Top 15 AZ-104 Interview Questions (2026 Updated)

Landing a job as a Microsoft Azure Administrator in 2026 is not just about passing the AZ-104 certification exam — it is about proving you can apply that knowledge under pressure, in real enterprise environments, and in front of a hiring panel that knows exactly what to ask.

Azure is now the backbone of thousands of organizations worldwide, and demand for certified Azure Administrators has surged. But here is the challenge: many candidates who hold the AZ-104 certification still stumble in interviews because they memorized concepts without truly understanding how they connect to day-to-day cloud operations.

This guide walks you through the top 15 AZ-104 interview questions for 2026, complete with expert-level answers, practical context, and tips to help you stand out. Whether you are a fresher stepping into your first cloud role or an experienced IT professional pivoting to Azure, these questions reflect what real hiring managers are asking today.

1. What is the difference between an Azure Subscription and a Management Group?

What interviewers are testing: Your understanding of Azure's organizational hierarchy.

An Azure Subscription is a billing and access boundary — it contains resources and is tied to a payment method. A Management Group sits above subscriptions in the hierarchy and allows you to apply governance policies and role-based access control (RBAC) across multiple subscriptions at once.

Pro Tip: Mention that Management Groups support up to six levels of depth (excluding root), which is critical in large enterprises with complex governance needs.

2. How Does Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Work?

Azure RBAC allows you to grant precise access to Azure resources. It works on three elements:

• Security Principal – Who (user, group, service principal, or managed identity)

• Role Definition – What actions are permitted (e.g., Reader, Contributor, Owner)

• Scope – Where the role applies (management group, subscription, resource group, or resource)

Access is granted by assigning a role to a security principal at a given scope. RBAC uses an allow model — permissions are additive across assignments, with deny assignments taking precedence.

3. What Are Azure Policies and How Do They Differ from RBAC?

This is a question that trips up many candidates. Here is the key distinction:

• RBAC controls who can take actions on resources.

• Azure Policy controls what types of resources can be created or configured.

For example, you can use Azure Policy to enforce that all virtual machines must use a specific SKU size or that all resources must have mandatory tags. Policies can audit, deny, or deploy-if-not-exists — making them essential for governance at scale.

4. Explain the Difference Between LRS, GRS, ZRS, and GZRS in Azure Storage

This question tests your hands-on knowledge of Azure Storage redundancy options:

For mission-critical workloads, always recommend GZRS for the highest durability.

5. What Is the Purpose of Azure Virtual Network (VNet) Peering?

VNet Peering connects two Azure VNets, enabling resources to communicate using private IP addresses as if they were in the same network. Traffic stays on Microsoft's backbone — it never traverses the public internet.

There are two types:

• Regional Peering – VNets in the same Azure region

• Global Peering – VNets across different Azure regions

A key limitation to mention: VNet peering is non-transitive. If VNet A is peered with VNet B, and VNet B is peered with VNet C, VNet A cannot reach VNet C without a separate peering or a hub-spoke topology using Azure Firewall or a network virtual appliance.

6. How Do You Implement Azure Bastion and Why Is It Preferred Over a Jump Server?

Azure Bastion is a fully managed PaaS service that provides secure, browser-based RDP and SSH access to VMs without exposing public IP addresses. Unlike a traditional jump server (which itself becomes an attack surface), Bastion is:

• Fully managed by Microsoft

• Integrated with Azure AD and MFA

• Not exposed to the public internet

• Compliant with many regulatory standards

7. What Is the Difference Between Azure Load Balancer and Azure Application Gateway?

Use Load Balancer for non-HTTP traffic or high-throughput internal scenarios. Use Application Gateway for web applications needing intelligent routing, SSL offloading, or WAF protection.

