Quick Answer
The correct choice is a public load balancer, because it provides a single public IP address for internet traffic distribution and routes incoming requests across VM-Web01 and VM-Web02 using a load-balancing rule. This ensures that users on the internet connect through one endpoint while the backend VMs share the workload, improving availability and scalability. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Azure Load Balancer types: a public load balancer handles inbound internet traffic, whereas an internal load balancer is for private network traffic only. A common trap is confusing a public load balancer with an Application Gateway—remember that a basic public load balancer operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and does not inspect HTTP headers. For the memory tip, think “public IP for public traffic” to instantly recall that internet-facing workloads require a public frontend IP configuration.
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage virtual networking. 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.
Two virtual machines named VM-Web01 and VM-Web02 host the same public web application. Users on the internet must connect through a single public IP address, and incoming requests should be distributed across both VMs. What should you deploy?
An internal load balancer
Why wrong: An internal load balancer would not expose a public IP to internet users.
A public load balancer
This fits the requirement for a single public IP and traffic distribution.
A private DNS zone
Why wrong: DNS alone does not provide health-based load balancing across the VMs in this way.
A Recovery Services vault
Why wrong: A Recovery Services vault is for backup and recovery.
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 public load balancer
A public load balancer (Azure Load Balancer with a public frontend IP) is required because it provides a single public IP address for internet clients and distributes incoming traffic across the backend VMs (VM-Web01 and VM-Web02) using a configured load-balancing rule. This ensures high availability and scalability for the web application.
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.
An internal load balancer
Why it's wrong here
An internal load balancer would not expose a public IP to internet users.
A public load balancer
Why this is correct
This fits the requirement for a single public IP and traffic distribution.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
A private DNS zone
Why it's wrong here
DNS alone does not provide health-based load balancing across the VMs in this way.
A Recovery Services vault
Why it's wrong here
A Recovery Services vault is for backup and recovery.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse an internal load balancer with a public load balancer, mistakenly thinking any load balancer can provide internet-facing access, but only a public load balancer exposes a public IP address for external clients.
Detailed technical explanation
Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and uses a hash-based distribution algorithm (5-tuple hash: source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, protocol) to route traffic to healthy backend instances. Health probes (e.g., HTTP GET on a specific path) are used to monitor backend VM availability; if a VM fails the probe, traffic is redirected to the remaining healthy VMs. In a real-world scenario, you would also configure a backend pool, health probe, and load-balancing rule to define the frontend IP, port mapping, and distribution method.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
Implement and Manage Virtual Networking — This question tests Implement and Manage Virtual Networking — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: A public load balancer — A public load balancer (Azure Load Balancer with a public frontend IP) is required because it provides a single public IP address for internet clients and distributes incoming traffic across the backend VMs (VM-Web01 and VM-Web02) using a configured load-balancing rule. This ensures high availability and scalability for the web application.
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
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.
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