Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A team enabled Azure Files for a Windows-based application. The app can reach the storage account, but the mount fails because users cannot authenticate with the share. The team does not want to use the storage account key. What is the best next step?
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
Turn off the storage account firewall and retry the mount anonymously.
Disabling the firewall does not solve authentication. Azure Files still requires proper authorization, and anonymous access is not the right security model.
B
Best answer
Grant the VM or user an Azure Files data-plane role, such as Storage File Data SMB Share Contributor, and use identity-based authentication.
When Azure Files is accessed over SMB without storage keys, the administrator should use identity-based authentication and assign the appropriate Azure Files data-plane role. This provides the permissions needed to mount and use the share while avoiding storage account keys. It is the correct fix when network access works but authorization fails.
C
Distractor review
Create a network security group rule that allows TCP 445 to the share.
NSGs control traffic flow, but the mount failure here is an authentication problem, not a blocked port problem.
D
Distractor review
Convert the storage account to a premium block blob account.
Changing to a different storage account type does not solve Azure Files authentication and would remove the file share scenario altogether.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: authentication is not authorization
Logging in proves the user can authenticate. It does not automatically mean the user is allowed to enter privileged or configuration mode. Watch for AAA authorization, privilege level and command authorization details.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This kind of question is testing the difference between identity and permission. A user may successfully log in to a router because authentication is working, but still fail to enter configuration mode because authorization is missing, misconfigured or mapped to a lower privilege level.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Authentication checks who the user is.
- Authorization controls what the user is allowed to do after login.
- Privilege levels affect access to EXEC and configuration commands.
- AAA, TACACS+ and RADIUS can separate login success from command access.
TExam Day Tips
- Do not assume successful login means full administrative access.
- Look for words such as cannot enter configuration mode, privilege level, authorization or command access.
- Separate login problems from permission problems before choosing the answer.
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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
A route table contains these entries: 10.0.0.0/8 with next hop Virtual appliance, and 10.1.1.0/24 with next hop Virtual network gateway. Which next hop will Azure use for traffic to 10.1.1.5?
Question 2
You are deploying a stateless web application on Azure virtual machines. The solution must automatically add and remove instances based on CPU demand and allow all instances to be managed as one logical group. Which Azure compute feature should you deploy?
Question 3
You are deploying a Windows Server VM for an internal app. The VM must support Secure Boot and vTPM later, its OS disk must survive host moves, and the team wants the lowest-cost managed disk tier that still behaves like a normal writable OS disk. Which two choices should you make? Select two.
Question 4
You need to deploy several identical virtual machines and ensure that the failure of a single Azure host does not affect all of them. Which feature should you use?
Question 5
You need to connect VNet-Hub and VNet-Spoke so that resources in both virtual networks can communicate privately over the Microsoft backbone. Both virtual networks are in the same region. What should you configure?
Question 6
You need to create a storage account that provides the lowest-cost redundant storage for non-critical data and only needs protection against local disk or server failure within a single datacenter. Which redundancy option should you choose?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Authentication checks who the user is.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Grant the VM or user an Azure Files data-plane role, such as Storage File Data SMB Share Contributor, and use identity-based authentication. — The issue is authorization, not reachability. If the team does not want to use storage keys, the correct solution is identity-based access with the proper Azure Files RBAC role, such as Storage File Data SMB Share Contributor. That role allows SMB share operations without exposing secrets and is the best fit when the mount reaches the storage account but fails during authentication. Why others are wrong: A ignores the root cause and weakens security without fixing authentication. C is useful only if network traffic is blocked; it does nothing for share permissions. D changes the storage service to one that does not address the mount problem and is incompatible with the stated requirement.
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.
Discussion
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