CV0-004 Cloud Architecture and Design Practice Question
An organization needs to store archival data for 7 years to meet compliance requirements. The data is rarely accessed, and retrieval time is not critical. Which cloud storage type is most cost-effective?
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
✓
Archive storage
Archive storage (e.g., AWS Glacier, Azure Archive) is designed for long-term, infrequently accessed data at the lowest cost. Block storage is for VMs. Object storage is for frequent access. File storage is for shared file systems.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Block storage
Why it's wrong here
Block storage presents raw volumes attached to a single compute instance, and its provisioned capacity bills continuously regardless of access, making seven-year retention expensive. It is tempting for databases needing low-latency random I/O, but archival compliance data needs cheap durable retention, not mounted volumes.
- ✗
File storage
Why it's wrong here
File storage provides shared hierarchical directories over SMB or NFS, with capacity priced for active concurrent access rather than long-term dormancy. It is tempting for shared document repositories, but seven-year rarely-read archives fit object storage's cold tiers, which charge less for retention and infrequent retrieval.
- ✗
Object storage
Why it's wrong here
Object storage is cheaper than block but more expensive than archive for long-term.
- ✓
Archive storage
Why this is correct
Archive storage offers the lowest per-gigabyte cost of the tiers, designed for data retained for years with infrequent access. The stem states retrieval time is not critical, so the slower, pricier-retrieval trade-off is acceptable for seven-year compliance retention.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CV0-004 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CV0-004 exam.