AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

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?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

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 2

A healthcare organization needs to store patient records that must be immutable and auditable for compliance purposes. The records should be stored in a cost-effective manner with the ability to set retention policies. Which Azure storage solution should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage. Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage (WORM policy) is the correct solution because it provides time-based retention policies and legal hold capabilities that make data non-erasable and non-modifiable, meeting compliance requirements for patient records. It is cost-effective for large volumes of data and integrates with Azure Policy for audit logging, making it ideal for healthcare compliance scenarios like HIPAA.

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Azure NetApp Files

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Azure SQL Database

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Azure Files

Question 3

A financial services company is migrating its on-premises SAP HANA database to Azure. The database requires high IOPS and low latency with a capacity of 4 TB. They need to choose a storage solution that supports SAP HANA certified configurations. Which Azure storage solution should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Ultra Disk Storage. Azure Ultra Disk Storage is the correct choice because it is the only Azure managed disk that is SAP HANA certified for high IOPS and sub-millisecond latency, which is critical for SAP HANA workloads. It supports up to 300,000 IOPS and 2,000 MB/s throughput per disk, and can be provisioned with up to 64 TB capacity, easily covering the 4 TB requirement. Premium SSD v2 is not SAP HANA certified for production databases, and Azure NetApp Files, while offering high performance, is not a managed disk and requires specific NFS configurations that may not meet SAP HANA's strict certification requirements for block storage.

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Azure Premium SSD v2

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Azure Standard HDD

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Azure NetApp Files

Question 4

A company wants to automatically tier data between hot, cool, and archive access tiers based on last access time to optimize costs. Which Azure feature should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management. Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management allows you to define policies that automatically move blobs between hot, cool, and archive access tiers based on conditions such as last access time or age. This directly addresses the requirement to optimize costs by tiering data according to access patterns without manual intervention.

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Azure Data Box

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Azure Backup

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Azure File Sync

Question 5

A gaming company stores player session data in Azure Cosmos DB. They need to handle sudden spikes in write traffic without throttling and ensure low-latency reads globally. Which configuration should they use?

Accepted Answer

Autoscale provisioned throughput. To meet both requirements, the company needs two configurations: Autoscale provisioned throughput (A) to automatically scale up to 10x the base RU/s during sudden write spikes, preventing throttling; and Multi-region writes (C) to enable low-latency reads globally by allowing reads from the nearest region. Neither configuration alone fully satisfies both needs.

Answer

Serverless capacity mode

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Manual provisioned throughput

Question 6

A multinational corporation needs to store and analyze petabytes of historical data for regulatory reporting. The data is rarely accessed but must be available for queries within 5 minutes. Which Azure storage solution should they choose to minimize cost?

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 Azure Blob Storage's massive scalability, enabling petabyte-scale storage at low cost. It supports fast queries via tools like Azure Synapse or PolyBase, meeting the 5-minute query SLA for cold data, while its tiered storage (e.g., Cool or Archive access tiers) minimizes cost for rarely accessed historical data.

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Azure SQL Database

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Azure Files

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Azure Cosmos DB

Question 7

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 8

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. 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.

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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 9

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 10

Which THREE of the following are best practices for designing a data storage solution using Azure Cosmos DB?

Accepted Answer

Use the appropriate consistency level based on application requirements. Azure Cosmos DB offers five well-defined consistency levels (strong, bounded staleness, session, consistent prefix, and eventual). Choosing the appropriate level based on application requirements is a best practice, as it balances data consistency guarantees against latency and throughput. For example, session consistency is ideal for multi-user applications where each user reads their own writes, while strong consistency ensures linearizability but reduces availability and increases latency.

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Store large binary data (e.g., images) directly as documents

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Use manual provisioned throughput for all containers to control costs

Question 11

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. 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 12

Refer to the exhibit. A custom Azure RBAC role is defined as shown. A user assigned this role is unable to delete blobs in a container. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The role does not include delete permission on blobs. The custom RBAC role definition shown in the exhibit includes 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/blobServices/containers/blobs/delete' under the 'Actions' section, but this permission is a control plane action, not a data plane action. To delete blobs, the role must include the corresponding data action 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/blobServices/containers/blobs/delete/action' under 'DataActions'. Without it, the user lacks the necessary data plane permission to perform blob deletion, even though the control plane permission is present.

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The role is scoped to the storage account but not to the container

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The role does not include read permission on blobs

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The role does not include any dataActions

Question 13

Refer to the exhibit. An organization deploys this ARM template to create a storage account. They need to ensure that data is replicated synchronously across two Azure regions. Does this template meet the requirement?

Accepted Answer

No, GRS provides asynchronous replication. The template uses GRS (Geo-Redundant Storage), which replicates data asynchronously from the primary region to the secondary region. Because the replication is asynchronous, there is a potential for data loss if a regional disaster occurs before the secondary region is fully updated. The requirement specifies synchronous replication across two Azure regions, which is only provided by Azure Storage’s geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS) with read-access (RA-GZRS) or by using Azure Files with synchronous replication via Azure File Sync or a third-party solution. Therefore, GRS does not meet the synchronous requirement.

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No, the template uses RA-GRS

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Yes, GRS provides synchronous replication

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No, the template uses LRS

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. A KQL query is run against Azure Storage logs. The result shows a high number of 404 errors for 'GetBlob' operations. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The blobs being requested do not exist. A 404 (Not Found) error for 'GetBlob' operations in Azure Storage logs specifically indicates that the requested blob resource does not exist at the specified URI. This is distinct from authorization failures (which return 403) or throttling (which returns 503). The high number of 404 errors suggests the client is attempting to retrieve blobs that have been deleted, never created, or are referenced with an incorrect path.

Answer

The client does not have permission to access the blobs

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The storage account is throttling requests

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The client is using an incorrect authentication method

Question 15

You are designing a storage solution for a globally distributed application that requires low-latency read access from multiple regions. Which Azure storage solution should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes and multiple read regions. Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes and multiple read regions is the correct choice because it provides turnkey global distribution with single-digit-millisecond latency for reads and writes from any Azure region. This solution directly addresses the requirement for low-latency read access from multiple regions, as Cosmos DB automatically replicates data to all configured regions and offers multiple consistency models to balance performance and data freshness.

Answer

Azure Blob Storage with read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS)

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Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication

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Azure Files with Azure File Sync