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 team stores exported reports in a storage account. They want the data to survive a zone failure and a regional outage, and if the primary region becomes unavailable they also want read-only access to the replica while failover is being planned. Which redundancy option should you select?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
RA-GZRS
RA-GZRS (Read-Access Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage) is correct because it combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) within the primary region with geo-redundant replication to a secondary region, and crucially provides read-only access to the secondary replica even when the primary region is available. This meets the requirement for data survival during both a zone failure and a regional outage, while allowing read-only access to the replica during failover planning.
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.
✗
GZRS
Why it's wrong here
GZRS gives zone redundancy and geo-replication, but it does not provide read access to the secondary region.
✓
RA-GZRS
Why this is correct
RA-GZRS combines zone-redundant storage with geo-replication and also allows read access to the secondary region.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
RA-GRS
Why it's wrong here
RA-GRS allows read access to the secondary region, but it does not provide zone-level redundancy in the primary region.
✗
ZRS
Why it's wrong here
ZRS protects against a zone failure, but it does not replicate data to a paired region for disaster recovery.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse GZRS with RA-GZRS, forgetting that the 'RA' prefix is required to enable read access to the secondary region before a failover occurs.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
RA-GZRS replicates data synchronously across three Azure availability zones in the primary region using ZRS, then asynchronously copies it to a single physical location in a paired secondary region using GRS. The read-only endpoint (e.g., `-secondary.blob.core.windows.net`) is always available for reads, but the data may lag behind the primary by up to 15 minutes (the Recovery Point Objective, RPO). This is ideal for scenarios where you need continuous read access to a copy during a regional disaster while deciding whether to initiate a failover.
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: RA-GZRS — RA-GZRS (Read-Access Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage) is correct because it combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) within the primary region with geo-redundant replication to a secondary region, and crucially provides read-only access to the secondary replica even when the primary region is available. This meets the requirement for data survival during both a zone failure and a regional outage, while allowing read-only access to the replica during failover planning.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
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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