AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
An administrator enabled diagnostic settings on a storage account and selected the resource-specific table format for Log Analytics. A coworker later queried AzureDiagnostics and received no rows. What should the administrator tell the coworker to do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume all diagnostic logs always land in the AzureDiagnostics table, overlooking the 'Resource specific' destination table format option that creates dedicated tables per resource type.
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
✓
Query the dedicated storage resource tables created by the diagnostic setting instead of AzureDiagnostics
When diagnostic settings are configured to use the 'Resource specific' destination table format, logs are sent to dedicated tables named after the resource type (e.g., StorageBlobLogs, StorageQueueLogs) rather than the legacy AzureDiagnostics table. Querying AzureDiagnostics returns no rows because logs are not written there under this format. The coworker must query the appropriate resource-specific table instead.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Query the dedicated storage resource tables created by the diagnostic setting instead of AzureDiagnostics
Why this is correct
Correct. When a diagnostic setting is configured to export logs to a Log Analytics workspace, you choose between the legacy AzureDiagnostics table and resource-specific tables. For storage accounts that have resource-specific mode enabled, logs are written to dedicated tables such as StorageBlobLogs, StorageQueueLogs, and StorageTableLogs, not to AzureDiagnostics. Therefore, to retrieve the logs you must query the appropriate resource-specific table, because AzureDiagnostics will remain empty for these records.
- ✗
Recreate the storage account because AzureDiagnostics is only populated by new resources
Why it's wrong here
Wrong. Recreating the storage account has no effect on the table selection in the combined diagnostic setting; if you configure the new storage account with the same diagnostic settings that use resource-specific mode, the logs will still be sent to dedicated tables such as StorageBlobLogs rather than AzureDiagnostics. The absence of data in AzureDiagnostics is caused by the destination-table mode, not by the age or identity of the storage account. Recreating the account without changing the diagnostic setting's table mode would reproduce the same issue.
When this WOULD be correct
If a storage account was created after enabling diagnostic settings and the coworker queries AzureDiagnostics immediately, but the diagnostic settings were configured on an existing storage account, the new storage account would not have diagnostic settings enabled, so AzureDiagnostics would be empty. Recreating the storage account would allow enabling diagnostic settings from the start.
- ✗
Change the storage account replication type to GRS so diagnostic logs are duplicated
Why it's wrong here
Wrong. Changing the storage account replication from LRS to GRS only affects how the storage account's data is redundantly copied across Azure data centers for durability and high availability. Diagnostic logs are sent directly from the resource to the Log Analytics workspace via the diagnostic setting, independent of the storage account's replication configuration. Thus, GRS does not duplicate or redirect log entries into AzureDiagnostics or any other workspace table, so it cannot solve the missing log problem.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question asked how to ensure storage account durability for disaster recovery scenarios, selecting GRS replication would be correct to maintain data availability across regions.
- ✗
Enable Azure Monitor metrics collection on the storage account before querying AzureDiagnostics
Why it's wrong here
Wrong. Azure Monitor metrics and diagnostic logs are completely separate telemetry channels; enabling metrics collection on the storage account sends numeric performance and availability metrics to Azure Monitor Metrics, not to Log Analytics. These metrics are stored in a time-series database and cannot populate AzureDiagnostics or any log table. Adding metrics collection will not cause existing diagnostic log streaming to start writing into AzureDiagnostics, and it does not alter the destination table mode configured in the diagnostic setting.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question asked how to ensure storage account metrics (e.g., transactions, latency) are available in Azure Monitor for alerting or analysis, enabling metrics collection would be the correct step.
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.
✓Query the dedicated storage resource tables created by the diagnostic setting instead of AzureDiagnosticsCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Correct. When a diagnostic setting is configured to export logs to a Log Analytics workspace, you choose between the legacy AzureDiagnostics table and resource-specific tables. For storage accounts that have resource-specific mode enabled, logs are written to dedicated tables such as StorageBlobLogs, StorageQueueLogs, and StorageTableLogs, not to AzureDiagnostics. Therefore, to retrieve the logs you must query the appropriate resource-specific table, because AzureDiagnostics will remain empty for these records.
✗Recreate the storage account because AzureDiagnostics is only populated by new resourcesWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AzureDiagnostics is only populated when diagnostic settings use the AzureDiagnostics table format, not the resource-specific table format. Since the administrator selected resource-specific tables, the data is stored in dedicated tables, not AzureDiagnostics.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If a storage account was created after enabling diagnostic settings and the coworker queries AzureDiagnostics immediately, but the diagnostic settings were configured on an existing storage account, the new storage account would not have diagnostic settings enabled, so AzureDiagnostics would be empty. Recreating the storage account would allow enabling diagnostic settings from the start.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that diagnostic data is only collected from the moment of resource creation, and that older resources don't populate AzureDiagnostics, leading them to believe recreating the resource is necessary.
✗Change the storage account replication type to GRS so diagnostic logs are duplicatedWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Changing replication to GRS does not affect Log Analytics table population; diagnostic logs are sent to Log Analytics independently of replication settings.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question asked how to ensure storage account durability for disaster recovery scenarios, selecting GRS replication would be correct to maintain data availability across regions.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse replication as a way to duplicate logs, not realizing that diagnostic settings send data directly to Log Analytics regardless of replication.
✗Enable Azure Monitor metrics collection on the storage account before querying AzureDiagnosticsWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Enabling Azure Monitor metrics collection does not affect the population of AzureDiagnostics or resource-specific tables. Metrics are separate from diagnostic logs and do not generate log entries.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question asked how to ensure storage account metrics (e.g., transactions, latency) are available in Azure Monitor for alerting or analysis, enabling metrics collection would be the correct step.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse diagnostic settings with metrics collection, thinking that enabling metrics will also populate log tables, or believe that logs require metrics to be enabled first.
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?”
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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.