AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
You need to reduce compute cost for a development virtual machine that is used only during business hours on weekdays. Which option provides the most direct built-in cost optimization?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse high-availability features (availability sets) or connectivity features (VPN) with cost optimization, or mistakenly think upgrading to premium storage reduces costs, when in fact the most direct built-in method for compute cost reduction is stopping the VM during idle periods via auto-shutdown.
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
✓
Enable auto-shutdown on the VM.
B is correct because enabling auto-shutdown on the VM directly stops the VM during non-business hours (e.g., evenings and weekends), eliminating compute costs (which are billed per second while the VM is running). This is a built-in Azure feature that requires no additional infrastructure or manual intervention, making it the most direct cost-optimization method for a development VM with a predictable usage schedule.
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 VM in an availability set.
Why it's wrong here
Availability sets place VMs across multiple fault and update domains to protect against hardware failure and maintenance downtime, but they only affect resiliency, not pricing. A single dev VM in an availability set is still billed at the same compute rate, and if you add more VMs to the set you are multiplying compute charges. It does nothing to reduce runtime or stop the VM, so it cannot lower compute costs.
When this WOULD be correct
When the question asks for a solution to ensure high availability for a production application running on multiple VMs, placing them in an availability set would be correct.
- ✓
Enable auto-shutdown on the VM.
Why this is correct
Auto-shutdown stops the VM according to a schedule and releases compute resources, so you stop paying for vCPU and RAM while the VM is deallocated; only the managed disk and static resources (such as a reserved public IP) continue to incur charges. For a development VM used only during business hours, this directly eliminates nightly and weekend compute billing, often the largest portion of the monthly cost, with no architectural changes.
- ✗
Convert the OS disk to premium SSD v2.
Why it's wrong here
Premium SSD v2 is a higher-performance managed disk tier that charges a premium per GiB of provisioned capacity and per provisioned IOPS/throughput; the disk and the VM compute are billed independently, so converting the OS disk changes only the storage line item. It can improve I/O performance (e.g., for disk-intensive workloads), but it leaves the compute hourly billing untouched and typically raises total monthly cost.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct in a scenario where the question asks for the best way to improve I/O performance for a production database VM that requires low latency and high throughput, and cost is not the primary concern.
- ✗
Create a site-to-site VPN.
Why it's wrong here
A site-to-site VPN extends your on-premises network into Azure through an encrypted IPsec tunnel, but it does not alter VM billing at all — the VM continues to run in the pay-as-you-go compute model regardless of network connectivity. In fact, you would incur additional recurring costs for the VPN gateway (hourly processing plus egress data transfer), so this option not only fails to reduce compute cost but actively increases your overall Azure spend.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asking for a secure connection between an on-premises network and Azure to enable hybrid workloads, where the requirement is to extend the on-premises network securely into Azure.
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.
✓Enable auto-shutdown on the VM.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Auto-shutdown stops the VM according to a schedule and releases compute resources, so you stop paying for vCPU and RAM while the VM is deallocated; only the managed disk and static resources (such as a reserved public IP) continue to incur charges. For a development VM used only during business hours, this directly eliminates nightly and weekend compute billing, often the largest portion of the monthly cost, with no architectural changes.
✗Place the VM in an availability set.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
An availability set provides high availability by distributing VMs across fault and update domains, but does not reduce compute costs for a VM used only during business hours.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
When the question asks for a solution to ensure high availability for a production application running on multiple VMs, placing them in an availability set would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse availability sets with cost-saving features, or think that distributing VMs somehow reduces individual VM costs.
✗Convert the OS disk to premium SSD v2.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Converting the OS disk to premium SSD v2 increases cost due to higher per-GB pricing and additional IOPS charges, whereas the goal is to reduce compute cost for a VM used only during business hours.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct in a scenario where the question asks for the best way to improve I/O performance for a production database VM that requires low latency and high throughput, and cost is not the primary concern.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may mistakenly believe that premium SSD v2 is a cost-saving measure because it offers better performance per dollar in some high-I/O workloads, but they overlook that it is more expensive than standard disks for low-usage VMs.
✗Create a site-to-site VPN.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Creating a site-to-site VPN does not reduce compute costs; it is a networking feature for connecting on-premises networks to Azure, unrelated to VM cost optimization.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asking for a secure connection between an on-premises network and Azure to enable hybrid workloads, where the requirement is to extend the on-premises network securely into Azure.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse cost optimization with network connectivity solutions, or mistakenly think that a VPN reduces costs by enabling hybrid scenarios that could use on-premises resources.
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?”
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.