AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
A team wants a storage option that stays available if one availability zone in the primary region fails. Which two redundancy options meet that requirement? Select two.
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse geo-redundant options (GRS/RA-GRS) as providing zone-level protection, but they only use LRS in the primary region, which does not survive a single availability zone failure.
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
✓
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS).
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) synchronously replicates data across three Azure availability zones within the primary region. If one zone fails, the data remains accessible from the other zones, ensuring high availability without requiring failover to a secondary region.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS).
Why this is correct
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) synchronously replicates each write across three availability zones within the primary region. Each zone is a physically separate datacenter with independent power, cooling, and networking, so if one zone fails, the other two replicas still serve both reads and writes with no manual failover. This directly satisfies the requirement of staying available when one availability zone fails.
- ✓
Geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS).
Why this is correct
Geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS) starts with the same three-zone synchronous replication as ZRS in the primary region, then asynchronously copies data to a secondary paired region for additional disaster recovery. Because the primary copy is zone-redundant, an availability zone outage in the primary does not interrupt availability; GZRS therefore also meets the stated scenario. The trade-off is higher cost and additional geo-failover complexity.
- ✗
Locally redundant storage (LRS).
Why it's wrong here
Locally redundant storage (LRS) places three synchronous copies within the same storage scale unit in one data center, which resides in a single availability zone. This protects against disk and server failures, but an entire availability-zone outage takes down all three copies. Because the requirement is precisely to survive losing one availability zone, LRS is not sufficient.
When this WOULD be correct
A question that asks for the lowest-cost redundancy option within a single data center, or for a storage solution that tolerates server failures but not zone failures, such as: 'Which storage redundancy option provides three copies of data within a single availability zone at the lowest cost?'
- ✗
Geo-redundant storage (GRS).
Why it's wrong here
Geo-redundant storage (GRS) replicates data asynchronously to a single secondary region, but in the primary region it relies on three copies in one data center (LRS). Those primary copies are all in the same availability zone, so an availability-zone failure can make the primary endpoint unreachable. The secondary copy only helps after a regional failover, not for a single zone outage.
When this WOULD be correct
A question that asks for a storage option that remains available if an entire region fails, but does not require availability zone resilience within the primary region. For example: 'Which storage redundancy option provides data durability by replicating to a secondary region, but does not require protection against a single availability zone failure?'
- ✗
Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS).
Why it's wrong here
Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) is identical to GRS but adds read access to the secondary region. Its primary region still lacks zone redundancy, as the main endpoints are backed by LRS inside one zone; the secondary is also a single geo-replica rather than zone-redundant. While a secondary read endpoint might help during a disaster, write availability after a zone failure is not guaranteed, so it fails the stated test.
When this WOULD be correct
A question that requires data to remain readable even if the entire primary region becomes unavailable, such as 'Which storage option allows read access during a regional outage?' would make RA-GRS correct.
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.
✓Zone-redundant storage (ZRS).Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) synchronously replicates each write across three availability zones within the primary region. Each zone is a physically separate datacenter with independent power, cooling, and networking, so if one zone fails, the other two replicas still serve both reads and writes with no manual failover. This directly satisfies the requirement of staying available when one availability zone fails.
✗Locally redundant storage (LRS).Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Locally redundant storage (LRS) replicates data three times within a single availability zone in the primary region. If that zone fails, the storage becomes unavailable, so it does not meet the requirement of staying available if one availability zone fails.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question that asks for the lowest-cost redundancy option within a single data center, or for a storage solution that tolerates server failures but not zone failures, such as: 'Which storage redundancy option provides three copies of data within a single availability zone at the lowest cost?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may mistakenly think LRS provides zone-level redundancy because it replicates data three times, but they overlook that all copies are in the same zone, making it vulnerable to zone failures.
✗Geo-redundant storage (GRS).Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Geo-redundant storage (GRS) replicates data to a secondary region, but within the primary region it uses locally redundant storage (LRS), which does not survive an availability zone failure. Therefore, GRS does not meet the requirement of staying available if one availability zone in the primary region fails.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question that asks for a storage option that remains available if an entire region fails, but does not require availability zone resilience within the primary region. For example: 'Which storage redundancy option provides data durability by replicating to a secondary region, but does not require protection against a single availability zone failure?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse geo-redundancy with zone-redundancy, thinking that replication to another region inherently protects against local zone failures, or they may overlook that GRS uses LRS in the primary region.
✗Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS).Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
RA-GRS provides read access to the secondary region during a regional failure, but it does not protect against a single availability zone failure in the primary region because it uses LRS within the primary region, which can lose data if that zone fails.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question that requires data to remain readable even if the entire primary region becomes unavailable, such as 'Which storage option allows read access during a regional outage?' would make RA-GRS correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think RA-GRS offers zone-level redundancy because it has geo-replication, but they overlook that the primary region still uses LRS, which is vulnerable to zone failures.
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?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Managed Identities for Azure Resources
Key term
High availability
High availability is a system design approach that aims to keep applications and services operational and accessible with minimal downtime, even when some components fail.
Key term
ZRS
ZRS (Zone Redundant Storage) is a data storage option in Microsoft Azure that automatically replicates your data across multiple physical locations within a single region to keep it safe even if an entire data center goes down.
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JA
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.