AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  You can increase the managed disk size without redeploying the VM.

  Why this is correct

  Azure managed disks can be expanded in place without redeploying the VM. You use the Azure portal, PowerShell, or CLI to increase the disk size on a running or stopped VM; this operation updates the disk resource itself, and the VM continues to use the same disk. No new VM is created and no OS reinstall is required.

• ✓

  You may need to extend the partition or filesystem inside the guest OS.

  Why this is correct

  After Azure expands a managed disk, the guest operating system does not automatically recognize the additional capacity. You typically need to extend the volume inside the VM using Disk Management on Windows or tools like growpart and resize2fs on Linux. This online resize completes the process and makes the new space available.

• ✗

  You must create a brand-new VM before resizing the disk.

  Why it's wrong here

  Creating a brand-new VM is not necessary when you need more data disk capacity. The disk resize is performed directly on the existing managed disk, which stays attached to the current VM. You can even add a new data disk without redeploying; a new VM is only required if the VM itself is corrupt or fails, not for storage expansion.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the question stated that the disk is an unmanaged disk stored in a storage account, or if the VM's size does not support the new disk capacity, you might need to create a new VM with appropriate storage configuration.

• ✗

  Resizing a disk always shrinks it back to a smaller size.

  Why it's wrong here

  Azure does not support shrinking a managed disk; the resize operation only increases capacity. When you change the disk size, you specify a larger value, and the disk grows, but you cannot reduce it. Therefore, the idea that resizing always shrinks the disk is incorrect because shrinking is not an available operation.

  When this WOULD be correct

  This option would be correct if the question asked about shrinking a disk or if it referred to a scenario where the disk is resized to a smaller size, such as when using a third-party tool to reduce the partition size and then detaching the disk to create a smaller managed disk from a snapshot.

• ✗

  The VM size must always change whenever disk capacity changes.

  Why it's wrong here

  The VM size and managed disk size are independent Azure resources. Changing the disk's capacity does not force you to change the VM's compute size, and you can alter the VM size without touching the disk. The disk is attached to the VM but is not tied to the SKU, so they do not always have to change together.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the question asked about increasing disk performance (IOPS/throughput) beyond the current VM size's limits, then you would need to resize the VM to a larger size that supports higher disk performance.

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.

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?”