AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
You are deploying a stateless web application on Azure virtual machines. The solution must automatically add and remove instances based on CPU demand and allow all instances to be managed as one logical group. Which Azure compute feature should you deploy?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse an availability set (which provides high availability) with a scale set (which provides both high availability and automatic scaling), leading them to select availability set when the question explicitly requires automatic scaling and logical group management.
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
✓
A Virtual Machine Scale Set
A Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS) is the correct Azure compute feature because it automatically manages a group of identical, load-balanced VMs that can scale in and out based on CPU demand using autoscale rules. It treats all instances as a single logical group, enabling unified management, patching, and application deployment, which is exactly what the stateless web application requires.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
A Virtual Machine Scale Set
Why this is correct
A Virtual Machine Scale Set is the appropriate solution because it deploys and manages a fleet of identical VM instances that can automatically scale in or out based on CPU, memory, or custom metrics, ideal for a stateless web application. It integrates with Azure Load Balancer or Application Gateway to distribute traffic, and it supports centralized OS and app configuration, allowing uniform updates across all instances. Because the workload is stateless, instances can be freely added or removed without data-affinity concerns, making autoscaling seamless.
- ✗
An availability set
Why it's wrong here
An availability set is a logical grouping of VMs that Azure places across fault domains and update domains to guard against hardware failures and planned maintenance, but it does not automatically adjust capacity based on demand. To scale a stateless web application in an availability set, an administrator must manually create or delete VMs and then integrate them with a load balancer, which is operationally heavy and lacks the built-in autoscaling that a scale set provides. Thus, while it improves resiliency, it does not meet the core requirement of automated, elastic scaling.
When this WOULD be correct
You need to ensure that two or more VMs hosting a critical database remain available during planned maintenance and hardware failures. An availability set would be the correct choice to distribute VMs across fault and update domains.
- ✗
A Recovery Services vault
Why it's wrong here
A Recovery Services vault is a management service for backing up Azure and on-premises resources and for orchestrating disaster-recovery replication via Azure Site Recovery; it does not provide compute capacity or run application code. While you might protect the VMs of a web application with backup or replication, the vault itself neither instantiates virtual machines nor scales them, making it entirely unsuitable as the deployment target for a stateless web application.
When this WOULD be correct
You need to protect Azure VMs by enabling backup and restore capabilities, including application-consistent backups and long-term retention policies.
- ✗
Boot diagnostics
Why it's wrong here
Boot diagnostics captures serial console logs and screenshots of the boot process to help diagnose why an individual VM failed to start or exhibited OS-level boot errors. It is a per-VM troubleshooting capability, not a deployment mechanism, and it has no ability to orchestrate multiple instances, handle traffic load, or respond to autoscaling demands. Enabling boot diagnostics does not by itself place the VM in a managed fleet, so it cannot satisfy the requirement of running a stateless web application at scale.
When this WOULD be correct
You need to troubleshoot why a specific Azure VM is not booting properly after a configuration change. Boot diagnostics would be the correct feature to enable to capture boot logs and screenshots for analysis.
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.
✓A Virtual Machine Scale SetCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
A Virtual Machine Scale Set is the appropriate solution because it deploys and manages a fleet of identical VM instances that can automatically scale in or out based on CPU, memory, or custom metrics, ideal for a stateless web application. It integrates with Azure Load Balancer or Application Gateway to distribute traffic, and it supports centralized OS and app configuration, allowing uniform updates across all instances. Because the workload is stateless, instances can be freely added or removed without data-affinity concerns, making autoscaling seamless.
✗An availability setWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
An availability set only provides high availability by distributing VMs across fault and update domains, but it does not support automatic scaling or management as a single logical group for a stateless web application.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
You need to ensure that two or more VMs hosting a critical database remain available during planned maintenance and hardware failures. An availability set would be the correct choice to distribute VMs across fault and update domains.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse availability sets with scale sets because both involve multiple VMs, and they might think availability sets also provide scaling capabilities.
✗A Recovery Services vaultWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A Recovery Services vault is used for backup and disaster recovery, not for scaling or managing virtual machines as a group.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
You need to protect Azure VMs by enabling backup and restore capabilities, including application-consistent backups and long-term retention policies.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'Recovery Services' with 'scaling' or 'management' due to the word 'Services', or think it provides some form of group management for VMs.
✗Boot diagnosticsWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Boot diagnostics is a feature for troubleshooting VM boot failures by capturing serial console output and screenshots, not for scaling or managing instances as a group.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
You need to troubleshoot why a specific Azure VM is not booting properly after a configuration change. Boot diagnostics would be the correct feature to enable to capture boot logs and screenshots for analysis.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse boot diagnostics with a management or monitoring feature, thinking it helps manage multiple instances, but it is solely for debugging boot issues on individual VMs.
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?”
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on AZ-104
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A stateless web application is hosted on an Azure virtual machine scale set. Traffic is predictable: CPU usage stays below 20% overnight, then rises above 70% during business hours. The administrator wants the instance count to increase automatically when average CPU stays high for 10 minutes and to decrease after demand drops. What should be configured?
medium- A.A proximity placement group for the scale set instances.
- B.Manual scale operations only.
- ✓ C.Autoscale rules on the virtual machine scale set.
- D.An availability set with three update domains.
Why C: Autoscale rules on the virtual machine scale set allow the administrator to define a scale-out condition (e.g., average CPU > 70% for 10 minutes) and a scale-in condition (e.g., average CPU < 20% for a specified duration). This matches the requirement for automatic, metric-based scaling based on predictable traffic patterns.
Variation 2. A company hosts a stateless web application behind a load balancer. Traffic increases during the day and drops at night. The team wants Azure to automatically add or remove identical VM instances based on demand. What should the administrator deploy?
easy- A.A single large virtual machine
- ✓ B.A virtual machine scale set
- C.An availability set
- D.A managed image
Why B: A virtual machine scale set (VMSS) is the correct choice because it automatically manages a group of identical, load-balanced VMs and can scale out (add VMs) or scale in (remove VMs) based on demand metrics like CPU usage or a schedule. This matches the requirement for a stateless web application with variable traffic, as VMSS integrates with Azure Load Balancer or Application Gateway and supports autoscale rules to handle daytime spikes and nighttime drops without manual intervention.
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.