8. Explain Azure Monitor and Its Key Components

Azure Monitor is the unified observability platform for Azure. Its core components include:

• Metrics – Numerical, time-series data (e.g., CPU %, disk IOPS)

• Logs – Queried via Log Analytics using KQL (Kusto Query Language)

• Alerts – Triggered based on metric thresholds or log query results

• Application Insights – APM for application-level monitoring

• Diagnostic Settings – Routes logs to Log Analytics, Storage, or Event Hubs

9. How Does Azure Site Recovery (ASR) Support Business Continuity?

ASR replicates workloads running on physical or virtual machines to a secondary location. It supports:

• Azure-to-Azure replication

• On-premises (VMware/Hyper-V) to Azure

• Recovery plan automation with failover and failback

Key metrics to know: RPO (Recovery Point Objective) as low as 5 minutes for Azure VMs, and RTO (Recovery Time Objective) within minutes using pre-configured recovery plans.

10. What Are Managed Identities and Why Are They Better Than Service Principals with Secrets?

Managed Identities eliminate the need to store credentials in code or configuration files. Two types exist:

• System-assigned – Lifecycle tied to the Azure resource; deleted when the resource is deleted

• User-assigned – Standalone identity; can be shared across multiple resources

The advantage over service principals with secrets is no secret rotation required — Azure handles credential management automatically.

11. How Do You Configure Azure Backup for an Azure VM?

The process involves:

1. Create or select a Recovery Services Vault in the same or paired region

2. Enable Backup on the VM and select a backup policy

3. Define retention schedules (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)

4. Use Instant Restore for quick recovery from snapshots retained for 1–5 days

Always emphasize that backups are stored in geo-redundant storage by default, and soft-delete protects against accidental deletion for 14 days.

12. What Is the Difference Between NSG and Azure Firewall?

• Network Security Group (NSG): A free, stateful packet filter applied at the subnet or NIC level. Best for simple allow/deny rules based on IP, port, and protocol.

• Azure Firewall: A fully managed, stateful firewall-as-a-service with FQDN filtering, threat intelligence, and centralized logging. Ideal for hub-spoke architectures and east-west traffic inspection.

Think of NSG as a first line of basic defense, and Azure Firewall as enterprise-grade, centralized traffic control.

13. How Do You Enforce Tagging Standards Across Resources?

Using a combination of:

• Azure Policy with the require-tag or append-tag-and-its-value effects to enforce or inherit tags

• Management Group-level policies to apply standards organization-wide

• Cost Management tags to enable granular chargeback and showback

Mention the Inherit a tag from the resource group built-in policy as a common real-world solution.

14. What Is Azure AD Connect, and When Would You Still Use It in 2026?

Azure AD Connect synchronizes on-premises Active Directory identities to Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD). In 2026, it is relevant for organizations in hybrid identity scenarios, where users must authenticate to both on-premises and cloud resources.

However, Microsoft now recommends Azure AD Connect Cloud Sync for most new deployments due to its lightweight agent model, higher availability, and support for multi-forest disconnected scenarios.

15. How Would You Diagnose and Resolve a VM Connectivity Issue in Azure?

A strong answer demonstrates a methodical troubleshooting approach:

1. Check NSG rules – Use Effective Security Rules in the portal

2. Run IP Flow Verify in Network Watcher to confirm allowed/denied traffic

3. Check Connection Monitor for latency or packet loss

4. Review Boot Diagnostics and serial console logs for OS-level issues

5. Verify DNS resolution using nslookup from within the VM

6. Check Route Tables for UDR misconfigurations

Mentioning Network Watcher proactively demonstrates real-world operational experience.

Final Thoughts: How to Ace Your Azure Administrator Interview in 2026

Knowing these answers is a strong start — but what separates good candidates from great ones is the ability to connect concepts to real scenarios. Before your interview:

• Practice explaining concepts out loud, as if teaching a colleague

• Review your hands-on labs and be ready to discuss specific configurations you have implemented

• Stay current with Microsoft's Azure updates, as the platform evolves rapidly

• Frame answers around business impact, not just technical mechanics

The AZ-104 certification proves you have the knowledge. Your interview performance proves you can use it. Prepare deliberately, speak confidently, and you will be well ahead of the competition.