- A
Copy the blob directly from Archive tier to the client's local disk.
Why wrong: Archived blobs cannot be downloaded immediately. They must be rehydrated to an online tier before standard read operations succeed.
- B
Change the blob access tier to Hot and wait for rehydration to finish before downloading it.
Archive blobs are offline and must be rehydrated to an online tier before they can be read. Moving the blob to Hot is appropriate when rapid access is needed after rehydration completes. The administrator should expect a delay during rehydration, then the blob can be downloaded normally.
- C
Assign the blob a shorter retention policy so it becomes accessible automatically.
Why wrong: Retention settings affect governance and deletion timing, not whether an archived blob is online and readable.
- D
Move the blob to the Cool tier and attempt the download immediately.
Why wrong: Cool is an online tier, but the blob must first be rehydrated out of Archive before it can be accessed. The download will not work immediately while still archived.
Quick Answer
The answer is to change the blob access tier to Hot and wait for the rehydration to finish before downloading it. This is correct because Azure blob archive rehydration to hot tier is an asynchronous process: changing the tier initiates a background operation that moves the data from offline storage back to an online, immediately accessible state. Until that rehydration completes, the blob remains in an archived state and any download attempt will fail. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Azure Blob Storage access tiers and lifecycle management, often appearing as a trick where candidates try to download directly or copy the blob without changing the tier first. A common trap is assuming you can simply change the tier and instantly access the data, but you must account for the rehydration delay, which can take up to 15 hours. Memory tip: think "Tier first, then wait" — you cannot skip the rehydration queue.
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 lifecycle rule moved quarterly audit logs to the Archive tier. An auditor now needs one blob for an urgent investigation and wants it available for download as soon as the rehydration completes. What should the administrator do?
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
Change the blob access tier to Hot and wait for rehydration to finish before downloading it.
Option B is correct because changing the access tier of a blob from Archive to Hot initiates an asynchronous rehydration process that moves the blob data back to an online tier. Once rehydration completes, the blob becomes available for download. This is the standard method to make archived blobs accessible for immediate use.
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.
- ✗
Copy the blob directly from Archive tier to the client's local disk.
Why it's wrong here
Archived blobs cannot be downloaded immediately. They must be rehydrated to an online tier before standard read operations succeed.
- ✓
Change the blob access tier to Hot and wait for rehydration to finish before downloading it.
Why this is correct
Archive blobs are offline and must be rehydrated to an online tier before they can be read. Moving the blob to Hot is appropriate when rapid access is needed after rehydration completes. The administrator should expect a delay during rehydration, then the blob can be downloaded normally.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Assign the blob a shorter retention policy so it becomes accessible automatically.
Why it's wrong here
Retention settings affect governance and deletion timing, not whether an archived blob is online and readable.
- ✗
Move the blob to the Cool tier and attempt the download immediately.
Why it's wrong here
Cool is an online tier, but the blob must first be rehydrated out of Archive before it can be accessed. The download will not work immediately while still archived.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume changing the tier to Cool allows immediate download, but they overlook that rehydration from Archive is always required and takes time, regardless of the target tier.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Rehydration from Archive tier involves setting the blob's tier to Hot or Cool, which triggers a background operation that can take up to 15 hours (depending on blob size and priority). During rehydration, the blob's status changes to 'rehydrate-pending-to-hot' or 'rehydrate-pending-to-cool', and read requests will fail until the process finishes. The Set Blob Tier REST API (PUT blob?comp=tier) is used to initiate this, and the operation is asynchronous—polling the blob properties for the ArchiveStatus field can confirm completion.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
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: Change the blob access tier to Hot and wait for rehydration to finish before downloading it. — Option B is correct because changing the access tier of a blob from Archive to Hot initiates an asynchronous rehydration process that moves the blob data back to an online tier. Once rehydration completes, the blob becomes available for download. This is the standard method to make archived blobs accessible for immediate use.
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.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
3 more ways this is tested on AZ-104
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 lifecycle rule moved old audit logs to the Archive tier. A support engineer now needs to read one archived blob, and the download request fails with a message that the blob is archived. The engineer can wait several hours for the data to become available. What should the administrator do?
medium- A.Enable versioning on the storage account so the archived blob can be read immediately.
- ✓ B.Change the blob tier from Archive to Hot or Cool to start rehydration.
- C.Move the blob to a different container in the same storage account.
- D.Switch the storage account replication from LRS to ZRS.
Why B: Option B is correct because archived blobs in Azure Storage are offline and cannot be read directly. To access the data, the blob must first be rehydrated by changing its tier to Hot or Cool, which initiates an asynchronous copy of the blob data to an online tier. This process can take up to 15 hours, matching the engineer's ability to wait several hours.
Variation 2. A legal team stores scanned contracts in Blob Archive. Auditors will need to open several files next week for about five days and then the documents should return to the lowest practical storage cost. Which two actions should the administrator plan? Select two.
hard- A.Download the blobs directly from Archive with a normal read operation.
- ✓ B.Initiate a rehydration to the Cool tier before the review window.
- C.Set the blobs to the Hot tier permanently as soon as the review starts.
- ✓ D.Move the blobs back to Archive after the review window ends.
- E.Change the storage account redundancy to RA-GRS so the files can be read.
Why B: Option B is correct because blobs in the Archive tier are offline and cannot be read directly; they must first be rehydrated to a hot or cool tier. Rehydrating to the Cool tier is appropriate for a five-day access window and avoids the higher cost of the Hot tier. After the review, moving the blobs back to Archive (Option D) ensures the lowest practical storage cost for long-term retention.
Variation 3. A 180-GB blob is in the Archive tier. A legal team needs the file available later today and expects to open it several times during review. Which two actions should the administrator take? Select two.
hard- ✓ A.Initiate rehydration of the blob to the Hot tier.
- B.Leave the blob in Archive and rely on first access to trigger rehydration.
- ✓ C.Choose High priority rehydration.
- D.Copy the blob to a new container and keep it in Archive.
- E.Apply a lifecycle rule that moves the blob to Cool after rehydration completes.
Why A: Rehydrating the blob from Archive to Hot tier makes it immediately accessible for frequent reads, as the Hot tier is optimized for high access rates. The legal team needs to open the file several times later today, so Hot tier is appropriate. Option A is correct because it explicitly initiates the rehydration process to a tier that supports frequent access.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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