AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question
You manage a line-of-business application running on an Azure virtual machine. The VM currently uses a 512-GiB Premium SSD data disk that stores a large indexed database. The database engine requires consistent low-latency access and the disk must remain online while it is resized. You need to increase the disk to 2 TiB with the least administrative effort. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming a disk resize requires detaching the disk or rebuilding it, when managed disks support online expansion.
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
✓
Expand the managed disk to 2 TiB in the Azure portal and then extend the volume inside the guest operating system.
Azure managed disks support online expansion, so you can increase the data disk from 512 GiB to 2 TiB while the VM remains running. After the Azure-side resize, you must extend the partition and file system inside the guest OS so the database can use the new space. This avoids the downtime and data migration that detaching, recreating, or attaching another disk would require.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Convert the VM's OS disk to a managed disk and then increase the size of the data disk.
Why it's wrong here
Converting the OS disk to managed storage does not change the data disk's capacity and is unrelated to the resize requirement. The data disk must itself be expanded, and this action would add unneeded change to the VM configuration without resolving the capacity problem described in the scenario.
- ✗
Detach the data disk, recreate it as a 2-TiB Premium SSD, and reattach it to the VM.
Why it's wrong here
Detaching and recreating the disk discards the existing database files unless you first copy them elsewhere, and it forces the application offline for the entire operation. Azure managed disks support online expansion for Premium SSD, so a destructive rebuild is unnecessary and adds risk and downtime that the scenario explicitly wants to avoid.
- ✗
Create a new 2-TiB Ultra Disk, attach it, and migrate the database by using Storage Migration Service.
Why it's wrong here
Ultra Disks are not supported on every VM size or region, and Storage Migration Service is designed for migrating servers and shares, not for relocating a single Azure data disk. This approach introduces a second disk, requires data migration time, and does not meet the least-administrative-effort requirement when a simple online resize is available.
- ✓
Expand the managed disk to 2 TiB in the Azure portal and then extend the volume inside the guest operating system.
Why this is correct
Managed disks can be expanded online in the Azure portal, CLI, or PowerShell without detaching them, and the VM stays running. After the Azure-side size increases, you extend the partition and file system in the guest OS so the additional capacity becomes usable. This satisfies the low-latency Premium SSD requirement and the least-effort constraint.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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