- A
Place the VM in an availability set
Why wrong: An availability set protects against certain maintenance and host failures, but it does not place the VM in separate datacenter zones.
- B
Deploy the VM in an availability zone
An availability zone places the VM in a physically separate datacenter within the same Azure region. That design gives better resilience against a datacenter-level failure than an availability set. For a single VM, choosing a zone is the direct way to improve protection from one zone or datacenter going offline. It is the right operational choice when the region supports zones and the requirement is survivability during a datacenter outage.
- C
Use a larger VM size
Why wrong: A larger VM size can improve performance, but it does not add redundancy or protect against datacenter failure.
- D
Use a custom image
Why wrong: A custom image helps standardize software installation, but it does not provide resilience against infrastructure failure.
Quick Answer
The answer is to deploy the VM in an availability zone. This is correct because availability zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking; placing a single VM in one zone ensures that if a different datacenter in the region fails, your VM remains operational since it is hosted in a separate, unaffected zone. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of high availability versus fault tolerance—a common trap is confusing an availability set (which protects against rack-level failures within one datacenter) with an availability zone (which protects against a full datacenter failure). Remember that an availability set spreads VMs across fault domains inside a single datacenter, while an availability zone isolates the VM to an entire separate datacenter. A useful memory tip: “Zone for datacenter doom, set for rack-room gloom.”
AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of deploy and manage azure compute. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 line-of-business app will run on a single Azure virtual machine in a region that supports availability zones. The business wants the VM to keep running if one datacenter in the region fails. Which deployment choice should you use?
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 VM in an availability zone
Availability zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying the VM in an an availability zone ensures that if one datacenter fails, the VM remains operational because it is hosted in a different zone. This directly meets the requirement for resilience against a single datacenter failure.
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.
- ✗
Place the VM in an availability set
Why it's wrong here
An availability set protects against certain maintenance and host failures, but it does not place the VM in separate datacenter zones.
- ✓
Deploy the VM in an availability zone
Why this is correct
An availability zone places the VM in a physically separate datacenter within the same Azure region. That design gives better resilience against a datacenter-level failure than an availability set. For a single VM, choosing a zone is the direct way to improve protection from one zone or datacenter going offline. It is the right operational choice when the region supports zones and the requirement is survivability during a datacenter outage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a larger VM size
Why it's wrong here
A larger VM size can improve performance, but it does not add redundancy or protect against datacenter failure.
- ✗
Use a custom image
Why it's wrong here
A custom image helps standardize software installation, but it does not provide resilience against infrastructure failure.
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 datacenter) with availability zones (which protect against entire datacenter failures), leading them to incorrectly select availability set as the answer.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Availability zones are physically separated by at least several kilometers within a region, with a latency of less than 2 milliseconds RTT between zones. When you deploy a VM in a specific zone, Azure guarantees that the VM's underlying infrastructure (compute, storage, networking) is confined to that zone. For true high availability, you would typically deploy at least two VMs across different zones and use a load balancer or traffic manager, but the question specifies a single VM, so zone deployment is the correct choice for that single instance.
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.
- →
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All AZ-104 questions
1,170 questions across all exam domains
- →
AZ-104 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
AZ-104 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related AZ-104 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Manage Azure Identities and Governance practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Manage Azure Identities and Governance.
Implement and Manage Storage practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Implement and Manage Storage.
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Deploy and Manage Azure Compute.
Implement and Manage Virtual Networking practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Implement and Manage Virtual Networking.
Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources.
AZ-104 Azure RBAC practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 Azure RBAC.
AZ-104 storage account practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 storage account.
AZ-104 virtual network practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 virtual network.
AZ-104 NSG practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 NSG.
AZ-104 Azure Monitor practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 Azure Monitor.
AZ-104 backup practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 backup.
AZ-104 managed identity practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 managed identity.
Practice this exam
Start a free AZ-104 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
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 VM in an availability zone — Availability zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying the VM in an an availability zone ensures that if one datacenter fails, the VM remains operational because it is hosted in a different zone. This directly meets the requirement for resilience against a single datacenter failure.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on AZ-104
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A line-of-business app runs on a single Azure VM in a region that supports availability zones. The business wants the VM to keep running if one datacenter in the region becomes unavailable. Which deployment choice best meets this requirement?
easy- A.Availability set
- ✓ B.Availability zone
- C.Proximity placement group
- D.Virtual machine scale set
Why B: An availability zone is a physically separate datacenter within an Azure region, with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying the VM to a specific zone ensures it remains operational if another zone's datacenter fails, meeting the requirement for single-VM resilience against a datacenter outage.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.