The answer is RA-GZRS, because it is the only Azure storage redundancy option that combines zone-level redundancy within the primary region with read access to a geographically separate secondary region. While GZRS also provides zone redundancy and geo-replication, it lacks the critical 'RA' (Read-Access) prefix, meaning its secondary endpoint remains unavailable for reads during a primary region outage. On the AZ-104 exam, this distinction tests your understanding of how redundancy settings map to specific business continuity requirements—a common trap is assuming GZRS automatically offers read access to the secondary, when in fact only RA-GZRS does. The exhibit’s requirement for read access during an outage directly eliminates GZRS and points to RA-GZRS. For a quick memory tip, remember that the 'RA' stands for "Read Always"—if you need to serve reads from the secondary region even when the primary is down, always choose the option with 'RA' in its name.
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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
Storage account: prodarchive01
Kind: StorageV2
Current redundancy: GRS
Primary region: East US 2
Secondary region: Central US
Requirement notes:
- The application must remain available if one availability zone in East US 2 fails.
- If the primary region becomes unavailable, analysts must still be able to read from the secondary copy without waiting for a manual failover.
- The workload reads blobs directly during recovery.
Based on the exhibit, which redundancy setting should you choose before deploying the storage account?
Storage account: prodarchive01
Kind: StorageV2
Current redundancy: GRS
Primary region: East US 2
Secondary region: Central US
Requirement notes:
- The application must remain available if one availability zone in East US 2 fails.
- If the primary region becomes unavailable, analysts must still be able to read from the secondary copy without waiting for a manual failover.
- The workload reads blobs directly during recovery.
A
LRS, because it keeps three copies within one datacenter and is the least expensive option.
Why wrong: LRS protects only against a local hardware failure inside one datacenter. It does not provide zone resilience or geo-redundant read access, so it cannot satisfy both requirements in the exhibit.
B
ZRS, because it replicates data across availability zones in the primary region.
Why wrong: ZRS helps survive a zone outage, but it does not provide a readable secondary region for regional recovery. The exhibit requires both zone resilience and read access to the secondary copy.
C
GZRS, because it combines zone redundancy with geo-replication to another region.
Why wrong: GZRS adds zone resilience and geo-replication, but the secondary region is not readable unless failover occurs. The exhibit explicitly requires read access to the secondary copy during an outage.
D
RA-GZRS, because it provides zone redundancy and read access to the secondary region.
RA-GZRS is the only option listed that meets both business requirements. It protects the primary region with zone-redundant storage and also allows read access to the geo-replicated secondary endpoint. That means the workload can continue reading data during regional recovery scenarios while still benefiting from zone-level resiliency in the primary region.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
RA-GZRS, because it provides zone redundancy and read access to the secondary region.
RA-GRS (Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage) is the correct choice because the exhibit shows a requirement for read access to the secondary region in the event of a primary region outage. RA-GRS provides zone-level redundancy within the primary region (using LRS for three copies) and asynchronously replicates data to a secondary region, where it is also stored with LRS. The 'RA' prefix enables read access to the secondary endpoint, allowing applications to serve read requests from the secondary region even when the primary is unavailable.
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.
✗
LRS, because it keeps three copies within one datacenter and is the least expensive option.
Why it's wrong here
LRS protects only against a local hardware failure inside one datacenter. It does not provide zone resilience or geo-redundant read access, so it cannot satisfy both requirements in the exhibit.
✗
ZRS, because it replicates data across availability zones in the primary region.
Why it's wrong here
ZRS helps survive a zone outage, but it does not provide a readable secondary region for regional recovery. The exhibit requires both zone resilience and read access to the secondary copy.
✗
GZRS, because it combines zone redundancy with geo-replication to another region.
Why it's wrong here
GZRS adds zone resilience and geo-replication, but the secondary region is not readable unless failover occurs. The exhibit explicitly requires read access to the secondary copy during an outage.
✓
RA-GZRS, because it provides zone redundancy and read access to the secondary region.
Why this is correct
RA-GZRS is the only option listed that meets both business requirements. It protects the primary region with zone-redundant storage and also allows read access to the geo-replicated secondary endpoint. That means the workload can continue reading data during regional recovery scenarios while still benefiting from zone-level resiliency in the primary region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse GZRS with RA-GZRS, assuming that geo-replication automatically provides read access to the secondary region, but only the 'RA' prefix enables that read-access capability.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, RA-GRS uses LRS within each region (primary and secondary) to protect against local failures, while geo-replication asynchronously copies data to the secondary region with a typical Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes. The read-access feature is enabled by setting the 'AllowBlobPublicAccess' property or configuring the storage account with the '--kind StorageV2' and '--sku Standard_RAGRS' flag, which exposes a separate read-only endpoint (e.g., <account>-secondary.blob.core.windows.net). In a real-world scenario, if the primary region experiences a disaster, applications can fail over reads to the secondary endpoint without waiting for a manual failover, ensuring business continuity for read-heavy workloads.
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
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Implement and Manage Storage — This question tests Implement and Manage Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: RA-GZRS, because it provides zone redundancy and read access to the secondary region. — RA-GRS (Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage) is the correct choice because the exhibit shows a requirement for read access to the secondary region in the event of a primary region outage. RA-GRS provides zone-level redundancy within the primary region (using LRS for three copies) and asynchronously replicates data to a secondary region, where it is also stored with LRS. The 'RA' prefix enables read access to the secondary endpoint, allowing applications to serve read requests from the secondary region even when the primary is unavailable.
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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