AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
An administrator archived monthly log exports in a blob container six weeks ago. An auditor now needs to open one of those files later today, and the file must be readable from Azure Storage rather than restored from a separate backup copy. What should the administrator do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume archived blobs are still readable because they appear in the storage account listing, but Azure's Archive tier explicitly stores data offline, requiring explicit rehydration before any read operation.
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
✓
Start rehydration of the blob to the Hot tier before opening it.
Blobs in the Archive tier are offline and cannot be read directly. To access the data, the blob must first be rehydrated to the Hot or Cool tier, which changes its state to online and readable. Rehydration can take up to 15 hours, so the administrator must start this process well before the auditor needs the file.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Open the blob directly from the Archive tier because archived blobs remain online for read access.
Why it's wrong here
Archive tier is an offline storage class, meaning the blob bytes are not accessible by standard read operations; any HTTP GET or download request on an archived blob fails because the data is not online. To read it, the administrator must first issue a Set Blob Tier call to an online tier (Hot, Cool, or Cold) and wait for the rehydration to complete. Simply knowing the blob's URL or possessing a SAS token does not make the offline data readable.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question stated that the blob was in the Cool or Cold tier (online tiers), then opening it directly would be correct because those tiers allow immediate read access.
- ✓
Start rehydration of the blob to the Hot tier before opening it.
Why this is correct
Archived blobs are not immediately readable, so the administrator must rehydrate the blob back to an online tier first. Hot is appropriate when the file needs to be accessible again as soon as the rehydration completes and may be used actively during the audit. This is the correct operational response when the blob must be read later the same day.
- ✗
Change the blob to the Cold tier, because Cold is designed for archived content.
Why it's wrong here
Changing the access tier from Archive to Cold does initiate a rehydration process, but it is not an immediate fix; the tier change is asynchronous and, without a High-priority rehydration request, can take up to 15 hours to become readable. Cold is an online tier meant for infrequently accessed data that is still immediately readable, not a status that simply 'unlocks' archived content. Because the administrator must open the file later the same day, Hot tier with High-priority rehydration is the only option that meets that timing.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question asked: 'An administrator wants to reduce storage costs for monthly logs that are accessed quarterly but must be available within seconds. What tier should they use?' In that scenario, Cold tier is appropriate for infrequent access with low latency requirements.
- ✗
Use a snapshot of the archived blob, because snapshots can be opened even when the base blob is archived.
Why it's wrong here
A snapshot references the same underlying block blobs as the base blob, so it cannot be read independently once the base data resides in Archive. Taking a snapshot before the audit does not copy data to an online tier; if the base blob is archived, the snapshot's content is also offline and still requires rehydration to become readable. The snapshot is useful for versioning or point-in-time restoration, but it is not an access shortcut around the Archive tier.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question asked about accessing a blob that is in the Hot or Cool tier, and the administrator needed to preserve the original blob state while making a point-in-time copy available, using a snapshot would be correct.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-104 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Start rehydration of the blob to the Hot tier before opening it.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Archived blobs are not immediately readable, so the administrator must rehydrate the blob back to an online tier first. Hot is appropriate when the file needs to be accessible again as soon as the rehydration completes and may be used actively during the audit. This is the correct operational response when the blob must be read later the same day.
✗Open the blob directly from the Archive tier because archived blobs remain online for read access.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Archived blobs are offline and cannot be read directly; they must be rehydrated to an online tier (Hot, Cool, or Cold) before access.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question stated that the blob was in the Cool or Cold tier (online tiers), then opening it directly would be correct because those tiers allow immediate read access.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may mistakenly believe that the Archive tier still allows read access, confusing it with the Cool or Cold tiers which are online but have lower availability.
✗Change the blob to the Cold tier, because Cold is designed for archived content.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The Cold tier is not designed for archived content; it is for data accessed less frequently but still requiring immediate availability. Archived blobs must be rehydrated to Hot or Cool tier before reading, and Cold tier does not support direct reading of archived blobs.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question asked: 'An administrator wants to reduce storage costs for monthly logs that are accessed quarterly but must be available within seconds. What tier should they use?' In that scenario, Cold tier is appropriate for infrequent access with low latency requirements.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse the Cold tier with the Archive tier, thinking 'Cold' implies frozen or archived data, and assume it can directly serve archived blobs without rehydration.
✗Use a snapshot of the archived blob, because snapshots can be opened even when the base blob is archived.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Snapshots of an archived blob are also in the Archive tier and cannot be read directly; they require rehydration just like the base blob.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question asked about accessing a blob that is in the Hot or Cool tier, and the administrator needed to preserve the original blob state while making a point-in-time copy available, using a snapshot would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may mistakenly believe that snapshots bypass tier restrictions, thinking they provide a separate, instantly accessible copy regardless of the base blob's tier.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-104blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Managed Identities for Azure Resources
Key term
Cool tier
Cool tier is a low-cost, online-only storage access tier in Microsoft Azure Blob Storage designed for data that is infrequently accessed and stored for at least 30 days.
Key term
Archive tier
Archive tier is an ultra-low-cost Azure Blob Storage access tier designed for long-term retention of data that is rarely accessed and can tolerate hours of retrieval latency.
About these practice questions
One of 1,049 original AZ-104 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not 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. An administrator moved a blob to the Archive tier last month. A user needs to open it tomorrow. What must happen before the file can be read?
easy- ✓ A.Change the blob to Hot or Cool and wait for rehydration to complete
- B.Create a snapshot of the archived blob
- C.Enable versioning on the storage account
- D.Move the storage account to LRS redundancy
Why A: To read a blob in the Archive tier, it must first be rehydrated to the Hot or Cool tier. This process, called rehydration, changes the blob's tier and makes it accessible for reading. Until rehydration completes, the blob remains offline and cannot be read.
Variation 2. An administrator archives monthly log exports in a blob container to reduce storage cost. During an audit, one archived blob must be downloaded and opened later the same day. What must the administrator do before the blob can be read?
medium- A.Read the blob directly from the Archive tier because archive data remains immediately online
- ✓ B.Change the blob tier from Archive to Hot or Cool and wait for rehydration to finish
- C.Copy the blob to a new container in the same account to bypass the archive restriction
- D.Assign an Azure RBAC role to the auditor so the archived blob becomes available immediately
Why B: Blobs stored in the Archive tier are offline and must be rehydrated to the Hot or Cool tier before they can be read. Rehydration can take up to 15 hours, so the administrator must initiate a tier change and wait for completion before downloading the blob. Option B correctly identifies this required step.
Variation 3. A lifecycle rule moves blobs to the archive tier after 90 days. A file was archived 2 weeks ago, and a reporting job now needs to read it tomorrow morning. What should you expect?
medium- A.The file is immediately readable, but only through the archive endpoint and at a higher request rate.
- ✓ B.The file must be rehydrated to an online tier before it can be read, so access is delayed.
- C.The file is permanently deleted when it enters archive, so the job must use a backup restore.
- D.The file can be read immediately if the account has read-access geo-redundancy enabled.
Why B: Blobs in the Azure Archive tier are offline and cannot be read directly. To access the data, you must first rehydrate the blob to an online tier (Hot, Cool, or Cold) using a copy or change-tier operation, which introduces a delay (typically up to 15 hours for standard priority rehydration). The file was archived only 2 weeks ago, so it is still in the Archive tier and requires rehydration before the reporting job can read it tomorrow morning.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.