AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
Exhibit
Azure Backup policy - Schedule: Daily at 01:00 - Retain instant recovery snapshots: 2 days - Retain daily backup points: 7 days - Retain weekly backup points: Not configured Business requirement: Keep daily backups for 30 days
Based on the exhibit, what should the administrator change if the business wants backups to be kept for 30 days instead of 7 days?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse 'instant recovery snapshot retention' (short-term local snapshots) with 'daily backup point retention' (long-term vault retention), leading candidates to incorrectly select option C.
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
✓
Increase the retain daily backup points setting to 30 days.
The backup retention policy in Azure Backup is configured via the 'Retain daily backup points' setting, which specifies how many days daily recovery points are kept. To change retention from 7 to 30 days, the administrator must increase this value to 30. This directly controls the lifespan of daily backups in the Recovery Services vault.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Change the backup schedule from daily to hourly.
Why it's wrong here
Changing the backup schedule from daily to hourly only increases the frequency at which recovery points are created; it does not alter how long those recovery points are retained. The retention setting still specifies that each daily (or hourly) recovery point is kept for only 7 days, so all created points, regardless of frequency, will expire after that period. This would increase storage costs and management overhead without satisfying the 30-day retention requirement.
When this WOULD be correct
If the business requirement were to reduce the maximum potential data loss (recovery point objective) from 24 hours to 1 hour, then changing the backup schedule from daily to hourly would be correct.
- ✓
Increase the retain daily backup points setting to 30 days.
Why this is correct
The requirement is about how long daily recovery points are kept, not how often backups run. The policy setting that controls that is the retention value for daily backup points. Updating it from 7 days to 30 days keeps the restore points available for the required period while leaving the backup schedule unchanged.
- ✗
Increase the instant recovery snapshot retention to 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
Instant recovery snapshots are temporary, locally stored snapshots used for fast disk-level restores immediately after a backup. They are retained for a short period (typically up to 7 days) and are not the same as long-term backup recovery points stored in the Recovery Services vault. Increasing their retention to 30 days may extend the quick-restore window but would not change how long the daily recovery points themselves are kept, so the requirement for 30-day retention remains unmet.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question asked: 'The administrator wants to ensure that instant restore snapshots are available for 30 days to speed up recovery.' In that case, increasing instant recovery snapshot retention to 30 days would be the appropriate action.
- ✗
Enable a CanNotDelete lock on the Recovery Services vault.
Why it's wrong here
A CanNotDelete lock on the Recovery Services vault prevents the vault itself from being deleted or modified by users or automated processes, but it has no effect on the Azure Backup retention policy. Restore points inside the vault still expire according to the current scheduled retention (7 days), and a lock does not preserve or extend them. This control is designed for resource protection against accidental or malicious deletion, not for compliance-driven data retention.
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.
✓Increase the retain daily backup points setting to 30 days.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
The requirement is about how long daily recovery points are kept, not how often backups run. The policy setting that controls that is the retention value for daily backup points. Updating it from 7 days to 30 days keeps the restore points available for the required period while leaving the backup schedule unchanged.
✗Change the backup schedule from daily to hourly.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Changing the backup schedule from daily to hourly increases backup frequency, not retention duration. The question asks to keep backups for 30 days instead of 7 days, which is a retention setting, not a scheduling change.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the business requirement were to reduce the maximum potential data loss (recovery point objective) from 24 hours to 1 hour, then changing the backup schedule from daily to hourly would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse backup frequency with retention, thinking more frequent backups automatically mean longer retention, or they may misread the question as needing more backup copies rather than longer storage duration.
✗Increase the instant recovery snapshot retention to 30 days.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The instant recovery snapshot retention setting controls how long snapshots are kept for immediate restores, not the overall backup retention period. The question asks for keeping backups for 30 days, which is managed by the retention policy (e.g., retain daily backup points).
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question asked: 'The administrator wants to ensure that instant restore snapshots are available for 30 days to speed up recovery.' In that case, increasing instant recovery snapshot retention to 30 days would be the appropriate action.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'instant recovery snapshot retention' with overall backup retention, thinking that increasing snapshot retention extends the total backup retention period, or they may not understand the difference between snapshot retention and backup point retention.
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
Retention policy
A retention policy is a set of rules that determines how long an organization keeps its data and what happens to it when the retention period expires.
Key term
Recovery Services vault
A Recovery Services vault is a secure storage container in Microsoft Azure that holds backup data and replication settings for virtual machines, databases, and other cloud resources, enabling you to restore them if something goes wrong.
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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.