- A
Create a new Recovery Services vault and enable backup again with the longer retention period.
Why wrong: That would be unnecessary and disruptive because the existing protected item can keep using the same vault and policy.
- B
Edit the existing backup policy and change the daily retention for future recovery points.
Backup retention is controlled by the backup policy attached to the protected VM. Updating the policy to retain daily recovery points for 90 days changes how future backups are kept without re-registering the workload or creating a new vault. Existing recovery points keep their original retention behavior, while newly created recovery points follow the updated rule. This is the normal, low-impact administrative change.
- C
Take nightly managed disk snapshots because snapshots automatically inherit the Recovery Services vault retention period.
Why wrong: Snapshots are separate from Azure Backup policies and do not automatically inherit vault retention settings.
- D
Change the vault redundancy setting to increase the number of retained recovery points.
Why wrong: Vault redundancy affects data protection geography, not how many days backups are retained.
Modifying Azure Backup Policy Retention Duration
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of monitor and maintain azure resources. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 virtual machine is already protected by Azure Backup. The current policy runs daily at 23:00 and keeps daily recovery points for 30 days. The business now wants the same schedule but wants new daily recovery points retained for 90 days. No new vault or re-registration should occur. What should the administrator do?
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
Edit the existing backup policy and change the daily retention for future recovery points.
Option B is correct because Azure Backup allows you to modify an existing backup policy to change the retention duration for future recovery points without creating a new vault or re-registering the VM. By editing the policy and setting the daily retention to 90 days, all new daily recovery points will be retained for the longer period, while existing recovery points remain unaffected by the change.
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 new Recovery Services vault and enable backup again with the longer retention period.
Why it's wrong here
That would be unnecessary and disruptive because the existing protected item can keep using the same vault and policy.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question required isolating the backup data for compliance reasons (e.g., separate vault for different departments) or if the existing vault was corrupted or in a different region, necessitating a new vault for the backup.
- ✓
Edit the existing backup policy and change the daily retention for future recovery points.
Why this is correct
Backup retention is controlled by the backup policy attached to the protected VM. Updating the policy to retain daily recovery points for 90 days changes how future backups are kept without re-registering the workload or creating a new vault. Existing recovery points keep their original retention behavior, while newly created recovery points follow the updated rule. This is the normal, low-impact administrative change.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Take nightly managed disk snapshots because snapshots automatically inherit the Recovery Services vault retention period.
Why it's wrong here
Snapshots are separate from Azure Backup policies and do not automatically inherit vault retention settings.
When this WOULD be correct
If the requirement were to create crash-consistent backups independent of Azure Backup, with custom retention managed separately (e.g., via Azure Policy or automation), and the question explicitly allowed using snapshots instead of vault-based backups.
- ✗
Change the vault redundancy setting to increase the number of retained recovery points.
Why it's wrong here
Vault redundancy affects data protection geography, not how many days backups are retained.
When this WOULD be correct
An administrator needs to ensure backup data is replicated to a paired region for disaster recovery compliance. Changing vault redundancy from Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) to Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) would be correct.
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.
✓Edit the existing backup policy and change the daily retention for future recovery points.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Backup retention is controlled by the backup policy attached to the protected VM. Updating the policy to retain daily recovery points for 90 days changes how future backups are kept without re-registering the workload or creating a new vault. Existing recovery points keep their original retention behavior, while newly created recovery points follow the updated rule. This is the normal, low-impact administrative change.
✗Create a new Recovery Services vault and enable backup again with the longer retention period.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The question explicitly states 'No new vault or re-registration should occur', so creating a new Recovery Services vault violates that constraint. The existing vault and policy can be modified to extend retention without a new vault.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question required isolating the backup data for compliance reasons (e.g., separate vault for different departments) or if the existing vault was corrupted or in a different region, necessitating a new vault for the backup.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that creating a new vault is the simplest way to change retention without modifying existing backups, or they may not realize that existing policies can be edited to extend retention for future recovery points.
✗Take nightly managed disk snapshots because snapshots automatically inherit the Recovery Services vault retention period.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Managed disk snapshots do not automatically inherit Recovery Services vault retention policies; they have their own independent lifecycle and are not integrated with Azure Backup policies.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement were to create crash-consistent backups independent of Azure Backup, with custom retention managed separately (e.g., via Azure Policy or automation), and the question explicitly allowed using snapshots instead of vault-based backups.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse managed disk snapshots with Azure Backup recovery points, assuming snapshots are automatically governed by the vault's retention settings, or think snapshots are a valid alternative to backup policies.
✗Change the vault redundancy setting to increase the number of retained recovery points.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Changing the vault redundancy setting (e.g., from LRS to GRS) affects data replication, not the retention period of recovery points. Retention is controlled by the backup policy, not redundancy.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An administrator needs to ensure backup data is replicated to a paired region for disaster recovery compliance. Changing vault redundancy from Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) to Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'redundancy' with 'retention' due to similar terminology, or assume that increasing redundancy inherently extends how long backups are kept.
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 may confuse vault redundancy settings with retention duration, or assume that a new vault is required to change retention, when in fact Azure Backup policies can be edited in place to adjust retention for future recovery points.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Backup policies define both the backup schedule and retention rules for recovery points. When you edit an existing policy, the new retention settings apply only to future backups; previously created recovery points retain their original retention duration until they expire. This allows for a seamless transition without disrupting existing protected items. In real-world scenarios, this is critical for compliance changes where historical data must be kept for a different period than new data.
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
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
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: Edit the existing backup policy and change the daily retention for future recovery points. — Option B is correct because Azure Backup allows you to modify an existing backup policy to change the retention duration for future recovery points without creating a new vault or re-registering the VM. By editing the policy and setting the daily retention to 90 days, all new daily recovery points will be retained for the longer period, while existing recovery points remain unaffected by the change.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
1 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 virtual machine is already protected by Azure Backup. The business wants the VM backed up every day at 11:00 PM and wants daily recovery points retained for 30 days, without re-onboarding the VM. What should the administrator modify?
medium- A.Create a new Recovery Services vault and re-register the VM
- ✓ B.Modify the backup policy associated with the protected VM
- C.Install a new VM extension to change retention behavior
- D.Take a manual snapshot of the VM disk every night
Why B: Option B is correct because Azure Backup uses backup policies to define the backup schedule and retention rules for protected resources. By modifying the existing policy associated with the VM, you can change the backup time to 11:00 PM and set daily recovery point retention to 30 days without needing to re-onboard the VM or create a new vault.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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