The answer is the Archive tier. This is the correct choice because it offers the lowest cost blob tier for rarely accessed compliance data, with storage pricing significantly below Hot, Cool, or Cold tiers, but requires rehydration—a process that can take up to 15 hours—to make files readable. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Azure Blob Storage access tiers and their trade-offs between cost and latency; a common trap is choosing Cool or Cold tiers, which are cheaper than Hot but still more expensive than Archive for data that is almost never accessed. Remember that Archive is designed for long-term retention where retrieval speed is not critical, making it ideal for compliance archives. A helpful memory tip: think of Archive as “deep freeze storage”—cheapest to keep, but you must thaw (rehydrate) before you can use it.
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A legal department stores scanned contracts that are kept for compliance and are almost never opened. They want the lowest storage cost, and it is acceptable if files take time to become available before download. Which blob tier should you choose?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "never"
Why it matters: Absolute qualifier. True only if the statement has zero exceptions — be cautious of options that seem obvious but break down in edge cases.
Why wrong: Hot is optimized for frequent access, so it is usually not the cheapest option for rarely accessed documents.
B
Cool
Why wrong: Cool is for infrequently accessed data, but Archive is designed for the lowest storage cost when online access is not needed immediately.
C
Archive
Archive is the lowest-cost online-disabled tier for long-term retention. Because the team can wait for access, this tier minimizes storage cost and fits rarely opened compliance documents.
D
Cold
Why wrong: Cold is for infrequently accessed data that still remains online, but it is not the lowest-cost choice for data that can wait for retrieval.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Archive
The Archive tier is designed for data that is rarely accessed and has the lowest storage cost among Azure Blob Storage tiers. It requires rehydration (which can take up to 15 hours) before files become available, making it ideal for compliance data that is almost never opened and where delayed access is acceptable.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding 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.
✗
Hot
Why it's wrong here
Hot is optimized for frequent access, so it is usually not the cheapest option for rarely accessed documents.
✗
Cool
Why it's wrong here
Cool is for infrequently accessed data, but Archive is designed for the lowest storage cost when online access is not needed immediately.
✓
Archive
Why this is correct
Archive is the lowest-cost online-disabled tier for long-term retention. Because the team can wait for access, this tier minimizes storage cost and fits rarely opened compliance documents.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "never" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Cold
Why it's wrong here
Cold is for infrequently accessed data that still remains online, but it is not the lowest-cost choice for data that can wait for retrieval.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse 'Cold' with a valid Azure tier (it is not) or choose Cool thinking it is the cheapest, but Archive is the actual lowest-cost tier for rarely accessed data with acceptable retrieval delay.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Archive tier uses offline storage with data stored on magnetic tape or equivalent media, requiring a rehydration operation (changing the blob tier to Hot or Cool) before reading. Rehydration can take from 1 to 15 hours depending on the priority (Standard or High), and during this time the blob is in an 'archived' state and cannot be read. This makes Archive suitable for long-term retention scenarios like legal holds or compliance archives where retrieval latency is acceptable.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Implement and Manage Storage — This question tests Implement and Manage Storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Archive — The Archive tier is designed for data that is rarely accessed and has the lowest storage cost among Azure Blob Storage tiers. It requires rehydration (which can take up to 15 hours) before files become available, making it ideal for compliance data that is almost never opened and where delayed access is acceptable.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "never". Absolute qualifier. True only if the statement has zero exceptions — be cautious of options that seem obvious but break down in edge cases.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A compliance team wants newly uploaded monthly reports to remain in the Hot tier for 90 days and then move automatically to a cheaper online tier without becoming offline. Which two configurations should the administrator use? Select two.
hard
✓ A.Create a blob lifecycle management rule.
✓ B.Configure the rule to transition blobs from Hot to Cool after 90 days.
C.Transition the blobs to Archive after 90 days so they cost less than Cool.
D.Use file share snapshots because lifecycle rules do not apply to blobs.
E.Enable soft delete on the container to change access tiers automatically.
Why A: Option A is correct because Azure Blob Lifecycle Management rules allow administrators to automate tier transitions for blobs based on age or other conditions. Option B is correct because transitioning from Hot to Cool after 90 days meets the requirement of moving to a cheaper online tier (Cool is online and less expensive than Hot) while keeping the data accessible without becoming offline.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
Question Discussion
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This AZ-104 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-104 exam.
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