AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A software company hosts multiple small databases for different clients on Azure SQL Database. Each database has low average usage but experiences unpredictable spikes. The company wants to minimize cost by pooling resources across databases while allowing each database to consume resources up to a set limit during spikes. They also need the ability to easily add new databases without manual sizing. Which Azure SQL Database deployment option should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure SQL Database elastic pool. Azure SQL Database elastic pool is the correct choice because it allows multiple databases to share a fixed pool of resources (eDTUs or vCores), which minimizes cost by pooling resources across databases with low average usage and unpredictable spikes. Each database can automatically burst up to a configurable per-database resource limit (e.g., max eDTU per database) during spikes, and new databases can be added to the pool without manual sizing, as they simply consume from the shared pool.

Answer

Azure SQL Database single database with reserved capacity

Answer

Azure SQL Managed Instance

Answer

SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines

Question 2

A company is building a petabyte-scale data lake for analytics. The workload includes Apache Spark and Hive jobs that read and write large files. The storage solution must support a hierarchical namespace for efficient directory operations, POSIX-like access control lists (ACLs) for fine-grained permissions, and must be accessible via the Azure Blob Storage API for compatibility with existing tools. Furthermore, the solution should be optimized for analytics workloads with high throughput. Which Azure data service should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (ADLS Gen2) is the correct choice because it combines a hierarchical namespace with POSIX-like ACLs and is accessible via the Azure Blob Storage API. This service is specifically optimized for analytics workloads like Apache Spark and Hive, providing high throughput for petabyte-scale data lakes. The hierarchical namespace enables efficient directory operations, while the Blob Storage API ensures compatibility with existing tools.

Answer

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen1

Answer

Azure Blob Storage

Answer

Azure Files

Question 3

A media company needs to store large volumes of video files that are processed by an application. The files are accessed via REST APIs and are rarely accessed after the first few days. The company wants to minimize storage costs by automatically moving older files to a cheaper storage tier without any manual intervention. Which Azure storage solution should they use, and which feature should they configure?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage with lifecycle management policies. Azure Blob Storage with lifecycle management policies is the correct solution because it allows you to define rules that automatically move blobs to cooler tiers (e.g., from Hot to Cool to Archive) based on age or last modification time, minimizing storage costs without manual intervention. The REST API access requirement is natively supported by Blob Storage via HTTPS, and the large video file workload fits well within its object storage capabilities.

Answer

Azure Files with tiering

Answer

Azure NetApp Files with capacity pools

Answer

Azure Disk Storage with managed disks

Question 4

A media company stores raw video files and processed output in Azure. These files are accessed via REST APIs by a processing application. After processing, the files are rarely accessed but must be retained. To minimize costs, the company wants to automatically move files to a cheaper storage tier after 30 days and archive them after 90 days. Which Azure storage solution and feature should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage with lifecycle management policies. Azure Blob Storage with lifecycle management policies is correct because it allows you to define rules that automatically transition blobs from the hot tier to the cool tier after 30 days and then to the archive tier after 90 days. This directly meets the cost-minimization requirement for rarely accessed files that must be retained, as lifecycle management automates tier transitions without manual intervention.

Answer

Azure Files with snapshot schedules

Answer

Azure Disk Storage with incremental snapshots

Answer

Azure NetApp Files with snapshot policies

Question 5

A global e-commerce platform uses Azure Cosmos DB for its product catalog. The application requires multi-region writes to provide low-latency updates from any geographic location. Two users may update the same product item concurrently, so the solution must automatically resolve conflicts. For real-time inventory checks, reads must be strongly consistent, while product description reads can be eventually consistent. Which Cosmos DB configuration should they choose?

Accepted Answer

SQL API with multi-region writes, last-writer-wins conflict resolution, and per-request strong consistency. Option A is correct because the SQL API in Cosmos DB supports multi-region writes with last-writer-wins (LWW) conflict resolution using a timestamp or custom property, which automatically resolves concurrent updates to the same product item. Per-request strong consistency allows inventory reads to achieve linearizability by setting the consistency level at the request level, while product description reads can use the default session or eventual consistency for performance. This combination meets all requirements: multi-region writes, automatic conflict resolution, and the ability to mix strong and eventual consistency on a per-request basis.

