How to Configure an Azure Backup Policy for Daily Backup and 30-Day Retention
Your team wants every protected Azure VM in a vault to be backed up once each day and kept for 30 days. Which Recovery Services vault setting should you configure?
Quick Answer
The answer is a backup policy. This is the correct choice because a backup policy is the Recovery Services vault setting that defines both the backup frequency and the retention duration, allowing you to configure a daily backup schedule and specify that backups be kept for 30 days. On the AZ-104 exam, this concept tests your understanding of how Azure Backup centralizes protection rules; a common trap is confusing backup policies with backup vaults or storage replication settings, but remember that the policy itself—not the vault type—controls timing and retention. A helpful memory tip is "Policy pairs frequency with retention," so when you need to set a daily backup and 30-day retention, you always configure the backup policy directly.
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse a backup policy with other vault settings like diagnostic settings or resource locks, thinking they control backup frequency or retention, when in fact only the backup policy directly defines the schedule and retention for protected items.
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 backup policy
A backup policy defines the frequency and retention duration for backups. By configuring a backup policy with a daily backup schedule and a retention period of 30 days, you ensure that each protected Azure VM in the Recovery Services vault is backed up once per day and the backups are kept for 30 days. This is the correct setting to meet the team's requirements.
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 diagnostic setting
Why it's wrong here
Diagnostic settings collect logs and metrics, but they do not define backup schedules or retention rules for virtual machines.
When this WOULD be correct
A diagnostic setting would be correct if the question asked: 'You need to send Azure Backup audit logs to a Log Analytics workspace for analysis. Which Recovery Services vault setting should you configure?'
- ✗
A resource lock
Why it's wrong here
A resource lock can prevent accidental deletion or changes, but it does not schedule backups or manage retention.
When this WOULD be correct
A resource lock would be correct if the question asked: 'You want to prevent accidental deletion of a Recovery Services vault. Which setting should you configure?'
- ✓
A backup policy
Why this is correct
A backup policy defines when backups run and how long recovery points are retained, which matches the daily backup and 30-day retention requirement.
- ✗
An action group
Why it's wrong here
An action group is for alert notifications and automation responses, not for controlling backup frequency or retention.
When this WOULD be correct
An action group would be correct if the question asked: 'You need to send an email to the operations team when a backup job fails. Which Recovery Services vault setting should you configure?'
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 backup policyCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
A backup policy defines when backups run and how long recovery points are retained, which matches the daily backup and 30-day retention requirement.
✗A diagnostic settingWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A diagnostic setting configures logging and metrics for the vault, not backup schedules or retention. It does not control how often backups occur or how long they are kept.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A diagnostic setting would be correct if the question asked: 'You need to send Azure Backup audit logs to a Log Analytics workspace for analysis. Which Recovery Services vault setting should you configure?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse diagnostic settings with backup policies because both involve configuration of the vault, and they might think 'diagnostic' relates to checking backup health or frequency.
✗A resource lockWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A resource lock prevents accidental deletion or modification of the Recovery Services vault, but it does not configure backup frequency or retention. The question asks for a setting that defines backup schedule and retention, which is a backup policy.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A resource lock would be correct if the question asked: 'You want to prevent accidental deletion of a Recovery Services vault. Which setting should you configure?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse resource locks with backup policies because both are associated with protecting resources, but locks protect the vault itself, not the backup schedule.
✗An action groupWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
An action group is used to define notifications and actions triggered by Azure Monitor alerts, not to configure backup schedules or retention. Backup frequency and retention are set via a backup policy.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An action group would be correct if the question asked: 'You need to send an email to the operations team when a backup job fails. Which Recovery Services vault setting should you configure?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse action groups with backup policies because both are associated with Recovery Services vaults and involve configuring responses to backup events, but action groups handle alerts, not schedules or retention.
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?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Managed Identities for Azure Resources
Key term
Recovery Services vault
A Recovery Services vault is a secure storage container in Microsoft Azure that holds backup data and replication settings for virtual machines, databases, and other cloud resources, enabling you to restore them if something goes wrong.
Key term
Policy
A policy is a set of rules or guidelines that defines how an organization manages, secures, and operates its IT systems and services.
About these practice questions
One of 1,049 original AZ-104 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on AZ-104
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. Based on the exhibit, a VM is protected by Azure Backup. The business wants daily backups at 11:00 PM, retention of daily recovery points for 30 days, and no changes to the existing vault or VM. The current policy already backs up every day but keeps recovery points for only 7 days. What should the administrator modify?
medium- A.Create a new VM and attach the existing backup vault to it.
- ✓ B.Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days.
- C.Enable soft delete on the vault.
- D.Move the VM to another availability zone.
Why B: The existing backup policy already performs daily backups at 11:00 PM, but its retention setting for daily recovery points is only 7 days. By editing the policy and changing the daily retention to 30 days, the administrator meets the business requirement without creating a new VM, altering the vault, or modifying the VM itself. Azure Backup policies allow modification of retention durations independently of backup frequency, so this is a straightforward configuration change.
Variation 2. Which two settings can you configure in an Azure Backup policy for a virtual machine? Select two.
easy- ✓ A.Backup schedule
- ✓ B.Retention period
- C.Virtual network peering
- D.Network security group rules
- E.Public IP allocation
Why A: An Azure Backup policy for a virtual machine includes a 'Backup schedule' setting that defines how often (e.g., daily or weekly) and at what time the backup job runs. This schedule controls the frequency of recovery point creation, which is essential for meeting recovery point objectives (RPOs).
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.