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
Azure Monitor alert rule
Condition: Average Percentage CPU > 85 for 10 minutes
Notifications: Not configured
Action group: Missing
Scope: vm-prod-02
Based on the exhibit, what should the administrator add to send an email and SMS notification?
Azure Monitor alert rule
Condition: Average Percentage CPU > 85 for 10 minutes
Notifications: Not configured
Action group: Missing
Scope: vm-prod-02
A
An action group with email and SMS receivers.
Action groups define how Azure Monitor sends notifications. Adding one with email and SMS receivers gives the alert rule the response path it currently lacks.
B
A Log Analytics workspace connected to the virtual machine.
Why wrong: A workspace helps store and query logs. It does not itself send alert notifications by email or SMS.
C
A backup recovery point for the virtual machine.
Why wrong: A recovery point is used for restore operations. It has no role in sending live performance notifications.
D
A private endpoint for the virtual machine.
Why wrong: Private endpoints secure service access through a private IP. They do not create alert notifications or messaging actions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
An action group with email and SMS receivers.
To send email and SMS notifications from an Azure Monitor alert, you must configure an action group. An action group defines the notification channels (e.g., email, SMS, webhook) and their respective receivers. When the alert rule triggers, Azure Monitor invokes the action group to deliver the notifications. Without an action group, the alert rule has no mechanism to send email or SMS.
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.
✓
An action group with email and SMS receivers.
Why this is correct
Action groups define how Azure Monitor sends notifications. Adding one with email and SMS receivers gives the alert rule the response path it currently lacks.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
A Log Analytics workspace connected to the virtual machine.
Why it's wrong here
A workspace helps store and query logs. It does not itself send alert notifications by email or SMS.
✗
A backup recovery point for the virtual machine.
Why it's wrong here
A recovery point is used for restore operations. It has no role in sending live performance notifications.
✗
A private endpoint for the virtual machine.
Why it's wrong here
Private endpoints secure service access through a private IP. They do not create alert notifications or messaging actions.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse a Log Analytics workspace (which can trigger alerts based on log queries) with the actual notification delivery mechanism, forgetting that an action group is required to define how and where the alert notification is sent.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
An action group in Azure Monitor is a collection of notification preferences defined by the user. Each action group can contain multiple action types, such as email/SMS, push notifications, voice calls, webhooks, ITSM connectors, and automation runbooks. When an alert fires, Azure Monitor sends a POST request to the action group's endpoint(s), and the action group orchestrates the delivery of the notifications based on the configured receivers. For SMS, Azure Monitor uses a third-party SMS gateway; the SMS receiver must include a valid phone number and country code, and there are limits on the number of SMS messages per hour per phone number.
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: An action group with email and SMS receivers. — To send email and SMS notifications from an Azure Monitor alert, you must configure an action group. An action group defines the notification channels (e.g., email, SMS, webhook) and their respective receivers. When the alert rule triggers, Azure Monitor invokes the action group to deliver the notifications. Without an action group, the alert rule has no mechanism to send email or SMS.
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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