- A
Azure App Service
Azure App Service is designed for hosting web applications and APIs with minimal infrastructure management. It supports built-in TLS/HTTPS, deployment slots for staging and swap testing, and autoscale for changing demand. Those features make it a strong fit for internet-facing applications that need operational simplicity and common web hosting capabilities without managing virtual machines.
- B
Azure Container Instances
Why wrong: ACI runs containers well, but it does not provide the full web hosting feature set described here.
- C
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets
Why wrong: Scale sets manage VM fleets, but the team would still need to administer the guest operating system and web stack.
- D
Azure Bastion
Why wrong: Bastion is for secure administrative access to VMs, not for hosting a public web application.
Quick Answer
The answer is Azure App Service, the correct choice because it is a fully managed PaaS offering that supports deploying web applications from source code with built-in HTTPS via TLS/SSL certificates, deployment slots for staging and testing before swapping to production, and autoscale to handle varying traffic loads—all without any server management. On the AZ-104 exam, this question tests your ability to match workload requirements to the right Azure compute service, often appearing alongside traps like Azure Virtual Machines (which require server management) or Azure Functions (which is event-driven, not for continuous web apps). A common memory tip is to think of App Service as the "all-in-one web host" for PaaS scenarios: it handles HTTPS, staging slots, and scaling automatically, so if the question mentions source code, SSL, and no server admin, immediately flag App Service. Remember the mnemonic "HAS" for HTTPS, Autoscale, and Slots—if all three are needed, App Service is the answer.
AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of deploy and manage azure compute. 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 developer wants to publish an internet-facing web application from source code. The solution must support built-in HTTPS, deployment slots for testing, and autoscale. The team does not want to manage servers. Which Azure service should the administrator recommend?
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
Azure App Service
Azure App Service is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed platform for hosting web applications from source code, with built-in support for HTTPS via TLS/SSL certificates, deployment slots for staging and testing, and autoscale capabilities. It eliminates server management, aligning with the requirement for a PaaS (Platform as a Service) solution that handles infrastructure, patching, and scaling automatically.
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.
- ✓
Azure App Service
Why this is correct
Azure App Service is designed for hosting web applications and APIs with minimal infrastructure management. It supports built-in TLS/HTTPS, deployment slots for staging and swap testing, and autoscale for changing demand. Those features make it a strong fit for internet-facing applications that need operational simplicity and common web hosting capabilities without managing virtual machines.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Azure Container Instances
Why it's wrong here
ACI runs containers well, but it does not provide the full web hosting feature set described here.
- ✗
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets
Why it's wrong here
Scale sets manage VM fleets, but the team would still need to administer the guest operating system and web stack.
- ✗
Azure Bastion
Why it's wrong here
Bastion is for secure administrative access to VMs, not for hosting a public web application.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Container Instances with Azure App Service for web apps, overlooking that Container Instances lacks built-in deployment slots and autoscale for web applications, and requires additional orchestration for HTTPS and scaling.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure App Service uses a sandboxed environment with automatic patching of the underlying OS and web server (IIS or Linux equivalents), and its autoscale feature relies on Azure Monitor metrics to trigger scale-out/in actions based on CPU, memory, or custom rules. Deployment slots are implemented as separate live environments with their own hostnames, allowing traffic swapping with zero downtime, and built-in HTTPS is enforced via SNI-based TLS certificates managed through the service. A real-world scenario is a team using a staging slot to validate a new feature before swapping to production, with autoscale handling traffic spikes during a marketing campaign.
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
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Deploy and Manage Azure Compute practice questions
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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: Azure App Service — Azure App Service is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed platform for hosting web applications from source code, with built-in support for HTTPS via TLS/SSL certificates, deployment slots for staging and testing, and autoscale capabilities. It eliminates server management, aligning with the requirement for a PaaS (Platform as a Service) solution that handles infrastructure, patching, and scaling automatically.
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
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. A developer wants to publish an internet-facing application from source code. Required capabilities include built-in HTTPS, deployment slots, and autoscale, but the team does not want to manage the operating system. Which Azure service should the administrator choose?
medium- A.Azure Container Instances
- B.Azure Virtual Machines
- ✓ C.Azure App Service
- D.Azure Kubernetes Service
Why C: Azure App Service is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed platform for hosting web applications with built-in HTTPS support, deployment slots for staging and swapping, and autoscale capabilities. It abstracts the underlying operating system, allowing the team to focus on code without managing infrastructure.
Variation 2. A development team wants to publish an internet-facing application directly from source code. The solution must support built-in HTTPS, deployment slots for safe testing, and autoscale as demand changes. Which two choices should the administrator select? Select two.
hard- ✓ A.Use Azure App Service.
- ✓ B.Choose an App Service plan at Standard tier or higher.
- C.Use Azure Container Instances for the public application.
- D.Deploy the app on a virtual machine scale set.
- E.Use an availability set for the application instances.
Why A: Azure App Service is a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web apps. It natively supports publishing directly from source code (via continuous deployment from GitHub, Azure Repos, or Bitbucket), built-in HTTPS (with automatic certificate management), deployment slots for staging and swapping, and autoscale based on metrics or schedules. These features directly satisfy all the requirements stated in the question.
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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