AZ-305 Practice Exam 61 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A company is designing a data storage solution for a global e-commerce platform that requires low-latency access to product catalog data from multiple Azure regions. The data is read-heavy, with occasional updates. Which Azure data store should they recommend?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB is the correct choice because it provides globally distributed, multi-region writes with tunable consistency levels and single-digit-millisecond latency for read-heavy workloads. Its ability to replicate data across Azure regions and serve reads from the nearest region directly addresses the requirement for low-latency global access to product catalog data with occasional updates.

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Azure Cache for Redis

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Azure Blob Storage

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Azure SQL Database

Question 2

A company needs to store backup data from Azure Virtual Machines with a retention policy of 99 years to meet compliance requirements. The backups must be encrypted at rest and in transit. Which Azure storage solution should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage. Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage (specifically, a WORM policy with a retention period of up to 99 years) is the correct choice because it meets the 99-year retention requirement and provides encryption at rest (via Azure Storage Service Encryption) and in transit (via HTTPS). Immutable storage prevents data from being deleted or modified during the retention period, which is essential for long-term compliance backups.

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Azure Files

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Azure NetApp Files

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Azure Disk Storage

Question 3

A company needs to store sensitive customer data in Azure Blob Storage with encryption at rest using customer-managed keys (CMK) stored in a hardware security module (HSM). Which Azure service should they use to manage the keys?

Accepted Answer

Azure Key Vault Managed HSM. Azure Key Vault Managed HSM is a fully managed, highly available, single-tenant HSM that is FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated. It allows you to store customer-managed encryption keys (CMKs) in a hardware security module (HSM) for Azure Storage encryption at rest, meeting the requirement for HSM-backed key storage. The Premium tier of Azure Key Vault also supports HSM-backed keys, but the question specifies 'stored in a hardware security module (HSM)', and Managed HSM provides dedicated HSM partitions with stronger isolation and compliance.

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Azure Key Vault (Premium tier)

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Azure Information Protection

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Azure Key Vault (Standard tier)

Question 4

You have an Azure SQL Database that stores sales data. You need to ensure that the database can recover to any point in time within the last 35 days. What should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Configure the point-in-time restore (PITR) retention period to 35 days. Point-in-time restore (PITR) for Azure SQL Database allows you to restore a database to any point within the configured retention period. The default retention is 7 days, but you can increase it up to 35 days. By setting the PITR retention period to 35 days, you meet the requirement to recover to any point in time within the last 35 days.

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Configure long-term retention (LTR) backups with a retention of 35 days

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Create a secondary database in the same region

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Enable geo-replication with a readable secondary

Question 5

A company is designing a data lake for analytics. The data includes personally identifiable information (PII) that must be anonymized before analysts access it. Which Azure service should they use to automate the anonymization process?

Accepted Answer

Microsoft Purview data policies. Microsoft Purview data policies allow you to define and enforce data access policies that can automatically anonymize or mask sensitive data, such as PII, when accessed by analysts. This service integrates with Azure data lake storage and provides a centralized way to manage data governance and compliance, making it the correct choice for automating anonymization in a data lake scenario.

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Azure Policy

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Azure SQL Database dynamic data masking

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Azure Key Vault

Question 6

A company is designing a data storage solution for a globally distributed application that requires low-latency read access to frequently accessed data and high throughput for write operations. The data is non-relational and can be stored as key-value pairs. Which Azure service should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB is the correct choice because it is a globally distributed, multi-model database service that provides guaranteed low-latency reads (under 10 ms at the 99th percentile) and high throughput for write operations, with automatic indexing and turnkey global distribution. It natively supports key-value data models, making it ideal for non-relational, frequently accessed data requiring consistent performance across regions.

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Azure Table Storage

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Azure SQL Database

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Azure Blob Storage

Question 7

You deploy the above ARM template. The deployment succeeds. However, you cannot access the storage account from the Azure portal. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The network ACLs deny all traffic by default, and no allow rules are configured.. Option B is correct because the ARM template likely includes a network ACL configuration that, by default, denies all traffic. Without explicit allow rules for the Azure portal's IP ranges or the 'Allow trusted Microsoft services' exception, the portal cannot reach the storage account's management endpoints, resulting in an inability to access it from the portal despite a successful deployment.

