The answer is the Activity log and Resource diagnostic logs. The Activity log records subscription-level events, including who created, modified, or deleted a resource, making it essential for investigating administrative changes, while Resource diagnostic logs capture platform-generated events emitted by the resource itself, such as Azure SQL Database audit logs or network security group flow logs. On the AZ-104 exam, this tests your understanding of how both log types can be sent to a Log Analytics workspace for querying with KQL, and a common trap is confusing the Activity log’s tenant-wide scope with the resource-specific nature of diagnostic logs. To remember, think of the Activity log as the “who did what” for the entire subscription, and Resource diagnostic logs as the “what happened inside” a specific resource.
AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of monitor and maintain azure resources. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A subscription admin wants to investigate who changed a resource and also review the platform-generated events for that subscription. Which two types of logs can be sent to Log Analytics and queried later? Select two.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Activity log entries
The Activity log (option A) records subscription-level events such as who created, modified, or deleted a resource, making it essential for investigating administrative changes. Resource diagnostic logs (option B) capture platform-generated events emitted by a resource itself (e.g., Azure SQL Database audit logs, network security group flow logs), which can be sent to Log Analytics for querying. Both log types can be configured to stream to a Log Analytics workspace, enabling Kusto Query Language (KQL) analysis.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Activity log entries
Why this is correct
Activity logs record subscription-level events such as create, update, and delete operations.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Resource diagnostic logs
Why this is correct
Diagnostic logs capture service-specific events and can be sent to a workspace.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Backup vault names
Why it's wrong here
Vault names are configuration details, not a log type that can be queried.
✗
Virtual network address spaces
Why it's wrong here
Address spaces describe networking, but they are not log records for analysis.
✗
Managed disk size settings
Why it's wrong here
Disk size is a resource property, not a log stream for Log Analytics.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse resource diagnostic logs (which are platform-generated events from the resource) with Activity logs (which are subscription-level administrative events), and mistakenly think configuration properties like disk sizes or address spaces are loggable events.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Activity log is a subscription-level log stored in the Azure Monitor platform, with a retention of 90 days by default; it uses the 'Administrative' category for resource changes. Resource diagnostic logs are resource-specific and can include categories like 'Audit', 'Security', or 'Performance', with schema varying by resource provider. In a real-world scenario, an admin might query the Activity log for 'Write' operations to find who deleted a storage account, then cross-reference resource diagnostic logs from Azure Key Vault to see if the deletion was preceded by unauthorized access attempts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — This question tests Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Activity log entries — The Activity log (option A) records subscription-level events such as who created, modified, or deleted a resource, making it essential for investigating administrative changes. Resource diagnostic logs (option B) capture platform-generated events emitted by a resource itself (e.g., Azure SQL Database audit logs, network security group flow logs), which can be sent to Log Analytics for querying. Both log types can be configured to stream to a Log Analytics workspace, enabling Kusto Query Language (KQL) analysis.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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