A virtual machine is already protected by Azure Backup. The business wants the VM backed up every day at 11:00 PM and wants daily recovery points retained for 30 days, without re-onboarding the VM. What should the administrator modify?
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.
Distractor review
Create a new Recovery Services vault and re-register the VM
A new vault is unnecessary for changing retention or schedule, and re-registering adds avoidable operational work.
Best answer
Modify the backup policy associated with the protected VM
Backup schedule and retention are controlled by the backup policy in the Recovery Services vault. Updating that policy changes how future recovery points are created and retained for the protected VM. This is the correct operational object to edit because the VM is already onboarded and the requirement is to adjust policy settings, not the vault itself.
Distractor review
Install a new VM extension to change retention behavior
VM extensions are not used to define Azure Backup schedules or retention periods for Recovery Services vault protection.
Distractor review
Take a manual snapshot of the VM disk every night
Snapshots are not the same as Azure Backup policy-based protection and do not provide the same retention management or restore workflow.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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.
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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
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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
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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?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Modify the backup policy associated with the protected VM — The backup policy in the Recovery Services vault defines both the schedule and the retention configuration for protected Azure VMs. If the VM is already protected, the administrator should update that policy to change the backup time and the number of days recovery points are kept. This avoids re-registering the VM and keeps all backup management centralized in the vault. Why others are wrong: Creating a new vault is unnecessary and would complicate management. VM extensions do not control Azure Backup retention or scheduling. Manual snapshots are useful for certain point-in-time tasks, but they are not a replacement for policy-driven Azure Backup protection and retention.
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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