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The storage account is configured to require HTTPS traffic only.

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The minimum TLS version is set to TLS 1.2, which is not supported by the portal.

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The encryption key source is set to Microsoft.Storage, which prevents portal access.

Question 8

A company uses Azure NetApp Files for high-performance file shares accessed by Linux VMs. They need to reduce latency for read-heavy workloads. Which configuration should you implement?

Accepted Answer

Enable read-only cache on the volume. Azure NetApp Files supports a read-only cache option on volumes, which stores frequently accessed data in a high-speed cache (SSD-based) local to the compute resources. This reduces read latency for read-heavy workloads by serving data from the cache instead of the underlying storage tier. The cache is transparent to the Linux VMs and requires no application changes.

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Migrate to Azure Files with Azure File Sync

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Disable the export policy to allow all clients

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Mount the volume using SMB protocol

Question 9

A company is migrating a legacy application that uses Oracle Database to Azure. They want to minimize code changes and maintain compatibility with Oracle PL/SQL. Which TWO Azure data services should they consider?

Accepted Answer

Azure SQL Managed Instance with Oracle compatibility. Azure SQL Managed Instance with Oracle compatibility (option B) provides a high degree of PL/SQL compatibility through its 'Oracle compatibility mode,' which supports stored procedures, triggers, and functions written in PL/SQL with minimal changes. This service also offers a fully managed SQL Server engine that can run Oracle workloads with near-zero code modifications, making it ideal for legacy application migration.

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Azure SQL Database

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Azure Cosmos DB

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Azure Database for MySQL

Question 10

You are reviewing the above Azure Policy definition assigned to a storage account. What does this policy enforce?

Accepted Answer

All containers must use a specific customer-managed encryption scope named 'customEncryptionScope' to allow write operations.. The Azure Policy definition uses the 'denyAction' effect to block write operations unless the storage account's containers are configured with a specific customer-managed encryption scope named 'customEncryptionScope'. This enforces that all containers must use that exact encryption scope for write operations, ensuring data is encrypted with a customer-managed key at the container level.

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Containers can be written to only if they use the default encryption scope.

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Write operations are allowed only when encryption scope is not specified.

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Reading from containers is denied unless a specific encryption scope is used.

Question 11

A healthcare organization stores patient records in Azure SQL Database. They need to ensure that all read queries against the database are directed to a read-only replica to offload the primary. Which feature should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Read scale-out. Read scale-out in Azure SQL Database allows you to direct read-only queries to a read-only replica, offloading the primary database. By setting the `ApplicationIntent=ReadOnly` connection string parameter, queries are automatically routed to the secondary replica, which is ideal for read-heavy workloads like patient record queries.

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Elastic database queries

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Failover groups

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Active geo-replication

Question 12

A company is deploying a containerized microservices application on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). The application requires persistent storage that can be attached to pods and supports dynamic provisioning. Which Azure storage solution should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Disks. Azure Disks is the correct choice because it provides block-level storage volumes that can be dynamically provisioned via the AKS built-in StorageClass, supporting ReadWriteOnce access mode required for a single pod in a containerized microservices application. Azure Disks integrate directly with Kubernetes PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) for dynamic provisioning, offering low-latency, high-performance storage suitable for stateful workloads.

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Azure Blob Storage

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Azure Files

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Azure NetApp Files

Question 13

Which TWO of the following are true about Azure Blob Storage access tiers?

Accepted Answer

The cool access tier has lower storage costs but higher access costs compared to the hot tier. Option A is correct because Azure Blob Storage's cool access tier is designed for infrequently accessed data, offering lower storage costs than the hot tier but higher access costs (per GB read/write) to compensate for the reduced storage price. This cost trade-off aligns with typical usage patterns where data is stored long-term but accessed less often.

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The cool access tier is designed for data that is accessed more frequently than the hot tier

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The archive access tier is suitable for data that is accessed daily

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The hot access tier has the lowest storage costs

Question 14

You are designing a solution to store large binary files (videos) that are accessed infrequently but must be retained for 7 years for compliance. The solution must minimize storage costs while allowing retrieval within 24 hours. Which Azure storage tier should you use?

