A team manages 20 web VMs and 15 app VMs that scale independently. The administrator needs an NSG rule that allows only the web tier to reach the app tier on TCP 8443, and future VM additions must be included automatically without editing IP addresses. What should the administrator use in the NSG rule?
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.
Best answer
A source application security group for the web tier and a destination application security group for the app tier.
Application security groups let you group VMs by function rather than by individual IP addresses. An NSG rule can reference a source ASG and a destination ASG, so newly added web or app VMs are automatically governed as long as they are added to the correct ASG. This is ideal for scalable tier-to-tier access control.
Distractor review
A service endpoint on the subnet where the app VMs are deployed.
Service endpoints are for securing access to supported Azure PaaS services, not for defining VM-to-VM security groups inside a virtual network.
Distractor review
A user-defined route between the web subnet and app subnet.
Routes control packet forwarding paths, but they do not provide access control or automatically manage group membership for allowed sources and destinations.
Distractor review
A load balancer backend pool for both tiers.
Backend pools are used for load balancing traffic, not for expressing security policy between application tiers.
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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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: A source application security group for the web tier and a destination application security group for the app tier. — Application security groups are designed for this exact operational need. Instead of maintaining hard-coded source and destination IPs, the administrator places VMs into ASGs and writes the NSG rule against those logical groups. That means the rule continues to work as the tiers scale in or out, which is much easier to manage in a dynamic environment than updating IP-based rules manually. Why others are wrong: B is for PaaS service traffic control and has no role in VM-to-VM security filtering. C only affects routing; it does not allow or deny traffic. D is about traffic distribution across servers, not security policy. None of those options solve the requirement to automatically include newly added VMs in the access rule.
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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