An operations team must administer Windows and Linux VMs that have no public IP addresses. They want to connect from a browser without installing a VPN client and without exposing RDP or SSH to the internet. Which Azure service should they deploy?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
Azure Load Balancer
A load balancer distributes traffic to back-end targets, but it does not provide interactive secure management access.
Best answer
Azure Bastion
Azure Bastion provides secure browser-based RDP and SSH access to VMs in a virtual network without needing public IP addresses on the VMs. It also avoids exposing management ports directly to the internet and does not require the user to install a VPN client. This makes it a strong fit for controlled administrative access in locked-down environments.
Distractor review
VPN Gateway point-to-site only
A VPN Gateway requires a client or network tunnel and is not the same as browser-based VM management access.
Distractor review
Application Gateway
Application Gateway is for HTTP/HTTPS application delivery, not direct administrative sessions to VM operating systems.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A route table contains these entries: 10.0.0.0/8 with next hop Virtual appliance, and 10.1.1.0/24 with next hop Virtual network gateway. Which next hop will Azure use for traffic to 10.1.1.5?
Question 2
You are deploying a stateless web application on Azure virtual machines. The solution must automatically add and remove instances based on CPU demand and allow all instances to be managed as one logical group. Which Azure compute feature should you deploy?
Question 3
You are deploying a Windows Server VM for an internal app. The VM must support Secure Boot and vTPM later, its OS disk must survive host moves, and the team wants the lowest-cost managed disk tier that still behaves like a normal writable OS disk. Which two choices should you make? Select two.
Question 4
You need to deploy several identical virtual machines and ensure that the failure of a single Azure host does not affect all of them. Which feature should you use?
Question 5
You need to connect VNet-Hub and VNet-Spoke so that resources in both virtual networks can communicate privately over the Microsoft backbone. Both virtual networks are in the same region. What should you configure?
Question 6
You need to create a storage account that provides the lowest-cost redundant storage for non-critical data and only needs protection against local disk or server failure within a single datacenter. Which redundancy option should you choose?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Bastion — Azure Bastion is purpose-built for secure RDP and SSH access over the Azure portal or supported browser workflow. Because the VM does not need a public IP address, management ports stay off the internet, which reduces attack surface. The requirement explicitly says no VPN client and browser access only, which matches Bastion much better than VPN Gateway or any load-balancing service. It is the standard secure-management choice in this situation. Why others are wrong: A and D are application traffic services, not VM management tools. C can provide private network access, but it still depends on a VPN connection model and does not directly satisfy the browser-only requirement.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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