AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
A team has an approved Windows VM that already includes patches, a monitoring agent, and line-of-business software. They want future VMs to start from that same build. What should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse a snapshot (which is a disk-level backup) with a custom image (which is a deployable template that includes the OS and all software), leading candidates to choose the snapshot option because they think it can be used directly to create a VM with the same configuration.
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
✓
A custom image
A custom image captures the exact state of a VM, including installed patches, monitoring agents, and line-of-business software, allowing you to create multiple identical VMs from that golden image. Unlike a snapshot, which is tied to a specific disk and requires manual steps to create a VM, a custom image is stored as a managed image resource that can be used directly during VM provisioning via the Azure portal, CLI, or ARM templates.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
A custom image
Why this is correct
A custom image is the best option when you want future VMs to start from an approved, preconfigured build. The image captures the operating system plus installed software and settings so you can deploy consistent new VMs from the same baseline. This is a common way to standardize environments and speed up repeat deployments.
- ✗
A snapshot of the OS disk
Why it's wrong here
A snapshot is a point-in-time, dependent copy of an OS or data disk that preserves the exact state of the disk at capture time, including machine-specific identifiers. You can create a new VM from a snapshot, but it is not generalized or intended to serve as a versioned, reusable baseline for deploying multiple standardized VMs. Snapshots also do not support the image-based life cycle of patching, capturing, and replicating an approved software build.
When this WOULD be correct
When you need to create a backup or restore a specific VM to its exact state at the time of the snapshot, or when you want to create a new VM from a snapshot of a failed VM for disaster recovery purposes, without needing to generalize the OS.
- ✗
An availability set
Why it's wrong here
An availability set is a logical placement construct in Azure that distributes VMs across separate fault domains and update domains to protect against hardware failures and planned maintenance downtime. It defines how VMs are physically arranged in the datacenter, but it captures no operating system, installed patches, applications, or configuration settings. Therefore, it cannot be used as a template or source artifact for creating new, already-patched VMs.
When this WOULD be correct
When a question asks how to ensure that two or more VMs are not placed on the same physical hardware during maintenance or failure events, an availability set is the correct answer.
- ✗
A larger VM size
Why it's wrong here
Selecting a larger VM size simply increases the compute resources (vCPUs, memory, and temporary storage) assigned to an existing virtual machine. This change does not read or modify the contents of the OS disk, so it cannot preserve the installed patches or any other software configuration. Resizing is a capacity scaling operation, not a mechanism for creating reusable deployment artifacts, and thus it fails to address the need for a standardized VM build.
When this WOULD be correct
When a VM is experiencing performance bottlenecks (e.g., high CPU or memory usage) and the question asks for a solution to improve performance without changing the underlying configuration or software.
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.
✓A custom imageCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
A custom image is the best option when you want future VMs to start from an approved, preconfigured build. The image captures the operating system plus installed software and settings so you can deploy consistent new VMs from the same baseline. This is a common way to standardize environments and speed up repeat deployments.
✗A snapshot of the OS diskWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A snapshot of the OS disk captures the disk state at a point in time but cannot be used directly to deploy new VMs; it must first be converted to a managed disk or image, and it does not include the data disks or the generalized sysprep state required for creating multiple VMs.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
When you need to create a backup or restore a specific VM to its exact state at the time of the snapshot, or when you want to create a new VM from a snapshot of a failed VM for disaster recovery purposes, without needing to generalize the OS.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think a snapshot is equivalent to an image because both capture the disk state, but they overlook that snapshots are not directly deployable as new VMs and lack the generalization step required for creating multiple identical VMs.
✗An availability setWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
An availability set is used to ensure high availability by grouping VMs across fault and update domains, not for creating reusable VM configurations.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
When a question asks how to ensure that two or more VMs are not placed on the same physical hardware during maintenance or failure events, an availability set is the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse availability sets with image management, thinking that grouping VMs in an availability set somehow standardizes their configuration.
✗A larger VM sizeWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A larger VM size only provides more compute resources (CPU/RAM) but does not capture the pre-configured OS, patches, monitoring agent, or line-of-business software needed to replicate the approved build.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
When a VM is experiencing performance bottlenecks (e.g., high CPU or memory usage) and the question asks for a solution to improve performance without changing the underlying configuration or software.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may mistakenly think that a larger VM size can 'include' the same software and settings, confusing hardware scaling with image-based deployment.
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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About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every AZ-104 question from scratch — 1,049 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.