- A
LRS, because it keeps three copies within a single datacenter and is the least expensive option.
Why wrong: LRS protects against disk or node loss within one datacenter, but not against a zone outage. It does not meet the requirement to survive an availability zone failure.
- B
ZRS, because it replicates data across zones in the same region and stays available through a zone outage.
ZRS stores synchronous copies across multiple availability zones in one region. That design keeps the data available if one zone becomes unavailable, while avoiding the extra complexity of a secondary region.
- C
GRS, because it keeps a readable copy in the paired region and is always the best choice for resilience.
Why wrong: GRS adds asynchronous replication to a secondary region, but it does not specifically protect against a zone outage in the primary region. The question does not require secondary-region read access.
- D
RA-GRS, because it provides read access to the secondary region and is required for zone-level resilience.
Why wrong: RA-GRS is useful when you need read access to a secondary region, but that is not the stated requirement. It also does not directly address zone-level resilience in the primary region.
Quick Answer
The answer is Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS), because it replicates data synchronously across three Azure availability zones within the same region, ensuring the finance application’s invoice PDFs remain available even if one zone fails. This directly meets the business requirement for zone-level resilience without needing a secondary region for read access, which would be the case with geo-redundant options. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how ZRS differs from LRS (single-zone) and GRS (cross-region) redundancy—a common trap is confusing ZRS with geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS), which adds a secondary region. Remember the key distinction: ZRS keeps data within the region but spreads it across zones, while GZRS adds a remote copy. For a memory tip, think “ZRS = Zone Resilience, Same region” to quickly recall that it protects against a single zone outage without leaving the region.
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 finance application stores monthly invoice PDFs in Azure Blob Storage. The business wants the data to remain available if one availability zone in the region becomes unavailable, but it does not require a secondary region for read access. Which redundancy option should the administrator choose?
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
ZRS, because it replicates data across zones in the same region and stays available through a zone outage.
B is correct because Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) synchronously replicates data across three Azure availability zones within the same region, ensuring that if one zone becomes unavailable, the data remains accessible from the other zones. This meets the business requirement of staying available during a zone outage without needing a secondary region for read access.
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.
- ✗
LRS, because it keeps three copies within a single datacenter and is the least expensive option.
Why it's wrong here
LRS protects against disk or node loss within one datacenter, but not against a zone outage. It does not meet the requirement to survive an availability zone failure.
- ✓
ZRS, because it replicates data across zones in the same region and stays available through a zone outage.
Why this is correct
ZRS stores synchronous copies across multiple availability zones in one region. That design keeps the data available if one zone becomes unavailable, while avoiding the extra complexity of a secondary region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
GRS, because it keeps a readable copy in the paired region and is always the best choice for resilience.
Why it's wrong here
GRS adds asynchronous replication to a secondary region, but it does not specifically protect against a zone outage in the primary region. The question does not require secondary-region read access.
- ✗
RA-GRS, because it provides read access to the secondary region and is required for zone-level resilience.
Why it's wrong here
RA-GRS is useful when you need read access to a secondary region, but that is not the stated requirement. It also does not directly address zone-level resilience in the primary region.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse ZRS with LRS, assuming that three copies in a single datacenter (LRS) are sufficient for zone-level resilience, when in fact LRS does not span availability zones and offers no protection against a full zone outage.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
ZRS uses synchronous replication across availability zones within the same region, achieving a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of zero and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) typically within minutes, as no data is lost during a zone failure. Under the hood, Azure distributes the three replicas across physically separate zones with independent power, cooling, and networking, ensuring that a single zone outage does not affect data durability. In a real-world scenario, if a finance application uses ZRS for invoice PDFs, it can continue serving read and write requests even if one zone experiences a disaster, without failing over to another region.
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
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Implement and Manage Storage — This question tests Implement and Manage Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: ZRS, because it replicates data across zones in the same region and stays available through a zone outage. — B is correct because Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) synchronously replicates data across three Azure availability zones within the same region, ensuring that if one zone becomes unavailable, the data remains accessible from the other zones. This meets the business requirement of staying available during a zone outage without needing a secondary region for read access.
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.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
3 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. A line-of-business application stores transaction logs in an Azure Storage account. The app must keep working if one availability zone in the primary region fails, and administrators want read access to the secondary copy if the primary region becomes unavailable. Which redundancy option should you choose?
medium- A.LRS, because it keeps three local copies in one datacenter and is the simplest choice.
- B.RA-GRS, because it provides geo-replication and read access to the secondary region.
- C.GZRS, because it combines zone redundancy in the primary region with geo-replication.
- ✓ D.RA-GZRS, because it keeps the primary region zone-redundant and allows read access to the secondary copy.
Why D: RA-GZRS (Read-Access Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage) is correct because it combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) across availability zones in the primary region, ensuring continued operation if one zone fails, with geo-replication to a secondary region. Additionally, the 'RA' prefix enables read access to the secondary copy if the primary region becomes unavailable, meeting both requirements.
Variation 2. A finance archive stores critical blobs in an Azure region that supports availability zones. The data must survive a single zone failure and also remain available if the primary region becomes unavailable. The team does not need a read-only endpoint in the secondary region during normal operations. Which two redundancy models satisfy the requirement? Select two.
hard- A.LRS
- B.ZRS
- C.GRS
- ✓ D.GZRS
- ✓ E.RA-GZRS
Why D: D (GZRS) is correct because it combines zone-redundant storage (ZRS) within the primary region to survive a single zone failure with geo-redundancy (GRS) to replicate data asynchronously to a secondary region, ensuring availability if the primary region becomes unavailable. Since the team does not need a read-only endpoint in the secondary region during normal operations, GZRS (which does not provide read access to the secondary region unless a failover occurs) meets the requirement without the extra cost or feature of RA-GZRS.
Variation 3. A backup archive must survive a regional outage, and engineers need to read the secondary copy if the primary region is unavailable. Which two redundancy options meet both requirements? Select two.
medium- A.LRS
- B.ZRS
- C.GRS
- ✓ D.RA-GRS
- ✓ E.RA-GZRS
Why D: RA-GRS (Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage) is correct because it provides geo-redundant replication (GRS) that replicates data to a secondary region, ensuring survival of a regional outage, and additionally enables read access to the secondary copy even when the primary region is unavailable. This meets both requirements: disaster recovery and read availability during primary region failure.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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