AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of monitor and maintain azure resources. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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: mystorage01
Diagnostic settings:
- Send to Log Analytics workspace: Not configured
- Archive to storage account: Off
- Stream to event hub: Off
Logs: Disabled
Metrics: Enabled
Based on the exhibit, what should the administrator configure so storage logs can be queried later with KQL?
Exhibit
Storage account: mystorage01
Diagnostic settings:
- Send to Log Analytics workspace: Not configured
- Archive to storage account: Off
- Stream to event hub: Off
Logs: Disabled
Metrics: Enabled
A
Create a backup policy for the storage account so the logs are retained automatically.
Why wrong: Backup policies protect supported workloads such as Azure VMs. They do not enable operational log collection from a storage account.
B
Enable a resource lock on the storage account so no logs are lost.
Why wrong: A lock helps prevent modification or deletion. It does not collect logs or make them queryable in Log Analytics.
C
Turn on blob versioning so every change to the storage account is searchable.
Why wrong: Blob versioning helps preserve object versions, but it does not forward platform logs to a workspace for KQL analysis.
D
Configure diagnostic settings to send logs to a Log Analytics workspace.
Diagnostic settings are used to export resource logs and metrics from Azure resources. Sending those logs to Log Analytics makes them available for KQL queries, filtering, and investigation.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure diagnostic settings to send logs to a Log Analytics workspace.
Diagnostic settings in Azure allow you to stream platform logs, including storage logs, to a Log Analytics workspace. Once the logs are in Log Analytics, you can query them using Kusto Query Language (KQL) to analyze storage operations, errors, and metrics. This is the only option that directly enables querying storage logs with KQL.
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.
✗
Create a backup policy for the storage account so the logs are retained automatically.
Why it's wrong here
Backup policies protect supported workloads such as Azure VMs. They do not enable operational log collection from a storage account.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asks: 'You need to ensure that storage account data can be restored to a point in time after accidental deletion. What should you configure?' In that scenario, a backup policy (e.g., Azure Backup) would be the correct answer to enable data recovery.
✗
Enable a resource lock on the storage account so no logs are lost.
Why it's wrong here
A lock helps prevent modification or deletion. It does not collect logs or make them queryable in Log Analytics.
When this WOULD be correct
An administrator needs to ensure that diagnostic settings on a storage account cannot be deleted or altered by unauthorized users, and the question asks for a method to protect the configuration of log collection. In that case, enabling a resource lock would be correct.
✗
Turn on blob versioning so every change to the storage account is searchable.
Why it's wrong here
Blob versioning helps preserve object versions, but it does not forward platform logs to a workspace for KQL analysis.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question asked 'How to preserve previous versions of blobs for point-in-time recovery or auditing changes to blob data?', then enabling blob versioning would be the correct answer.
✓
Configure diagnostic settings to send logs to a Log Analytics workspace.
Why this is correct
Diagnostic settings are used to export resource logs and metrics from Azure resources. Sending those logs to Log Analytics makes them available for KQL queries, filtering, and investigation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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.
✓Configure diagnostic settings to send logs to a Log Analytics workspace.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Diagnostic settings are used to export resource logs and metrics from Azure resources. Sending those logs to Log Analytics makes them available for KQL queries, filtering, and investigation.
✗Create a backup policy for the storage account so the logs are retained automatically.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Creating a backup policy for the storage account retains copies of data but does not capture or forward operational logs to a queryable destination like Log Analytics. KQL queries require logs in a Log Analytics workspace, not backup vaults.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asks: 'You need to ensure that storage account data can be restored to a point in time after accidental deletion. What should you configure?' In that scenario, a backup policy (e.g., Azure Backup) would be the correct answer to enable data recovery.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'retaining logs' with 'retaining data backups,' assuming that backing up the storage account also preserves logs for querying. They overlook that logs must be explicitly sent to a Log Analytics workspace for KQL access.
✗Enable a resource lock on the storage account so no logs are lost.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A resource lock prevents accidental deletion or modification of the storage account, but it does not enable log collection or querying with KQL. Logs must be sent to a Log Analytics workspace to be queried with KQL.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An administrator needs to ensure that diagnostic settings on a storage account cannot be deleted or altered by unauthorized users, and the question asks for a method to protect the configuration of log collection. In that case, enabling a resource lock would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that locking the storage account preserves logs by preventing changes, but they overlook that logs must first be collected and sent to a queryable destination like Log Analytics.
✗Turn on blob versioning so every change to the storage account is searchable.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Blob versioning preserves previous versions of blobs, but it does not capture or store diagnostic logs (e.g., read/write operations) in a format queryable by KQL. Diagnostic settings must send logs to a Log Analytics workspace for KQL queries.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question asked 'How to preserve previous versions of blobs for point-in-time recovery or auditing changes to blob data?', then enabling blob versioning would be the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse blob versioning with log retention, thinking that versioning captures all changes including logs, or they may overgeneralize versioning as a catch-all for data preservation and queryability.
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?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse data protection features (backup, locks, versioning) with logging and monitoring capabilities, failing to recognize that only diagnostic settings can route logs to a Log Analytics workspace for KQL queries.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Diagnostic settings in Azure Resource Manager can route logs to multiple destinations: Log Analytics workspace, Event Hubs, or Azure Storage. For KQL queries, the Log Analytics workspace is required because it indexes the logs and exposes them via the Log Analytics query interface. Storage logs include categories such as StorageRead, StorageWrite, and StorageDelete, which capture detailed request-level telemetry. Without diagnostic settings, these logs are not generated or sent to any destination.
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.
Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — This question tests Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure diagnostic settings to send logs to a Log Analytics workspace. — Diagnostic settings in Azure allow you to stream platform logs, including storage logs, to a Log Analytics workspace. Once the logs are in Log Analytics, you can query them using Kusto Query Language (KQL) to analyze storage operations, errors, and metrics. This is the only option that directly enables querying storage logs with KQL.
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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Question Discussion
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