The answer is to increase the window size to 10 minutes while keeping the evaluation frequency at 1 minute. This is correct because the window size defines the period over which the metric is aggregated—here, a 10-minute rolling average—so the alert will only fire when the average CPU remains above 80% for the full duration, effectively filtering out short-lived spikes from nightly maintenance. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how metric alert evaluation frequency and window size interact to reduce noisy alerts; a common trap is confusing evaluation frequency (how often the condition is checked) with window size (the aggregation period). Remember: the window size is the “bucket” that smooths out noise, while evaluation frequency is just the check interval. A useful memory tip is “bigger window, less noise”—a larger window size filters transient spikes, ensuring alerts trigger only on sustained patterns.
AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of monitor and maintain azure resources. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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
Alert rule name: CPUSpikeAlert
Scope: /subscriptions/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/resourceGroups/RG-App/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/VM1
Condition: Average Percentage CPU > 80
Window size: 5 minutes
Evaluation frequency: 1 minute
Action group: Ops-Email
Recent alert history: 6 alerts between 23:10 and 23:25 during patching
Based on the exhibit, the operations team says the alert is too noisy because short CPU spikes after nightly maintenance trigger notifications. They want an alert only when VM1's average CPU stays above 80% for at least 10 minutes. What should you change?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Alert rule name: CPUSpikeAlert
Scope: /subscriptions/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/resourceGroups/RG-App/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/VM1
Condition: Average Percentage CPU > 80
Window size: 5 minutes
Evaluation frequency: 1 minute
Action group: Ops-Email
Recent alert history: 6 alerts between 23:10 and 23:25 during patching
A
Lower the threshold to 70% so the alert becomes less sensitive.
Why wrong: Reducing the threshold makes the alert fire sooner, not later. It does not prevent brief spikes from triggering notifications, so it does not solve the noise problem.
B
Increase the window size to 10 minutes and keep the evaluation frequency at 1 minute.
A longer evaluation window requires CPU to remain elevated over a longer period before the rule triggers. That directly addresses short maintenance spikes while still checking frequently enough to detect sustained pressure.
C
Replace the metric alert with a Log Analytics query alert against the activity log.
Why wrong: CPU usage is a platform metric, so a metric alert is the simplest and most direct choice. An activity log query would not be the normal way to evaluate VM CPU behavior.
D
Move the alert scope from the VM to the resource group.
Why wrong: Changing scope broadens what resources are watched, but it does not change how long CPU must stay high. The issue is threshold duration, not target scope.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Increase the window size to 10 minutes and keep the evaluation frequency at 1 minute.
Option B is correct because increasing the window size to 10 minutes while keeping the evaluation frequency at 1 minute means the alert will only fire when the average CPU over the last 10 minutes exceeds 80%. This filters out transient spikes from nightly maintenance, as the alert requires sustained high CPU for the full duration. The evaluation frequency of 1 minute ensures the alert is checked every minute, but the condition is based on the 10-minute rolling average.
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.
✗
Lower the threshold to 70% so the alert becomes less sensitive.
Why it's wrong here
Reducing the threshold makes the alert fire sooner, not later. It does not prevent brief spikes from triggering notifications, so it does not solve the noise problem.
✓
Increase the window size to 10 minutes and keep the evaluation frequency at 1 minute.
Why this is correct
A longer evaluation window requires CPU to remain elevated over a longer period before the rule triggers. That directly addresses short maintenance spikes while still checking frequently enough to detect sustained pressure.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Replace the metric alert with a Log Analytics query alert against the activity log.
Why it's wrong here
CPU usage is a platform metric, so a metric alert is the simplest and most direct choice. An activity log query would not be the normal way to evaluate VM CPU behavior.
✗
Move the alert scope from the VM to the resource group.
Why it's wrong here
Changing scope broadens what resources are watched, but it does not change how long CPU must stay high. The issue is threshold duration, not target scope.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'window size' with 'evaluation frequency' and think increasing the evaluation frequency alone would solve the noise, but it is the window size that controls the duration over which the metric must remain above the threshold.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Monitor metric alerts use a sliding window aggregation: the 'window size' defines the period over which the metric values are aggregated (e.g., average), and the 'evaluation frequency' controls how often the condition is evaluated. For CPU metrics, the underlying data is collected every 30 seconds by the Azure Diagnostics extension, and the alert engine resamples this into 1-minute granularity. By setting a 10-minute window, the alert requires 10 consecutive data points (or 20 if using 30-second granularity) to exceed the threshold, effectively ignoring brief spikes.
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: Increase the window size to 10 minutes and keep the evaluation frequency at 1 minute. — Option B is correct because increasing the window size to 10 minutes while keeping the evaluation frequency at 1 minute means the alert will only fire when the average CPU over the last 10 minutes exceeds 80%. This filters out transient spikes from nightly maintenance, as the alert requires sustained high CPU for the full duration. The evaluation frequency of 1 minute ensures the alert is checked every minute, but the condition is based on the 10-minute rolling average.
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: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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