CV0-004 Cloud Architecture and Design Practice Question
A cloud engineer is configuring object storage for a media company that stores video archives accessed a few times per year but must retain them for seven years for compliance. Retrieval latency of several hours is acceptable, and cost must be minimized. Which storage tier characteristic should the engineer select?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is equating durability and compliance retention with frequent-access storage, when archive tiers provide equal durability at much lower cost.
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
✓
An archive tier with long retrieval times and the lowest storage cost.
Archive-class object storage is purpose-built for data retained for years but read only occasionally, trading retrieval latency for the lowest storage cost per gigabyte. Since the media company accepts hours of retrieval delay and emphasizes cost, the archive tier satisfies both the compliance retention period and the budget constraint better than any frequently accessed or block-based option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
An archive tier with long retrieval times and the lowest storage cost.
Why this is correct
Archive tiers are engineered for long-term retention of data that is rarely accessed, offering the lowest storage price per gigabyte in exchange for retrieval times measured in hours. The scenario permits several hours of retrieval latency and prioritizes cost, so an archive tier aligns exactly with both the access pattern and the compliance retention period.
- ✗
A local SSD volume attached to a virtual machine that stores the archives.
Why it's wrong here
Instance-attached SSD volumes are block storage designed for low-latency active workloads, not durable multi-year archives. They are tied to a running instance, are far more expensive per gigabyte than archive object storage, and do not provide the durability or lifecycle management expected for compliance retention. This does not meet the cost or retention requirement.
- ✗
A standard tier with millisecond access and no retrieval fee.
Why it's wrong here
Standard object storage offers immediate access without retrieval charges, but its per-gigabyte storage price is the highest of the tiers. For data touched only a few times a year over seven years, paying standard rates for the entire retention period dramatically increases cost. The scenario explicitly allows hours of retrieval latency, so standard access is unnecessary.
- ✗
A high-performance tier with low latency and frequent-access pricing.
Why it's wrong here
High-performance frequent-access tiers are priced for workloads that read data regularly, with low retrieval latency and high storage cost per gigabyte. Archives accessed a few times per year would pay a premium for speed they do not need. This tier is the opposite of what a cost-minimized, rarely read compliance archive requires.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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