AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
A reporting application stores files in Azure Blob Storage. The business wants the secondary region to be readable if the primary region becomes unavailable. Which redundancy option should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse ZRS (zone-redundant within a region) with geo-redundant options, or mistakenly think LRS provides any cross-region resilience, when only RA-GRS offers both geo-replication and read access to the secondary region.
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
✓
RA-GRS, because it provides geo-replication with read access to the secondary endpoint.
(RA-GRS) is correct because it provides geo-replication by asynchronously copying data to a secondary region and enables read access to that secondary endpoint. If the primary region becomes unavailable, the application can continue reading from the secondary region, meeting the business requirement for readable secondary access during a primary outage.
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, because it stores all copies in one region only.
Why it's wrong here
Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) synchronously writes three copies of your blob data within a single storage scale unit in the primary region, protecting you only against drive and rack failures. LRS does not replicate data to a separate region or to a paired geography, nor does it offer any secondary read endpoint. Because the reporting application explicitly requires the ability to read from a secondary region, LRS fails that core requirement.
When this WOULD be correct
A question that asks for the lowest-cost redundancy option for non-critical data that can be regenerated, with no need for cross-region or cross-zone durability, and where data loss from a single disk failure is acceptable.
- ✗
ZRS, because it replicates across availability zones.
Why it's wrong here
Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) synchronously replicates your data across three Azure availability zones within the same region, which protects against an entire zone becoming unavailable. However, ZRS does not copy data to a different geographical region and does not create a readable secondary endpoint; all three copies remain in the primary region. Thus, while ZRS offers excellent resiliency within a region, it cannot satisfy the requirement for reading from a secondary region.
When this WOULD be correct
A question requiring high availability within a single region, such as 'An application needs to survive an entire Azure datacenter failure but remain in the same region. Which redundancy option should you use?'
- ✓
RA-GRS, because it provides geo-replication with read access to the secondary endpoint.
Why this is correct
RA-GRS (Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage) replicates your blob data asynchronously to a paired secondary region and, unlike standard GRS, automatically exposes a public read-access endpoint on that secondary copy. This fulfills the requirement of being able to read the reporting data from a secondary region, even while the primary region is operational. The asynchronous replication means the secondary copy is eventually consistent, but that trade-off is acceptable for a reporting application that can tolerate slight read lag.
- ✗
Archive, because archived blobs are stored cheaply for long-term retention.
Why it's wrong here
Archive is an access tier, not a data redundancy option, so choosing Archive would not create any geo-replication or a secondary-region endpoint. Archived blobs are stored in an offline state and must undergo rehydration (which can take up to 15 hours) before they can be read, making them unsuitable for an application that needs to serve active reads from a secondary region. Moreover, Archive can be combined with any redundancy option, but it does not itself provide regional or zone-level replication.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asking for the most cost-effective storage tier for long-term retention of rarely accessed data that must be retained for compliance, with no requirement for immediate retrieval.
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.
✓RA-GRS, because it provides geo-replication with read access to the secondary endpoint.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
RA-GRS (Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage) replicates your blob data asynchronously to a paired secondary region and, unlike standard GRS, automatically exposes a public read-access endpoint on that secondary copy. This fulfills the requirement of being able to read the reporting data from a secondary region, even while the primary region is operational. The asynchronous replication means the secondary copy is eventually consistent, but that trade-off is acceptable for a reporting application that can tolerate slight read lag.
✗LRS, because it stores all copies in one region only.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
LRS only replicates data within a single data center in the primary region, providing no redundancy for a regional outage. The business requirement is for readable secondary region access, which LRS cannot fulfill.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question that asks for the lowest-cost redundancy option for non-critical data that can be regenerated, with no need for cross-region or cross-zone durability, and where data loss from a single disk failure is acceptable.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse LRS with a basic redundancy option and overlook the requirement for secondary region read access, or they may not fully understand the differences between replication options.
✗ZRS, because it replicates across availability zones.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
ZRS replicates data synchronously across availability zones within a single region, providing no geo-redundancy or read access to a secondary region if the primary becomes unavailable.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question requiring high availability within a single region, such as 'An application needs to survive an entire Azure datacenter failure but remain in the same region. Which redundancy option should you use?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse availability zones with regions, thinking ZRS provides cross-region failover, or they may overlook the requirement for a readable secondary region.
✗Archive, because archived blobs are stored cheaply for long-term retention.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Archive is a blob access tier, not a redundancy option. It does not provide replication or read access to a secondary region.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asking for the most cost-effective storage tier for long-term retention of rarely accessed data that must be retained for compliance, with no requirement for immediate retrieval.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'Archive' with a redundancy option because it involves storing data in a secondary location, but it is actually a pricing tier for infrequent access.
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?”
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Managed Identities for Azure Resources
Key term
Replication
Replication is the process of copying and synchronizing data across multiple servers or storage devices to ensure availability, reliability, and fault tolerance.
Key term
Blob storage
Blob storage is a cloud service for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data, like documents, images, and videos.
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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.