Accepted Answer

Archive tier. The Archive tier is the correct choice because it is the lowest-cost storage tier for infrequently accessed data that must be retained for long periods (7 years). It allows retrieval within 24 hours via standard rehydration, meeting the compliance requirement while minimizing storage costs. The other tiers (Premium, Hot, Cool) are more expensive and designed for higher-frequency access, making them unsuitable for this cost-optimization scenario.

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Premium tier

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Cool tier

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Hot tier

Question 15

Your company uses Azure SQL Database and needs to archive data older than 7 years for compliance. The archived data must be stored in the most cost-effective manner, must be immutable, and must be deleted exactly after 10 years. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage and time-based retention policy. Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage and a time-based retention policy ensures that archived data cannot be modified or deleted until the specified retention period expires. This meets the compliance requirements for immutability and a 10-year deletion timeline, while blob storage tiers (e.g., cool or archive) can be used for cost-effective long-term storage.

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Azure Archive Storage with lifecycle management to delete after 10 years

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Azure SQL Database restore to a point in time with a retention period of 10 years

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Azure SQL Database long-term retention (LTR) backups

Question 16

Which THREE of the following are valid methods to securely transfer data to Azure Blob Storage? (Select three.)

Accepted Answer

Azure Data Box. Azure Data Box is a physical data transfer solution that allows you to securely transfer large volumes of data to Azure Blob Storage when network transfer is impractical. It uses AES-256 encryption for data at rest and TLS for data in transit, and after the device is shipped back, data is automatically uploaded to your designated storage account.

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Azure File Sync

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Azure Migrate

Question 17

Which TWO of the following are benefits of using Azure Files shares for lift-and-shift migrations of on-premises file servers?

Accepted Answer

Integration with Azure File Sync for hybrid scenarios. Azure Files shares provide fully managed SMB file shares in the cloud, which are directly compatible with on-premises file servers that use the SMB protocol. This makes them ideal for lift-and-shift migrations because applications can continue accessing files over SMB without code changes. Azure File Sync further extends this by enabling hybrid scenarios where on-premises servers can cache frequently accessed files while tiering to the cloud, simplifying the migration process.

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Block-level deduplication

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Support for iSCSI protocol

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Automatic tiering of data to archive storage

Question 18

A media company needs to store large video files that are frequently accessed for the first month, then infrequently after that. They want to minimize storage costs while ensuring files are instantly accessible when needed. Which storage strategy should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Use Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management to move files from hot to cool after 30 days. Option D is correct because Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management allows you to define rules that automatically transition blobs from the hot tier (frequent access) to the cool tier (infrequent access) after a specified number of days. This meets the requirement of instant accessibility for the first month and cost minimization thereafter, as the cool tier offers lower storage costs with the same low-latency access as the hot tier.

Answer

Store all files in the hot access tier

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Manually move files between tiers using AzCopy

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Store all files in the archive access tier

Question 19

You are reviewing the data protection settings of an Azure Blob Storage container using the above JSON. Which of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

Previous versions of blobs are retained. Option C is correct because the JSON shows that the `versioning` property is set to `Enabled` for the Blob Storage container. When versioning is enabled, every modification to a blob creates a new version, and previous versions are retained indefinitely (or until explicitly deleted or a lifecycle management policy removes them). This directly supports the statement that previous versions of blobs are retained.

Answer

Deleted blobs are retained for 30 days

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Blobs can be restored to any point within the last 7 days

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Versioning is disabled

Question 20

You need to store billions of small JSON files (average 50 KB) that are accessed infrequently but must be available within seconds when requested. Which Azure storage solution is most cost-effective?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage Cool tier. Azure Blob Storage Cool tier is the most cost-effective solution for storing billions of small JSON files (average 50 KB) that are infrequently accessed but require low-latency retrieval within seconds. The Cool tier offers low storage costs for data accessed less than once per month, while still providing sub-second access latency for individual blobs via HTTPS REST API, matching the 'available within seconds' requirement without the higher costs of Hot or premium tiers.

Answer

Azure SQL Database with a table storing JSON

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Azure Files with SMB shares

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Azure Cosmos DB with a container for each file