AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  B-series

  Why it's wrong here

  B-series VMs are burstable instances designed for workloads with baseline usage and occasional short bursts, such as lightweight web servers or development environments. They rely on CPU credits and deliver inconsistent performance that cannot sustain the steady, memory-intensive load of an in-memory analytics workload. Additionally, B-series offers limited memory capacity relative to its vCPU count, so it would struggle to provide both the required RAM and reliable throughput.

  When this WOULD be correct

  A B-series VM would be correct for a question describing a small web server or dev/test environment that experiences low baseline CPU usage with occasional bursts, and where cost optimization is a primary constraint.

• ✗

  D-series

  Why it's wrong here

  The D-series is a general-purpose family that balances CPU and memory, commonly used for enterprise applications, databases, and medium-size workloads. While some D-series SKUs provide substantial RAM, they are not specifically optimized to prioritize memory capacity over compute resources. For a workload whose primary requirement is 64 GiB of fast in-memory storage, the E-series offers a more cost-effective and better-suited memory-optimized architecture than the D-series.

  When this WOULD be correct

  A question where the workload requires a balanced mix of CPU, memory, and local disk performance, such as a small-to-medium database or web server with moderate resource demands, and cost optimization is a key factor.

• ✗

  F-series

  Why it's wrong here

  F-series VMs are CPU-optimised, offering a high CPU-to-memory ratio, which is unsuitable for this in-memory analytics workload that prioritises memory capacity. The scenario explicitly states the application benefits most from memory, needing 64 GiB RAM, not a high CPU core count relative to memory. F-series is tempting for analytics due to its high clock speed and compute power, making it ideal for compute-intensive tasks like batch processing, web servers, or gaming servers where CPU processing is the primary bottleneck.

  When this WOULD be correct

  An administrator needs to run a batch processing job that is CPU-intensive (e.g., video encoding or financial risk modeling) with minimal memory requirements. The job requires 8 vCPUs and only 16 GiB RAM, making F-series the cost-effective choice.

• ✓

  E-series

  Why this is correct

  The E-series is Azure's memory-optimized VM family, engineered with a high memory-to-CPU ratio to fit workloads like in-memory analytics. With configurations offering 64 GiB or more RAM per VM, it maximizes memory bandwidth and capacity for large datasets held entirely in RAM. This directly matches the reporting server's need for 64 GiB RAM, making it the correct choice.

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.

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?”