The team accidentally stopped protection for a VM and deleted its backup data. They want Azure Backup to keep deleted backup items recoverable for a grace period so the item can be undeleted if needed. Which vault feature should be enabled?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
Instant restore
Instant restore speeds recovery operations, but it does not preserve deleted backup items after protection is stopped.
Best answer
Soft delete
Soft delete keeps removed backup items in a recoverable state for a retention period after deletion or after protection is stopped. That gives administrators a safety window to reverse accidental deletion and prevents immediate permanent loss of backup data. It is the right protection setting for accidental removal scenarios in Recovery Services vaults.
Distractor review
A new backup policy
A backup policy controls schedule and retention, but it does not provide the undelete grace period for deleted backup items.
Distractor review
A private endpoint for the vault
A private endpoint secures network access to the vault, but it does not change how deleted backup items are retained.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A route table contains these entries: 10.0.0.0/8 with next hop Virtual appliance, and 10.1.1.0/24 with next hop Virtual network gateway. Which next hop will Azure use for traffic to 10.1.1.5?
Question 2
You are deploying a stateless web application on Azure virtual machines. The solution must automatically add and remove instances based on CPU demand and allow all instances to be managed as one logical group. Which Azure compute feature should you deploy?
Question 3
You are deploying a Windows Server VM for an internal app. The VM must support Secure Boot and vTPM later, its OS disk must survive host moves, and the team wants the lowest-cost managed disk tier that still behaves like a normal writable OS disk. Which two choices should you make? Select two.
Question 4
You need to deploy several identical virtual machines and ensure that the failure of a single Azure host does not affect all of them. Which feature should you use?
Question 5
You need to connect VNet-Hub and VNet-Spoke so that resources in both virtual networks can communicate privately over the Microsoft backbone. Both virtual networks are in the same region. What should you configure?
Question 6
You need to create a storage account that provides the lowest-cost redundant storage for non-critical data and only needs protection against local disk or server failure within a single datacenter. Which redundancy option should you choose?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Soft delete — Soft delete is designed to protect Azure Backup data from accidental or malicious removal. When enabled, deleted backup items remain recoverable for a grace period instead of disappearing immediately. This is especially useful when protection is stopped or a backup item is deleted by mistake, because the administrator can restore the item during the retention window rather than starting over. Why others are wrong: Instant restore improves recovery speed but does not preserve deleted items. A backup policy governs backup timing and retention, not undelete behavior. A private endpoint is a network security feature and has no effect on deleted backup item retention or recovery.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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