- A
Availability set
Why wrong: Availability sets protect against host and maintenance events within a datacenter, but they do not span separate zones.
- B
Availability zones
Availability zones place resources in physically separate datacenters within the same Azure region. That gives the application protection against a full datacenter failure, which is the scenario described. When the workload must survive a zone outage, zones are the right resiliency choice rather than a same-datacenter availability set.
- C
Proximity placement group
Why wrong: Proximity placement groups reduce latency between resources, but they do not provide datacenter-level resiliency.
- D
Azure Load Balancer
Why wrong: A load balancer distributes traffic, but it does not itself provide protection from a datacenter outage.
Quick Answer
The answer is Availability Zones, as they provide high availability across datacenter failure within a single Azure region. Each Availability Zone is a physically separate datacenter with its own independent power, cooling, and networking, so deploying your two VMs into different zones ensures the application survives the loss of an entire datacenter. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of regional fault tolerance versus simple redundancy—a common trap is confusing Availability Zones with an Availability Set, which only protects against rack-level failures within one datacenter, not a full datacenter outage. Remember the memory tip: “Zones separate datacenters, Sets separate racks.”
AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of deploy and manage azure compute. 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.
A customer-facing application runs on two Azure VMs. The business wants the application to stay available even if one datacenter in the Azure region has an outage. Which availability option should the administrator use?
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
Availability zones
Availability Zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. By deploying the two VMs into different zones, the application remains available if one entire datacenter fails, meeting the requirement for datacenter-level fault tolerance.
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.
- ✗
Availability set
Why it's wrong here
Availability sets protect against host and maintenance events within a datacenter, but they do not span separate zones.
- ✓
Availability zones
Why this is correct
Availability zones place resources in physically separate datacenters within the same Azure region. That gives the application protection against a full datacenter failure, which is the scenario described. When the workload must survive a zone outage, zones are the right resiliency choice rather than a same-datacenter availability set.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Proximity placement group
Why it's wrong here
Proximity placement groups reduce latency between resources, but they do not provide datacenter-level resiliency.
- ✗
Azure Load Balancer
Why it's wrong here
A load balancer distributes traffic, but it does not itself provide protection from a datacenter outage.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse Availability Sets (which protect against rack-level failures within one datacenter) with Availability Zones (which protect against full datacenter outages), leading them to choose the cheaper but insufficient option A.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Availability Zones offer a 99.99% SLA for VMs when two or more instances are deployed across zones, compared to 99.95% for an Availability Set. Each zone is a unique physical location with its own subnets and IP address ranges; the zone ID is mapped to the VM's virtual network interface. In a real-world scenario, if Zone 1 experiences a cooling failure, VMs in Zone 2 remain unaffected, and the Load Balancer (if configured with zone-redundant frontend) automatically directs traffic to the healthy zone.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All AZ-104 questions
1,170 questions across all exam domains
- →
AZ-104 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
AZ-104 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related AZ-104 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Manage Azure Identities and Governance practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Manage Azure Identities and Governance.
Implement and Manage Storage practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Implement and Manage Storage.
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Deploy and Manage Azure Compute.
Implement and Manage Virtual Networking practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Implement and Manage Virtual Networking.
Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources.
AZ-104 Azure RBAC practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 Azure RBAC.
AZ-104 storage account practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 storage account.
AZ-104 virtual network practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 virtual network.
AZ-104 NSG practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 NSG.
AZ-104 Azure Monitor practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 Azure Monitor.
AZ-104 backup practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 backup.
AZ-104 managed identity practice questions
Practise AZ-104 questions linked to AZ-104 managed identity.
Practice this exam
Start a free AZ-104 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — This question tests Deploy and Manage Azure Compute — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Availability zones — Availability Zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. By deploying the two VMs into different zones, the application remains available if one entire datacenter fails, meeting the requirement for datacenter-level fault tolerance.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.