Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A Windows VM and a Linux VM in Azure need to use the same shared folder for application artifacts. The team wants a managed file service instead of running a separate file server VM, and both operating systems must be able to mount the share using a standard protocol. Which solution should the administrator implement?
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
Create a blob container and mount it as a file system from both virtual machines.
Blob containers are object storage, not a shared file system in the same sense as a file share. They do not provide the typical mounting experience expected for Windows and Linux workloads in this scenario. This option does not meet the requirement for a standard shared folder.
B
Best answer
Create an Azure Files share and mount it over SMB from both virtual machines.
Azure Files is the managed file service designed for shared file access. SMB is supported by Windows natively and can also be mounted from Linux using standard tools. This gives both VMs access to the same share without introducing a separate file server VM, which fits the requirement precisely.
C
Distractor review
Use an Azure managed disk and attach it to both virtual machines.
A managed disk is not intended as a general shared file service for multiple VMs in this way. It is normally attached to one VM, and sharing it does not provide the same simple multi-platform file access model as Azure Files. This would create management and availability problems.
D
Distractor review
Create an Azure Files share and force the Linux VM to use NFS while the Windows VM uses SMB.
Azure Files can support different protocols in some scenarios, but this split-protocol design is unnecessary here and is not the simplest common approach. The requirement is a standard shared protocol that both systems can mount consistently, which makes SMB the better choice for this workload.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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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
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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?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an Azure Files share and mount it over SMB from both virtual machines. — Azure Files is the managed Azure service for shared file storage, and SMB is the common protocol that Windows supports natively and Linux can mount with standard clients. Using Azure Files avoids deploying and maintaining a separate file server VM. It also gives the operations team a single shared location for application artifacts that both operating systems can access consistently. Why others are wrong: Blob storage is object storage and is not the right fit for a shared folder use case. A managed disk is not designed for convenient multi-VM shared access. The mixed SMB/NFS approach is unnecessary and does not match the simplest interoperable design for both Windows and Linux clients in this scenario.
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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