Question 908 of 1,170

Deploy and Manage Azure Compute →hardMultiple SelectObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is a standard virtual machine scale set configured with an availability set, or simply an availability set applied to the two VMs. This works because an availability set distributes VMs across multiple fault domains and update domains within the same datacenter, isolating them from a single hardware fault and from planned maintenance events. Since the region does not support availability zones, this is the only native Azure option to achieve high availability for VMs without availability zones. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of regional HA options—specifically that availability sets provide fault and update domain isolation within one datacenter, while availability zones span separate datacenters. A common trap is choosing a proximity placement group, which only reduces latency and does not provide fault tolerance. Remember the mnemonic: “Set for safety, Zones for separation”—when zones are unavailable, an availability set keeps your VMs safe from a single point of failure.

AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question

This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of deploy and manage azure compute. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.

An application runs on two identical VMs in a region that does not support availability zones. The app must keep running through planned maintenance and a single hardware fault, and the team does not want to add a second region. Which two deployment choices are appropriate? Select two.

Question 1hardmulti select

Full question →

A
Place the VMs in an availability set.
An availability set spreads VMs across fault and update domains within the same datacenter scale unit, which protects against planned maintenance and single hardware failures. That matches the region’s lack of zones and the no-second-region requirement.
B
Use a standard virtual machine scale set in the same region.
A standard VM scale set can spread instances across fault and update domains within a region and can manage multiple identical VMs. It is appropriate when you need platform-managed instance distribution without using availability zones.
C
Put both VMs in the same fault domain to simplify patching.
Why wrong: Placing both VMs in the same fault domain increases correlated failure risk. It defeats the purpose of resilience and would leave the app vulnerable to a single hardware failure.
D
Deploy the workload in availability zones anyway.
Why wrong: The scenario says the region does not support availability zones, so this option is not available. Even if it were, the question requires an answer that works in the stated region.
E
Use a second Azure region for the primary failover design.
Why wrong: A second region is a disaster recovery pattern, but the scenario explicitly says not to add another region. The question is about in-region resilience only.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Place the VMs in an availability set.

A is correct because an availability set distributes VMs across multiple fault domains (up to 3) and update domains (up to 20) within the same datacenter. This ensures that during planned maintenance (update domain isolation) or a hardware fault (fault domain isolation), at least one VM remains available, meeting the requirement without needing availability zones or a second region.

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.

✓
Place the VMs in an availability set.
Why this is correct
An availability set spreads VMs across fault and update domains within the same datacenter scale unit, which protects against planned maintenance and single hardware failures. That matches the region’s lack of zones and the no-second-region requirement.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use a standard virtual machine scale set in the same region.
Why this is correct
A standard VM scale set can spread instances across fault and update domains within a region and can manage multiple identical VMs. It is appropriate when you need platform-managed instance distribution without using availability zones.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Put both VMs in the same fault domain to simplify patching.
Why it's wrong here
Placing both VMs in the same fault domain increases correlated failure risk. It defeats the purpose of resilience and would leave the app vulnerable to a single hardware failure.
✗
Deploy the workload in availability zones anyway.
Why it's wrong here
The scenario says the region does not support availability zones, so this option is not available. Even if it were, the question requires an answer that works in the stated region.
✗
Use a second Azure region for the primary failover design.
Why it's wrong here
A second region is a disaster recovery pattern, but the scenario explicitly says not to add another region. The question is about in-region resilience only.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates might think an availability set is only for legacy scenarios, but it is the correct choice when availability zones are not supported, and a scale set is also valid because it inherently provides fault and update domain isolation without requiring zones.

Trap categories for this question

Scenario analysis trap
The scenario says the region does not support availability zones, so this option is not available. Even if it were, the question requires an answer that works in the stated region.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

An availability set logically groups VMs so Azure places them on different physical hardware (fault domains) and schedules updates separately (update domains). Fault domains represent a rack of servers sharing a common power source and network switch; update domains ensure that during a platform update, only one update domain is rebooted at a time. A standard virtual machine scale set (option B) also provides fault domain distribution (up to 3 in non-zonal regions) and update domain isolation, making it a valid alternative for the same high-availability scenario.

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.

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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: Place the VMs in an availability set. — A is correct because an availability set distributes VMs across multiple fault domains (up to 3) and update domains (up to 20) within the same datacenter. This ensures that during planned maintenance (update domain isolation) or a hardware fault (fault domain isolation), at least one VM remains available, meeting the requirement without needing availability zones or a second region.

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 →

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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. An application runs on two VMs in one Azure region. The business wants protection from a single hardware host failure and planned maintenance, but it does not require protection from an entire datacenter outage. Which two choices should the administrator make? Select two.

hard

A.Place the workload in a single VM with a premium SSD.
✓ B.Place both VMs in an availability set.
C.Use availability zones across the region.
✓ D.Keep at least two running VMs in that availability set.
E.Replicate the VMs to another region with Azure Site Recovery.

Why B: An availability set distributes VMs across multiple fault domains (hardware hosts) and update domains within a single Azure datacenter. This protects against a single hardware host failure and planned maintenance (update domains ensure VMs are not rebooted simultaneously during updates). Option B is correct because it provides this isolation without requiring protection from an entire datacenter outage.

Variation 2. An application uses two Azure VMs in the same datacenter and must continue through planned maintenance and a single hardware host failure. The administrator does not need separate datacenter protection. Which option should be used?

easy

A.Availability zones
✓ B.Availability set
C.Proximity placement group
D.Virtual machine scale set

Why B: An availability set distributes VMs across multiple fault domains (hardware hosts) and update domains within a single Azure datacenter. This ensures that during planned maintenance (update domains) or a single hardware host failure (fault domains), at least one VM remains available. Since the requirement does not include separate datacenter protection, an availability set is the correct choice.

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