AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
Exhibit
Monitoring requirement - Resource: stacctprod01 - Need notification when Azure reports the resource as unavailable or unhealthy - Do not monitor a custom application metric - Do not query a custom log table - Current setup: No alert rule exists
Based on the exhibit, which alert type should the administrator create to detect when Azure marks the storage account unhealthy because of a platform issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse Resource Health alerts with metric alerts or log search alerts, mistakenly thinking that any health-related event can be captured by querying AzureDiagnostics or by setting a metric threshold, when in fact Resource Health alerts are the dedicated mechanism for platform-issue notifications.
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
✓
Resource Health alert.
Resource Health alerts are specifically designed to notify administrators when an Azure service or resource becomes unhealthy due to platform issues. In this scenario, the storage account being marked unhealthy by Azure due to a platform issue is exactly the kind of event that a Resource Health alert captures, as it monitors the health status of Azure resources and triggers alerts on state transitions (e.g., from 'Available' to 'Degraded' or 'Unavailable').
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Metric alert on account capacity.
Why it's wrong here
A metric alert on account capacity monitors the 'Used Capacity' metric, which reflects how much storage space is consumed relative to the account's quota. This is a usage signal that can indicate a configuration problem (e.g., approaching a limit) but does not detect whether Azure's platform has classified the Storage Account as unhealthy or unavailable. The requirement explicitly concerns Azure-reported resource health status, not capacity utilization, so this alert type would fail to meet the intent.
When this WOULD be correct
A metric alert on account capacity would be correct if the question asked: 'Which alert should be created to notify when the storage account's used capacity exceeds 80%?'
- ✓
Resource Health alert.
Why this is correct
Resource Health alerts are intended for platform-level availability problems reported by Azure itself. They are the right fit when the business wants to know that Azure has marked a resource unhealthy or unavailable, rather than watching an application metric or a custom log entry. This directly matches the requirement for platform issue notification on the storage account.
- ✗
Log search alert against AzureDiagnostics.
Why it's wrong here
A log search alert against AzureDiagnostics queries operational logs (such as read/write requests, errors, and latency) from the storage account's diagnostic settings. Resource Health events are not emitted to the AzureDiagnostics table; they appear in the Azure Activity log as service health or resource health entries. Therefore, a log search alert would require custom log ingestion and would not receive the platform's health status notifications, making it an incorrect fit for the stated requirement of knowing when Azure has marked the resource unhealthy.
When this WOULD be correct
A log search alert against AzureDiagnostics would be correct when the question asks to detect a specific storage error (e.g., 503 ServerTimeout) or to analyze historical trends in storage operations, where the alert is based on custom log queries rather than platform health status.
- ✗
Autoscale rule based on storage transactions.
Why it's wrong here
Autoscale rules are designed to adjust capacity (e.g., instance counts) in response to workload metrics for scalable resources like App Service or Virtual Machine Scale Sets; they do not apply to Storage Accounts, which lack an autoscale setting for transactions, and they never send alerts about platform health events. Even when autoscale fires, its action is a scale operation, not an administrator notification about Azure marking the resource unhealthy or unavailable. Thus, this option confuses operational scaling with health-state monitoring.
When this WOULD be correct
An autoscale rule based on storage transactions would be correct in a scenario where the administrator needs to automatically scale out storage resources (e.g., increase throughput or capacity) when transaction volume exceeds a threshold, such as during a traffic spike.
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.
✓Resource Health alert.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Resource Health alerts are intended for platform-level availability problems reported by Azure itself. They are the right fit when the business wants to know that Azure has marked a resource unhealthy or unavailable, rather than watching an application metric or a custom log entry. This directly matches the requirement for platform issue notification on the storage account.
✗Metric alert on account capacity.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A metric alert on account capacity monitors storage usage thresholds, not platform-level health issues. The question specifically asks for detecting when Azure marks the storage account unhealthy due to a platform issue, which requires a Resource Health alert.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A metric alert on account capacity would be correct if the question asked: 'Which alert should be created to notify when the storage account's used capacity exceeds 80%?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse capacity metrics with health status, assuming that unusual capacity changes indicate platform problems, or they may not distinguish between resource-level health and performance metrics.
✗Log search alert against AzureDiagnostics.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Log search alerts against AzureDiagnostics require log data to be sent to a Log Analytics workspace, which is not the primary method for detecting platform-level health issues on a storage account. Resource Health alerts directly monitor the health state of Azure resources, including platform issues, without needing diagnostic logs.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A log search alert against AzureDiagnostics would be correct when the question asks to detect a specific storage error (e.g., 503 ServerTimeout) or to analyze historical trends in storage operations, where the alert is based on custom log queries rather than platform health status.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that all monitoring requires logs, and since AzureDiagnostics contains storage metrics and errors, they assume a log search alert can detect health issues. However, Resource Health is the dedicated service for platform-level health, not log-based alerts.
✗Autoscale rule based on storage transactions.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Autoscale rules adjust resources based on metrics like transactions, but they do not detect or alert on platform-level health issues. The question asks for an alert when Azure marks the storage account unhealthy due to a platform issue, which requires a Resource Health alert, not an autoscale rule.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An autoscale rule based on storage transactions would be correct in a scenario where the administrator needs to automatically scale out storage resources (e.g., increase throughput or capacity) when transaction volume exceeds a threshold, such as during a traffic spike.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse autoscale rules with alerting mechanisms, thinking that autoscale can both scale and notify, or they may incorrectly associate transaction metrics with health status.
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
About these practice questions
This AZ-104 question is part of Courseiva's 1,049-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.