The answer is to create a user delegation SAS with write permission and a short expiration time. This method is correct because a user delegation SAS is secured with Azure AD credentials rather than the storage account key, allowing you to grant temporary write access to a specific blob container without exposing the key. It supports fine-grained scoping and a configurable expiration window, which perfectly meets the 24-hour requirement while ensuring the partner—who lacks an Azure subscription in your tenant—can access only that container. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of shared access signatures versus user delegation SAS, with a common trap being to choose a service-level SAS or share the account key. Remember: user delegation SAS uses Azure AD, not keys, so it is the only option that avoids key exposure for cross-tenant, time-limited access. A helpful memory tip is “User delegation for users, key-based for services”—if the partner is a user without a subscription, always pick the delegation SAS.
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. 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.
A partner company needs write access to a single blob container for 24 hours. The partner does not have an Azure subscription in your tenant, and the team does not want to share the storage account key. Which access method is the best choice?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a user delegation SAS with write permission and a short expiration time
A user delegation SAS is the best choice because it provides time-limited, scoped write access to a specific blob container without exposing the storage account key. It is secured with Azure AD credentials and can be configured with a short expiration time (e.g., 24 hours), meeting the partner's requirement for temporary access. This method ensures the partner does not need an Azure subscription in your tenant and avoids sharing the account key.
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.
✗
Grant the partner Contributor access on the storage account
Why it's wrong here
Contributor is broader than needed and still requires the partner to have an identity in the tenant.
✓
Create a user delegation SAS with write permission and a short expiration time
Why this is correct
A user delegation SAS provides temporary access without exposing the storage account key and can be tightly scoped.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Share the storage account access key and let the partner create their own token
Why it's wrong here
Sharing the account key exposes full secret material and defeats the requirement to avoid key distribution.
✗
Enable anonymous public write access on the container
Why it's wrong here
Anonymous write access is not a secure or controlled way to grant temporary partner access.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse a user delegation SAS with a service SAS or account SAS, or mistakenly think that granting RBAC roles like Contributor is the simplest way to provide access, without realizing it grants far more permissions than needed and violates the principle of least privilege.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
A user delegation SAS is signed with Azure AD credentials (via a user delegation key) rather than the storage account key, allowing fine-grained control over permissions, resource scope, and expiration. The SAS token includes parameters such as `signedpermissions` (e.g., 'w' for write), `signedexpiry` (set to 24 hours), and `signedresource` (e.g., 'c' for container), ensuring the token is valid only for the specified container and time window. Under the hood, the SAS is generated using the Azure Storage REST API or SDK, and the user delegation key is obtained from Azure AD, which has a maximum lifetime of 7 days, making it ideal for short-term delegated access.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
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: Create a user delegation SAS with write permission and a short expiration time — A user delegation SAS is the best choice because it provides time-limited, scoped write access to a specific blob container without exposing the storage account key. It is secured with Azure AD credentials and can be configured with a short expiration time (e.g., 24 hours), meeting the partner's requirement for temporary access. This method ensures the partner does not need an Azure subscription in your tenant and avoids sharing the account key.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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 →
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 partner organization needs write access to a single blob container for 24 hours. You want to avoid sharing the storage account key and minimize access scope. Which access mechanism should you provide?
medium
A.A storage account key
✓ B.A user delegation SAS
C.A container stored access policy without a token
D.An Azure Policy assignment
Why B: A user delegation SAS is the correct choice because it provides time-limited, delegated access to a specific blob container using Azure AD credentials, without exposing the storage account key. It allows you to grant write access for exactly 24 hours to a single container, minimizing the access scope as required.
Variation 2. A contractor needs temporary access to upload and download files in only one blob container for 8 hours. You do not want to share the storage account key, and you want to revoke access later without affecting other containers. What should you create?
medium
A.A storage account access key, because it can be limited to one container by policy.
✓ B.A container-level SAS token backed by a stored access policy, so you can limit and revoke access.
C.Anonymous public access on the container, because it is the easiest way to time-limit access.
D.Azure RBAC on the storage account only, because RBAC automatically expires after a few hours.
Why B: A container-level SAS token backed by a stored access policy is the correct solution because it allows you to grant temporary, scoped access to a single blob container without exposing the storage account key. The stored access policy enables you to revoke the SAS token at any time by modifying or deleting the policy, which immediately invalidates all tokens associated with it, without affecting other containers.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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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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