The answer is GZRS, or Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage. This option is correct because it combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) to survive a failure of any single availability zone within the primary region, while also replicating data to a paired secondary region for geo-disaster recovery. Crucially, the secondary copy remains read-only unless a failover is initiated, perfectly matching the requirement that no one reads from the secondary region unless a disaster recovery event occurs. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between redundancy tiers, with a common trap being to choose RA-GZRS, which provides read access to the secondary region at all times. Remember the memory tip: “GZRS is the silent guardian—it protects locally and geo-replicates, but only wakes up for disaster.”
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
An analytics platform stores daily export files in Azure Blob Storage. The business wants the storage account to survive a failure of any one availability zone and also keep a replicated copy in a paired region for disaster recovery. No one needs to read from the secondary region unless a disaster recovery event occurs. Which redundancy option should be used?
Why wrong: ZRS protects against a zone failure, but it does not replicate the data to another region.
B
GRS
Why wrong: GRS replicates to a paired region, but it does not protect against a zone failure in the primary region.
C
GZRS
GZRS is designed for workloads that need both zone resilience and geo-replication without requiring read access to the secondary region. It keeps the primary copy spread across zones in the region and replicates that data to a paired region for disaster recovery. That matches the requirement exactly.
D
RA-GRS
Why wrong: RA-GRS provides a readable secondary region, but it does not add zone resilience in the primary region.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
GZRS
C is correct because GZRS (Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage) combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) within the primary region, ensuring the storage account survives any single availability zone failure, with geo-redundant replication to a paired region for disaster recovery. The secondary region copy is read-only unless a failover is initiated, matching the requirement that no one reads from the secondary region unless a disaster recovery event occurs.
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.
✗
ZRS
Why it's wrong here
ZRS protects against a zone failure, but it does not replicate the data to another region.
✗
GRS
Why it's wrong here
GRS replicates to a paired region, but it does not protect against a zone failure in the primary region.
✓
GZRS
Why this is correct
GZRS is designed for workloads that need both zone resilience and geo-replication without requiring read access to the secondary region. It keeps the primary copy spread across zones in the region and replicates that data to a paired region for disaster recovery. That matches the requirement exactly.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
RA-GRS
Why it's wrong here
RA-GRS provides a readable secondary region, but it does not add zone resilience in the primary region.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse GZRS with RA-GZRS, assuming that geo-redundant storage always provides read-access to the secondary region, but GZRS does not—only RA-GZRS does, and the question explicitly states no one needs to read from the secondary region unless a disaster recovery event occurs.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
GZRS uses synchronous replication across three availability zones in the primary region (via ZRS) and asynchronous replication to a single zone in the paired region (via GRS). During a disaster recovery failover, the secondary region copy becomes the new primary, and the storage account's endpoint changes to the secondary region; until then, the secondary endpoint is not accessible for reads unless RA-GRS is explicitly enabled, which is not the case here.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Implement and Manage Storage — This question tests Implement and Manage Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: GZRS — C is correct because GZRS (Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage) combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) within the primary region, ensuring the storage account survives any single availability zone failure, with geo-redundant replication to a paired region for disaster recovery. The secondary region copy is read-only unless a failover is initiated, matching the requirement that no one reads from the secondary region unless a disaster recovery event occurs.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.