Answer

MongoDB API with multi-region writes and automatic conflict resolution

Answer

Table API with multi-region writes and strong consistency

Answer

Cassandra API with multi-region writes and strong consistency

Question 6

A software company hosts 100 small Azure SQL databases for different clients. Each database has low average usage but experiences unpredictable spikes. The company wants to minimize costs while allowing each database to burst up to a maximum resource limit during spikes. They also need to easily add new databases without manual sizing. Which Azure SQL Database deployment option should they use?

Accepted Answer

Elastic pools. Elastic pools allow multiple databases with low average usage and unpredictable spikes to share a fixed pool of resources (eDTUs or eVCores), enabling each database to burst up to a maximum limit while minimizing overall cost. This model also supports easy addition of new databases without manual sizing, as they are simply added to the pool and share its allocated resources.

Answer

Single databases with DTU-based tiers

Answer

Managed Instance

Answer

Hyperscale single database

Question 7

A company wants to migrate its on-premises file server to Azure with minimal application changes. The application accesses files over the SMB protocol and requires identity-based access using the existing on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). They need the solution to be fully managed with low latency. Which Azure storage solution should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure Files. Azure Files is the correct choice because it provides fully managed SMB file shares that can be accessed over the SMB protocol with identity-based authentication using on-premises AD DS via Azure Files AD DS integration. This allows the application to connect with minimal changes, as it continues to use SMB and existing domain credentials, while Azure Files offers low-latency access when deployed in the same region as the application.

Answer

Azure NetApp Files

Answer

Azure Blob Storage with NFS 3.0

Answer

Azure Disk Storage

Question 8

A company stores log data in Azure Blob Storage. Logs are accessed frequently for the first 30 days, then rarely accessed but must be retained for 7 years for compliance. They want to minimize storage costs. Which storage tier and lifecycle management rule should they use?

Accepted Answer

Use the Hot tier for initial storage, and a lifecycle rule to move to Archive after 30 days.. Option C is correct because the Hot tier is optimal for frequent access during the first 30 days, and a lifecycle rule moving directly to Archive after 30 days minimizes costs by immediately transitioning to the lowest-cost storage tier for long-term retention. The Archive tier is the most cost-effective for data that is rarely accessed and must be retained for 7 years, as it offers the lowest storage cost but higher retrieval latency and cost.

Answer

Use the Cool tier for initial storage, and a lifecycle rule to move to Archive after 30 days.

Answer

Use the Hot tier for initial storage, and a lifecycle rule to move to the Cool tier after 30 days, then to Archive after 7 years.

Answer

Use the Archive tier for initial storage, and a lifecycle rule to move to Hot for the first 30 days.

Question 9

A company runs a global e-commerce application that needs to store product catalog data. The data is JSON documents with variable schemas. The application requires single-digit millisecond read and write latencies at any scale and must support automatic synchronous replication across multiple Azure regions for high availability and low latency reads from any region. Which Azure data service should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes. Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes is the correct choice because it natively supports JSON documents with variable schemas, guarantees single-digit millisecond read and write latencies at any scale via its multi-homing API, and provides automatic synchronous replication across multiple Azure regions with active-active configurations. This ensures high availability and low-latency reads from any region without manual failover or data loss.

Answer

Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication

Answer

Azure Table Storage

Answer

Azure Database for PostgreSQL with read replicas

Question 10

A company stores large amounts of log data in Azure Blob Storage. Logs are accessed frequently for the first 30 days, then rarely accessed afterward, but must be retained for 7 years for compliance. The company wants to minimize storage costs. They need to configure automatic data movement and retention policies. Which combination of Azure Blob Storage access tiers and lifecycle management policy should they use?

Accepted Answer

Use Hot tier for 30 days, then use Archive tier for the remaining period, with a lifecycle rule to delete after 7 years.. Option B is correct because it uses the Hot tier for the first 30 days to handle frequent access, then automatically moves data to the Archive tier via a lifecycle management rule to minimize costs for rarely accessed data, and finally deletes the blobs after 7 years to meet compliance retention requirements. The Archive tier offers the lowest storage cost for long-term retention, making it ideal for logs that are rarely accessed after the initial period.

Answer

Use Hot tier for 30 days, then use Cool tier for 7 years, with a lifecycle rule to delete after 7 years.

Answer

Use Cool tier for 30 days, then use Archive tier for 7 years, no lifecycle rule needed.

Answer

Use Archive tier immediately, with a lifecycle rule to delete after 7 years.

