This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage virtual networking. 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.
You need to control inbound and outbound traffic to resources in a subnet by allowing or denying traffic based on IP address, port, and protocol. Which Azure feature should you use?
A network security group
NSGs are the Azure feature used to allow or deny traffic based on rule criteria.
A route table
Why wrong: A route table controls path selection, not packet filtering decisions.
A private DNS zone
Why wrong: A private DNS zone provides name resolution, not traffic filtering.
Azure Advisor
Why wrong: Azure Advisor provides recommendations and does not enforce traffic rules.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
A network security group
A network security group (NSG) is the correct Azure feature because it contains security rules that allow or deny inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet or network interface level based on source/destination IP address, port, and protocol (TCP, UDP, or Any). This directly matches the requirement to control traffic by these three parameters.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
A network security group
Why this is correct
NSGs are the Azure feature used to allow or deny traffic based on rule criteria.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
A route table
Why it's wrong here
A route table controls path selection, not packet filtering decisions.
A private DNS zone
Why it's wrong here
A private DNS zone provides name resolution, not traffic filtering.
Azure Advisor
Why it's wrong here
Azure Advisor provides recommendations and does not enforce traffic rules.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse a route table (which controls traffic routing) with an NSG (which controls traffic filtering), especially since both are associated with subnets in the Azure portal.
Detailed technical explanation
NSG rules are evaluated in priority order (lowest number first) and are stateful by default — if you allow inbound traffic on a port, the outbound response is automatically allowed regardless of outbound rules. For granular control, you can associate an NSG with a subnet (applying rules to all resources in that subnet) or directly to a VM's NIC. A common real-world scenario is using NSGs to restrict RDP (port 3389) access to only a specific management IP range while allowing web traffic on port 443.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
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FAQ
Implement and Manage Virtual Networking — This question tests Implement and Manage Virtual Networking — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: A network security group — A network security group (NSG) is the correct Azure feature because it contains security rules that allow or deny inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet or network interface level based on source/destination IP address, port, and protocol (TCP, UDP, or Any). This directly matches the requirement to control traffic by these three parameters.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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