AZ-204 Develop Azure compute solutions Practice Question
Your company uses Azure App Service to host a web application that requires periodic database maintenance. The maintenance tasks are time-consuming and must run outside of peak hours. You need to schedule these tasks to run automatically at 2:00 AM every Sunday. The tasks should be implemented as an Azure Function that runs in the same App Service plan to reduce costs. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates might overlook the specific requirement to implement the task 'as an Azure Function' and instead choose a WebJob, which is a different technology for background tasks. Another trap is confusing the cost implications of deploying an Azure Function to a Consumption plan (which is a separate serverless billing model) versus deploying it to an existing dedicated App Service Plan (which shares resources and costs with other apps on that plan).
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
✓
Create a separate Azure Function App in the same App Service plan and configure a timer trigger.
Creating a separate Azure Function App and hosting it on the *same existing dedicated App Service Plan* (e.g., Basic, Standard, Premium) allows the Azure Function to run using the existing compute resources. This directly meets the requirement to run in the 'same App Service plan to reduce costs' by leveraging existing infrastructure. A timer trigger is the appropriate mechanism to schedule the function to run automatically at 2:00 AM every Sunday. This option also fulfills the requirement that the tasks 'should be implemented as an Azure Function'. Option A is incorrect because deploying to a Consumption plan would create a *separate* Function App resource with a serverless billing model, which does not align with the 'in the same App Service plan' requirement for cost reduction in the context of an existing dedicated App Service plan. Option C is incorrect because, while WebJobs are suitable for background tasks and can share an App Service plan, they are not Azure Functions. The STEM explicitly requires the tasks to be implemented as an Azure Function. Option D is incorrect because Azure Logic Apps are a separate service, incurring separate costs, and do not fulfill the requirement to implement the task 'as an Azure Function' and run it 'in the same App Service plan' for cost reduction.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy the maintenance code as an Azure Function in the Consumption plan and configure a timer trigger.
Why it's wrong here
Deploying an Azure Function in a Consumption plan introduces a distinct billing model separate from the existing App Service plan, incurring additional costs for function executions. Furthermore, Consumption plan functions are subject to cold start delays, which can impact the timely execution of scheduled maintenance tasks, especially if they need to run frequently or with low latency. This approach creates a separate logical resource, adding management overhead.
- ✓
Create a separate Azure Function App in the same App Service plan and configure a timer trigger.
Why this is correct
Creating a separate Azure Function App, even within the same App Service plan, introduces an additional logical application resource. While sharing the App Service plan reduces infrastructure costs, this approach creates a distinct management and deployment unit for the function. The scenario requires implementing *an* Azure Function to run alongside an existing web application, implying integration or a single function within the existing application's context. This option is tempting because Azure Function Apps are the standard hosting unit for functions, and they can indeed share an App Service plan, making it the correct choice when a new, dedicated logical application for functions is desired.
- ✗
Add a WebJob to the App Service that uses a scheduled trigger to run the maintenance code.
Why it's wrong here
WebJobs are designed to run background tasks directly within an existing App Service instance, utilizing the same underlying App Service plan resources. This approach is highly cost-effective as it incurs no additional hosting charges beyond the existing App Service plan. WebJobs can be easily scheduled using CRON expressions, making them an ideal and integrated solution for running recurring maintenance code alongside the web application without introducing new infrastructure costs or separate management units.
- ✗
Use Azure Logic Apps with a recurrence trigger to call the web application's maintenance endpoint.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Logic Apps operate as a separate serverless workflow service, incurring distinct costs based on actions executed, which adds to the overall operational expenditure. This solution would also necessitate exposing a dedicated maintenance endpoint on the web application, potentially introducing security considerations and requiring additional development to handle external calls. While powerful for orchestration, Logic Apps are not the most integrated or cost-efficient solution for running simple background code directly within an existing App Service context.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Azure Functions Development
Key term
Azure App Service Plans
An Azure App Service Plan defines the compute resources, pricing tier, scaling capabilities, and region for one or more web apps, API apps, mobile app backends, or Azure Functions hosted in Azure App Service.
Key term
Azure Functions Bindings
Azure Functions Bindings are declarative connections that link your serverless function code to Azure services or external resources, handling input and output data automatically without writing extra networking or authentication code.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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