Question 11

A company runs a SQL Server database on an Azure virtual machine in a single region. They need to increase storage capacity and improve I/O performance for their transaction-intensive workload. They also want to ensure high availability within the same datacenter (99.99% SLA). What should they do?

Accepted Answer

Use Azure Premium SSD v2 managed disks in a storage pool with mirroring across multiple disks.. Azure Premium SSD v2 managed disks offer the highest I/O performance for transaction-intensive workloads, with sub-millisecond latency and the ability to scale IOPS and throughput independently of disk size. By configuring a storage pool with mirroring across multiple Premium SSD v2 disks, you can aggregate capacity and I/O while providing redundancy within a single datacenter, which supports the 99.99% SLA for the VM when combined with an availability set or proximity placement group.

Answer

Use Azure Ultra Disk storage attached to the VM.

Answer

Deploy the SQL Server on an availability set and use Storage Spaces Direct with multiple disks.

Answer

Enable Azure SQL Managed Instance with auto-failover groups.

Question 12

A company wants to migrate its on-premises file server to Azure. The application accesses files using the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol and requires identity-based access integrated with on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). The solution must be fully managed and provide low latency for users within the same region. Which Azure solution should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure Files with Active Directory authentication and Azure File Sync.. Azure Files with Active Directory authentication and Azure File Sync is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed SMB file share that supports identity-based access using on-premises AD DS. Azure File Sync enables caching of frequently accessed files on-premises or in Azure, reducing latency for users in the same region while maintaining a single namespace. This solution meets all requirements: SMB protocol, identity-based access, fully managed service, and low latency.

Answer

Azure NetApp Files with SMB volumes.

Answer

Azure Blob Storage with NFS 3.0 support.

Answer

Azure Managed Disk with a file server VM.

Question 13

A company ingests IoT sensor data into Azure Blob Storage. Data is written frequently and accessed rarely after the first 24 hours. The company must retain the data for exactly 90 days for compliance. They want to minimize storage costs by automatically moving data to cheaper tiers as soon as possible. Which lifecycle management policy should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Move to Cool tier after 1 day and then to Archive after 30 days. Option B is correct because it aligns with the access pattern: data is frequently accessed only in the first 24 hours, so moving to Cool tier after 1 day (when access drops) saves costs, then moving to Archive after 30 days meets the 90-day retention requirement while minimizing storage costs. The lifecycle policy must ensure data is not moved to Archive before the compliance period ends, and moving to Cool immediately (0 days) would incur unnecessary write costs for frequently written data.

Answer

Move to Cool tier immediately (0 days) and then to Archive after 30 days

Answer

Move to Archive tier after 1 day

Answer

Move to Cool tier after 30 days and to Archive after 90 days

Question 14

A company is migrating a MongoDB-compatible application to Azure. The application requires low-latency reads and writes globally. It needs to support multi-region writes so that updates can be made from any region with automatic conflict resolution. The data is JSON documents that can vary in schema. The company wants a fully managed database service with native support for MongoDB APIs. Which Azure data service should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB with the API for MongoDB. Azure Cosmos DB with the API for MongoDB is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed, globally distributed database service that natively supports the MongoDB wire protocol. It offers multi-region writes with automatic conflict resolution using last-writer-wins (LWW) or custom conflict resolution policies, ensuring low-latency reads and writes globally. Its schema-agnostic nature handles JSON documents with varying schemas, meeting all stated requirements.

Answer

Azure SQL Database

Answer

Azure Database for MongoDB

Answer

Azure Cache for Redis

Question 15

A company runs a global e-commerce application that stores customer order data. The data must be highly available and durable. The application requires strong consistency for all reads and writes. The company needs to store relational data (orders, customers) and handle complex queries with joins. They want a fully managed database service that supports active geo-replication for disaster recovery across two Azure regions with automatic failover. Which Azure database service should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication. Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed relational database service that supports strong consistency, complex queries with joins, and active geo-replication across two Azure regions with automatic failover for disaster recovery. Active geo-replication creates readable secondary replicas in a paired region, and the application can manually or programmatically initiate failover to ensure high availability and durability while maintaining transactional consistency.

Answer

Azure Cosmos DB with multiple write regions and strong consistency

Answer

Azure Database for MySQL with read replicas

Answer

Azure SQL Managed Instance with failover groups