- A
Locally redundant storage (LRS), which keeps three copies in one datacenter only.
Why wrong: LRS protects against local disk and server failures inside one datacenter, but it does not add zone-level resilience.
- B
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS), which replicates data across availability zones in the same region.
ZRS stores multiple copies of the data across availability zones within one region, so the storage account can remain available if one zone is lost. This matches the requirement for zone failure resiliency without introducing cross-region read access or the extra complexity of geo-failover. It is the least expansive redundancy option that still provides protection against a zone outage.
- C
Geo-redundant storage (GRS), which replicates data to a paired region and supports failover.
Why wrong: GRS adds replication to a paired region, which is useful for regional disaster recovery, but the question does not require cross-region continuity.
- D
Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS), which allows reads from the secondary region.
Why wrong: RA-GRS is designed for workloads that want secondary-region read access. That is unnecessary here.
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 finance team stores application blobs in an Azure Storage account. The data must remain available if a single availability zone in the region is lost, and the team does not need automatic read access from another region. Which redundancy option best meets the requirement?
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
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS), which replicates data across availability zones in the same region.
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) replicates your data synchronously across three Azure availability zones within the primary region. This ensures that if a single zone fails, the data remains available and durable without requiring any manual intervention or failover, meeting the requirement of no automatic read access from another region.
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.
- ✗
Locally redundant storage (LRS), which keeps three copies in one datacenter only.
Why it's wrong here
LRS protects against local disk and server failures inside one datacenter, but it does not add zone-level resilience.
- ✓
Zone-redundant storage (ZRS), which replicates data across availability zones in the same region.
Why this is correct
ZRS stores multiple copies of the data across availability zones within one region, so the storage account can remain available if one zone is lost. This matches the requirement for zone failure resiliency without introducing cross-region read access or the extra complexity of geo-failover. It is the least expansive redundancy option that still provides protection against a zone outage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Geo-redundant storage (GRS), which replicates data to a paired region and supports failover.
Why it's wrong here
GRS adds replication to a paired region, which is useful for regional disaster recovery, but the question does not require cross-region continuity.
When this WOULD be correct
A company requires data to survive a regional disaster (e.g., entire region outage) and is willing to fail over manually or automatically to a secondary region. They do not need immediate read access from the secondary region.
- ✗
Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS), which allows reads from the secondary region.
Why it's wrong here
RA-GRS is designed for workloads that want secondary-region read access. That is unnecessary here.
When this WOULD be correct
A company needs to ensure data is readable even if the primary region becomes unavailable, and they require automatic failover for read operations. For example, a global application that must serve read requests from a secondary region during a primary region outage.
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.
✓Zone-redundant storage (ZRS), which replicates data across availability zones in the same region.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
ZRS stores multiple copies of the data across availability zones within one region, so the storage account can remain available if one zone is lost. This matches the requirement for zone failure resiliency without introducing cross-region read access or the extra complexity of geo-failover. It is the least expansive redundancy option that still provides protection against a zone outage.
✗Geo-redundant storage (GRS), which replicates data to a paired region and supports failover.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
GRS replicates data to a paired region, which provides durability across regions but does not protect against a single availability zone failure within the primary region; it also incurs higher cost and latency than needed.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company requires data to survive a regional disaster (e.g., entire region outage) and is willing to fail over manually or automatically to a secondary region. They do not need immediate read access from the secondary region.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'zone failure' with 'regional failure' and think GRS offers zone-level protection, or they may over-specify redundancy without considering cost and simplicity.
✗Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS), which allows reads from the secondary region.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
RA-GRS provides read access to a secondary region, but the requirement states no automatic read access from another region is needed. Additionally, RA-GRS does not protect against a single availability zone loss within the primary region; it only protects against region-level failures.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company needs to ensure data is readable even if the primary region becomes unavailable, and they require automatic failover for read operations. For example, a global application that must serve read requests from a secondary region during a primary region outage.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think RA-GRS offers better availability than ZRS because it includes geo-replication, but they overlook the explicit requirement that no automatic read access from another region is needed, making RA-GRS overkill and not aligned with the question's constraints.
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 'availability within a region' with 'disaster recovery across regions,' leading them to choose GRS or RA-GRS when the requirement is only to survive a single availability zone failure, not a full regional outage.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
ZRS uses synchronous replication across three availability zones within the same region, ensuring that all write operations are committed to all three zones before acknowledging success. This provides a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of zero and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of zero for zone failures, but it does not protect against a region-wide outage. In a real-world scenario, a finance team might choose ZRS to meet compliance requirements for data residency while maintaining high availability against localized disasters like power failures or cooling system issues in a single zone.
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: Zone-redundant storage (ZRS), which replicates data across availability zones in the same region. — Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) replicates your data synchronously across three Azure availability zones within the primary region. This ensures that if a single zone fails, the data remains available and durable without requiring any manual intervention or failover, meeting the requirement of no automatic read access from another region.
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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