This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of manage azure identities and governance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 ensure that administrators cannot accidentally delete a production virtual network, but they must still be able to update subnet settings. Which Azure feature should you apply?
A CanNotDelete lock
This prevents deletion while allowing modifications.
A ReadOnly lock
Why wrong: This would prevent subnet updates as well.
An Azure Policy deny assignment
Why wrong: Policy can enforce certain behaviors, but a lock is the direct feature for preventing accidental deletion.
A budget alert
Why wrong: A budget alert does not control deletions.
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 CanNotDelete lock
A CanNotDelete lock (Azure resource lock) prevents accidental deletion of the virtual network while allowing all other operations, including updates to subnet settings. This lock type blocks DELETE requests at the Azure Resource Manager level, but permits PUT and PATCH operations, so administrators can still modify subnet configurations.
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 CanNotDelete lock
Why this is correct
This prevents deletion while allowing modifications.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
A ReadOnly lock
Why it's wrong here
This would prevent subnet updates as well.
An Azure Policy deny assignment
Why it's wrong here
Policy can enforce certain behaviors, but a lock is the direct feature for preventing accidental deletion.
A budget alert
Why it's wrong here
A budget alert does not control deletions.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Policy (which enforces rules on resource properties) with resource locks (which control deletion or modification permissions), leading them to select a deny assignment instead of the simpler CanNotDelete lock.
Detailed technical explanation
Azure resource locks operate at the Azure Resource Manager (ARM) REST API layer, specifically intercepting DELETE requests for CanNotDelete locks and both DELETE and PUT/PATCH requests for ReadOnly locks. Locks are inherited from parent scopes (e.g., subscription, resource group) to child resources, so applying a lock at the resource group level would protect all resources within it. In a real-world scenario, you might combine a CanNotDelete lock on the virtual network with a separate Azure Policy to enforce subnet naming conventions, ensuring both protection and governance.
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
Manage Azure Identities and Governance — This question tests Manage Azure Identities and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: A CanNotDelete lock — A CanNotDelete lock (Azure resource lock) prevents accidental deletion of the virtual network while allowing all other operations, including updates to subnet settings. This lock type blocks DELETE requests at the Azure Resource Manager level, but permits PUT and PATCH operations, so administrators can still modify subnet configurations.
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
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