AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often 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.
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
✓
Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days.
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.
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
Creating a new VM and attaching the existing backup vault does nothing for the currently protected VM's retention or schedule. Backup policies are associated with the original protected item, and a new VM would simply be a separate workload with its own backup configuration. This action would not extend how long the existing VM's recovery points are kept, and it would require reinstalling or reconfiguring backup for the new VM, adding unnecessary overhead without solving the retention requirement.
When this WOULD be correct
This would be correct if the question stated that the existing VM is corrupted or needs to be replaced, and the new VM must be protected under the same backup vault with the desired retention policy.
- ✓
Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days.
Why this is correct
Editing the backup policy is the correct fix because Azure Backup applies retention settings at the policy level, not the vault or VM level. The existing schedule already creates daily recovery points, so the only missing requirement is keeping those daily points for 30 days. By modifying the daily retention duration in the policy to 30 days, you directly satisfy the stated retention goal without affecting other protected items or requiring any reconfiguration of the VM.
- ✗
Enable soft delete on the vault.
Why it's wrong here
Enabling soft delete on the vault is a misdirection because soft delete is a safety feature that retains deleted backup data for 14 days after a backup is deleted, not a mechanism to extend the planned retention of active recovery points. The requirement is about keeping daily recovery points for 30 days while the backup is active, which is governed entirely by the backup policy's retention rules. Soft delete would only come into play if the backup were removed, and even then it would not increase the 30-day retention duration for existing valid points.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question asked: 'The business wants to ensure that if a backup is accidentally deleted, it can be recovered within 14 days. What should the administrator configure?'
- ✗
Move the VM to another availability zone.
Why it's wrong here
Moving the VM to another availability zone is unrelated to Azure Backup configuration because the backup schedule and retention are defined by the backup policy, not by the VM's placement or redundancy settings. Availability zones affect compute availability and fault tolerance, but they have no bearing on how long recovery points are stored or how frequently backups are taken. This action would not modify the daily retention of the backup policy and would fail to meet the 30-day retention requirement entirely.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct in a scenario where the VM is in an availability set or zone that is experiencing failures, and the goal is to improve application availability by distributing VMs across zones. For example, a question asking how to increase VM resilience against datacenter failures.
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.
✓Edit the backup policy and change daily retention to 30 days.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Editing the backup policy is the correct fix because Azure Backup applies retention settings at the policy level, not the vault or VM level. The existing schedule already creates daily recovery points, so the only missing requirement is keeping those daily points for 30 days. By modifying the daily retention duration in the policy to 30 days, you directly satisfy the stated retention goal without affecting other protected items or requiring any reconfiguration of the VM.
✗Create a new VM and attach the existing backup vault to it.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Creating a new VM does not address the requirement to change retention for the existing VM's backups. The existing VM already has a backup policy that needs modification, not a new VM.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This would be correct if the question stated that the existing VM is corrupted or needs to be replaced, and the new VM must be protected under the same backup vault with the desired retention policy.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that creating a new VM is necessary to apply a new policy, not realizing that existing backup policies can be edited directly.
✗Enable soft delete on the vault.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Enabling soft delete on the vault does not change the retention period of recovery points; it only protects against accidental deletion of backup data. The requirement is to extend daily retention to 30 days, which is a policy setting, not a soft delete feature.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question asked: 'The business wants to ensure that if a backup is accidentally deleted, it can be recovered within 14 days. What should the administrator configure?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse soft delete with extending retention, thinking it helps retain backups longer, but soft delete is about recovery from deletion, not retention duration.
✗Move the VM to another availability zone.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Moving the VM to another availability zone does not change the backup retention period. The requirement is to extend daily recovery point retention from 7 to 30 days, which is a policy setting, not a zone change.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct in a scenario where the VM is in an availability set or zone that is experiencing failures, and the goal is to improve application availability by distributing VMs across zones. For example, a question asking how to increase VM resilience against datacenter failures.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates might confuse availability zones with backup or disaster recovery concepts, thinking that moving zones could affect backup retention or that it's a way to protect data longer.
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
Azure Backup
Azure Backup is a cloud-based service from Microsoft that protects your data by creating and storing backups of files, folders, virtual machines, databases, and entire servers in the Azure cloud.
Key term
Backup policy
A backup policy is a documented set of rules that defines what data to back up, how often, where to store it, and how long to keep it, ensuring data can be restored after loss.
About these practice questions
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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. 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?
easy- A.A diagnostic setting
- B.A resource lock
- ✓ C.A backup policy
- D.An action group
Why C: 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.
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.