- A
A storage account key
Why wrong: Sharing an account key grants broad access and is not appropriate for limited temporary delegation.
- B
A shared access signature (SAS)
A SAS provides scoped, time-limited access without exposing the account keys.
- C
A resource lock
Why wrong: A lock does not grant access permissions.
- D
Blob versioning
Why wrong: Blob versioning preserves versions but does not delegate access.
Question 1,100 of 1,170
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. 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.
You need to give a third-party auditor temporary read-only access to specific blobs in a container without sharing the storage account keys. Which feature should you use?
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
✓
A shared access signature (SAS)
A shared access signature (SAS) is the correct choice because it provides delegated, time-limited, and permission-restricted access to specific Azure Storage resources—in this case, blobs—without exposing the storage account keys. You can generate a service-level SAS token scoped to individual blobs with read-only permissions and an expiration time, allowing the auditor to access only the required blobs. This meets the requirement for temporary, read-only access while maintaining security and granular control.
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.
- ✗
A storage account key
Why it's wrong here
Sharing an account key grants broad access and is not appropriate for limited temporary delegation.
When this WOULD be correct
When the question asks for a method to provide full access to all storage account resources (e.g., for an internal admin) and key rotation is acceptable, a storage account key would be correct.
- ✓
A shared access signature (SAS)
Why this is correct
A SAS provides scoped, time-limited access without exposing the account keys.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
A resource lock
Why it's wrong here
A lock does not grant access permissions.
When this WOULD be correct
You need to prevent a critical storage container from being deleted or modified by any user, even those with Contributor or Owner permissions. A resource lock (e.g., CanNotDelete) would be the correct feature to use.
- ✗
Blob versioning
Why it's wrong here
Blob versioning preserves versions but does not delegate access.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asks: 'You need to maintain a history of blob changes to recover from accidental overwrites or deletions. Which feature should you enable?' In that scenario, blob versioning is the correct answer.
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.
✓A shared access signature (SAS)Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
A SAS provides scoped, time-limited access without exposing the account keys.
✗A storage account keyWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Sharing a storage account key grants full administrative access to the entire storage account, not temporary read-only access to specific blobs, and violates the principle of least privilege.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
When the question asks for a method to provide full access to all storage account resources (e.g., for an internal admin) and key rotation is acceptable, a storage account key would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think the key is the simplest way to grant access without realizing it provides unrestricted, permanent access to the entire account, not just specific blobs.
✗A resource lockWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A resource lock prevents accidental deletion or modification of resources but does not provide any form of access control or temporary read-only access to specific blobs.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
You need to prevent a critical storage container from being deleted or modified by any user, even those with Contributor or Owner permissions. A resource lock (e.g., CanNotDelete) would be the correct feature to use.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates might confuse resource locks with access control mechanisms, thinking they can restrict access to blobs, when in fact locks only protect against deletion/modification, not read access.
✗Blob versioningWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Blob versioning preserves previous versions of blobs but does not provide temporary, granular read-only access to specific blobs for a third party without using storage account keys.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asks: 'You need to maintain a history of blob changes to recover from accidental overwrites or deletions. Which feature should you enable?' In that scenario, blob versioning is the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse blob versioning with access control mechanisms, thinking it can be used to grant access to specific versions, but it does not provide authentication or authorization.
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 often confuse resource locks (which prevent deletion) with access control mechanisms, or mistakenly think blob versioning provides access delegation, when in fact only SAS tokens offer granular, time-bound, and keyless access to specific blobs.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
A SAS token is generated using the storage account key or a user delegation key (for Azure AD-backed SAS) and includes parameters such as signed permissions (e.g., 'r' for read), signed resource types (e.g., 'b' for blob), signed expiry time, and an optional IP range. The token is appended to the blob URL as a query string, and Azure Storage validates the signature on each request using HMAC-SHA256. In a real-world scenario, you can use a stored access policy on the container to centrally manage SAS tokens and revoke them without regenerating the storage account key, which is critical for compliance audits.
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
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Implement and Manage Storage — This question tests Implement and Manage Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A shared access signature (SAS) — A shared access signature (SAS) is the correct choice because it provides delegated, time-limited, and permission-restricted access to specific Azure Storage resources—in this case, blobs—without exposing the storage account keys. You can generate a service-level SAS token scoped to individual blobs with read-only permissions and an expiration time, allowing the auditor to access only the required blobs. This meets the requirement for temporary, read-only access while maintaining security and granular control.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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