AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of monitor and maintain azure resources. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
Exhibit
Recovery Services vault: RSV-Prod
Protected item: vm-app-03
Current backup policy
---------------------
Backup frequency: Daily
Backup time: 23:00
Instant restore snapshots: 2 days
Daily retention: 7 days
Weekly retention: Not configured
Monthly retention: Not configured
Yearly retention: Not configured
Requirement
-----------
Keep daily recovery points for 30 days
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?
Recovery Services vault: RSV-Prod
Protected item: vm-app-03
Current backup policy
---------------------
Backup frequency: Daily
Backup time: 23:00
Instant restore snapshots: 2 days
Daily retention: 7 days
Weekly retention: Not configured
Monthly retention: Not configured
Yearly retention: Not configured
Requirement
-----------
Keep daily recovery points for 30 days
A
Create a new VM and attach the existing backup vault to it.
Why wrong: Adding a new VM does not alter retention for the already protected VM or its backup schedule.
B
Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days.
The schedule is already correct, so the only missing setting is retention. Updating the backup policy to keep daily recovery points for 30 days satisfies the requirement without changing the vault or protected item.
C
Enable soft delete on the vault.
Why wrong: Soft delete protects deleted backup data for a grace period, but it does not extend the planned retention duration for valid recovery points.
D
Move the VM to another availability zone.
Why wrong: Availability zones improve compute resilience, but they do not change backup schedule or retention settings.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days.
Option B is correct because 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.
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.
✗
Create a new VM and attach the existing backup vault to it.
Why it's wrong here
Adding a new VM does not alter retention for the already protected VM or its backup schedule.
✓
Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days.
Why this is correct
The schedule is already correct, so the only missing setting is retention. Updating the backup policy to keep daily recovery points for 30 days satisfies the requirement without changing the vault or protected item.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable soft delete on the vault.
Why it's wrong here
Soft delete protects deleted backup data for a grace period, but it does not extend the planned retention duration for valid recovery points.
✗
Move the VM to another availability zone.
Why it's wrong here
Availability zones improve compute resilience, but they do not change backup schedule or retention settings.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think they need to create a new policy or modify the VM (e.g., move it to another zone) to change retention, when in fact Azure Backup allows direct editing of the existing policy's retention duration without any other infrastructure changes.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Backup policies consist of a backup schedule and a retention rule set, where retention is defined by a combination of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly retention points. When you edit a policy, the change applies to all associated protected items (VMs) without requiring reconfiguration of the backup engine; the new retention setting takes effect for future recovery points, while existing recovery points are retained according to the old policy until they expire. This is implemented via the Azure Backup Management Plane, which uses a retention window based on the number of days specified, and recovery points are automatically pruned when they exceed the retention duration.
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.
Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — This question tests Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days. — Option B is correct because 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.
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.
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Question Discussion
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