Question 1hardmultiple choice
Full question →hardmultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A production subscription contains 20 virtual machines across two resource groups. Operations needs an email and SMS notification whenever any single VM's average Percentage CPU stays above 85 for 10 minutes. The alert should be managed as one rule, and evaluation must happen independently for each VM. What should the administrator configure?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Create a log query alert that uses the Heartbeat table and the existing action group.
Heartbeat does not measure CPU usage, so it cannot detect this threshold condition correctly.
B
Best answer
Create one metric alert scoped to the 20 VM resources, using Percentage CPU and the shared action group.
A metric alert is the correct signal for CPU threshold monitoring, and scoping the rule to the VM resources lets Azure evaluate each VM independently while keeping a single alert definition. The action group handles the email and SMS delivery. This avoids creating 20 separate rules and prevents fleet-wide averaging from hiding one overloaded server. It is the simplest design that still evaluates each VM separately.
C
Distractor review
Create one subscription-wide metric alert and average CPU across all virtual machines.
A subscription-wide average can hide a single hot VM because low usage elsewhere dilutes the signal.
D
Distractor review
Configure diagnostic settings on each VM and use the action group for threshold processing.
Diagnostic settings export telemetry, but they do not evaluate conditions or generate threshold-based alerts by themselves.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
- Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
- Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
- The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
- Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
- Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
- Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
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Question 2
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Question 3
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Question 4
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Question 5
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Question 6
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create one metric alert scoped to the 20 VM resources, using Percentage CPU and the shared action group. — Azure Monitor metric alerts are designed for platform counters such as Percentage CPU. By scoping a single metric alert to the VM resources, Azure evaluates each VM's metric stream independently while still keeping the configuration centralized. The shared action group then sends email and SMS when the threshold is breached. This design meets the single-rule requirement and avoids an aggregate average that would miss a noisy VM. Why others are wrong: Heartbeat is unrelated to CPU, so a log alert on it would not measure the required condition. A subscription-wide average can mask one VM running hot while others remain idle. Diagnostic settings collect data for later analysis, but they do not themselves create alert evaluations or notifications.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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