The correct choices are a Virtual Machine Scale Set with autoscale and deploying across Availability Zones. This combination directly addresses both requirements because Availability Zones provide datacenter-level fault tolerance—each zone is an isolated physical datacenter with independent power, cooling, and networking—so if one zone fails, the application continues running in the others. Meanwhile, a Virtual Machine Scale Set with autoscale automatically adjusts the number of VM instances based on CPU or memory metrics, enabling the application to scale out during daily peaks and scale in during off-peak hours. On the AZ-104 exam, this pairing tests your understanding of how to separate fault tolerance from elasticity: a common trap is choosing a single-region deployment or a standalone VM, which lacks both zone redundancy and automatic scaling. Remember the mnemonic "Zones for zones, Scale for loads"—Availability Zones handle regional failures, while Scale Sets handle fluctuating demand.
AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of deploy and manage azure compute. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
A customer-facing application has two goals: it must keep running if one datacenter in the region fails, and it must be able to scale out automatically during daily peaks. Which two Azure compute choices best match those requirements? Select two.
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy the workload across Availability Zones
Option A is correct because deploying across Availability Zones provides datacenter-level fault tolerance: each zone is an isolated physical datacenter with independent power, cooling, and networking. If one zone fails, the application continues running in the other zones. Option C is correct because a Virtual Machine Scale Set with autoscale automatically adjusts the number of VM instances based on CPU or memory metrics, enabling the application to scale out during daily peaks and scale in during off-peak hours.
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.
✓
Deploy the workload across Availability Zones
Why this is correct
Zones place instances in separate datacenters to reduce outage impact.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Place all instances in one Availability Set
Why it's wrong here
Availability sets protect hosts, but not a full datacenter outage.
✓
Use a Virtual Machine Scale Set with autoscale
Why this is correct
Scale sets can add or remove identical instances automatically.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Run a single VM behind a load balancer
Why it's wrong here
One VM remains a single point of failure and does not scale out.
✗
Use a proximity placement group
Why it's wrong here
A placement group reduces latency, but it does not add resilience.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Availability Sets (which protect against rack failures) with Availability Zones (which protect against datacenter failures), and they may overlook that a single VM behind a load balancer still has a single point of failure.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Availability Zones are physically separate locations within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking, and they are connected through high-speed, low-latency links. Virtual Machine Scale Sets can be configured with a minimum instance count of 2 or more and spread across Availability Zones to combine zone-level fault tolerance with autoscaling. Under the hood, autoscale uses Azure Monitor metrics and a scale-out/scale-in rule engine that evaluates thresholds (e.g., average CPU > 75% for 5 minutes) to add or remove instances, and it respects cooldown periods to avoid flapping.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — This question tests Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy the workload across Availability Zones — Option A is correct because deploying across Availability Zones provides datacenter-level fault tolerance: each zone is an isolated physical datacenter with independent power, cooling, and networking. If one zone fails, the application continues running in the other zones. Option C is correct because a Virtual Machine Scale Set with autoscale automatically adjusts the number of VM instances based on CPU or memory metrics, enabling the application to scale out during daily peaks and scale in during off-peak hours.
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: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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 →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A stateless application must keep serving traffic if one datacenter in the region fails, and it must also add or remove instances during daily load spikes. Which two deployment choices should the administrator make? Select two.
hard
✓ A.Deploy the application on a virtual machine scale set.
✓ B.Configure the deployment to use availability zones.
C.Use a single availability set with one VM to reduce complexity.
D.Use a proximity placement group for the workload.
E.Deploy one larger VM with a premium SSD instead of multiple instances.
Why A: A virtual machine scale set (VMSS) allows automatic scaling of instances in response to load spikes, meeting the requirement to add or remove instances dynamically. Combined with availability zones, which distribute instances across physically separate datacenters within a region, the application remains available even if one entire datacenter fails. This pair ensures both high availability and elastic scaling for a stateless application.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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.