and the backup policy supports multiple backups per day, such as 'You need to ensure that no more than 12 hours of data is lost in case of a failure. Which backup frequency should you configure?'
- ✗
Retain weekly recovery points for 30 days
Why it's wrong here
Weekly recovery points for 30 days would generate only four or five restore points over the month, because each week produces exactly one backup. Daily recovery points are explicitly required by the scenario, meaning a daily snapshot and vault copy must be retained. Weekly retention would leave gaps in recovery capability and fail to meet the stated point-in-time recovery needs.
When this WOULD be correct
In a scenario where the team needs weekly recovery points for compliance (e.g., retaining weekly backups for 30 days) and daily backups are not required, this option would be correct.
- ✗
Move backup data to Archive tier
Why it's wrong here
Archive tier is a long-term, cold-storage class for rarely accessed backups, with retrieval delays that can span days or even hours. It is not a retention setting in Azure VM Backup policy; rather, it is a separate storage tier applied to backup data for cost savings. Choosing Archive tier would make operational recovery impractical and does not satisfy a daily-backup retention requirement.
When this WOULD be correct
An organization needs to retain backup data for several years for compliance purposes but wants to minimize storage costs. The correct answer would be to move backup data to the Archive tier after a specified retention period, such as moving data older than 30 days to Archive.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-104 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Retain instant restore snapshots for 2 daysCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Instant restore snapshots are VM-consistent snapshots stored locally with the VM for fast, file-level recovery without network latency. Retaining them for 2 days keeps recent restore points readily available while minimizing the cost of extra local storage. This retention is separate from vault-tier retention, which governs how long backup copies persist in the Recovery Services vault.
✗Run the backup job every 12 hoursWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The requirement is for short-lived snapshots for quick recovery and daily recovery points retained for 30 days. Running the backup job every 12 hours would create additional recovery points but does not address the need for short-lived snapshots or the 30-day retention of daily points.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question where the requirement is to minimize data loss with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 24 hours, and the backup policy supports multiple backups per day, such as 'You need to ensure that no more than 12 hours of data is lost in case of a failure. Which backup frequency should you configure?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that more frequent backups (every 12 hours) would improve recovery options, but the question specifically asks for short-lived snapshots and daily retention, not increased backup frequency.
✗Retain weekly recovery points for 30 daysWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The question specifies daily recovery points retained for 30 days, not weekly. Retaining weekly recovery points for 30 days would keep only 4-5 weekly points, not daily, failing the requirement for daily recovery.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
In a scenario where the team needs weekly recovery points for compliance (e.g., retaining weekly backups for 30 days) and daily backups are not required, this option would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'daily recovery points' with 'weekly recovery points' or think that retaining weekly points for 30 days also covers daily recovery needs, not realizing the retention period applies to the selected frequency.
✗Move backup data to Archive tierWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The Archive tier is for long-term retention of backup data at lower cost, but it does not support short-lived snapshots for quick recovery of recently changed files. The question requires both short-term snapshots and daily recovery points for 30 days, not archival storage.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An organization needs to retain backup data for several years for compliance purposes but wants to minimize storage costs. The correct answer would be to move backup data to the Archive tier after a specified retention period, such as moving data older than 30 days to Archive.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that moving backups to a cheaper storage tier is always beneficial for cost savings, overlooking that the Archive tier has longer restore times and is not suitable for the quick recovery of recent changes required in this scenario.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-104blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Customer-Managed Keys (CMK) for Storage Encryption
Key term
Policy
A policy is a set of rules or guidelines that defines how an organization manages, secures, and operates its IT systems and services.
Key term
Backup policy
A backup policy is a documented set of rules that defines what data to back up, how often, where to store it, and how long to keep it, ensuring data can be restored after loss.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every AZ-104 question from scratch — 1,049 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.