AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
An archived blob must be read tomorrow morning. Which two actions are required before the blob can be opened? Select two.
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often think archive blobs can be read directly with special network settings or permissions, but the core requirement is always rehydration to an online tier 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
✓
Change the blob access tier from Archive to Hot or Cool so the data becomes online again.
An archived blob is in an offline state and must be rehydrated to the Hot or Cool tier before it can be read. Changing the access tier initiates the rehydration process, which makes the blob data online and accessible.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Change the blob access tier from Archive to Hot or Cool so the data becomes online again.
Why this is correct
Azure Blob Storage's Archive tier is offline by design; to make an archived blob readable you must move it to an online tier such as Hot or Cool using the Set Blob Tier operation, a copy with rehydration, or a lifecycle policy. This action initiates the rehydration process and changes the tier property so the data is no longer in the offline archive state.
- ✓
Wait for the rehydration process to finish before opening the blob in a client or portal.
Why this is correct
Rehydration from Archive is asynchronous and can take up to 15 hours with standard priority (or about 1 hour with high priority), so attempting to open the blob immediately will fail or return an error until the background copy completes. You must monitor the blob's access tier or use Copy Blob with rehydrate-priority to know when it is online, then you can read it from a client or the portal.
- ✗
Enable a private endpoint, because archive blobs can only be read through private connectivity.
Why it's wrong here
Configuring a private endpoint or private DNS gives you a network route to the storage account over a private IP address, but it does not affect the blob's storage tier. The blob is still archived and offline, so even through a private endpoint a read request fails until you schedule rehydration to Hot or Cool. Network security cannot make offline data available.
When this WOULD be correct
When a question specifies that the storage account must be accessed securely over a private network and the blob is already in a hot or cool tier, enabling a private endpoint would be the correct action to restrict access.
- ✗
Convert the storage account to GZRS, because geo-replication automatically restores archived blobs.
Why it's wrong here
Converting the storage account to geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS) only affects durability by asynchronously replicating data to a secondary region; it does not change the access tier of existing blobs. Archived blobs in the primary region remain offline in both replicated sets, so geo-replication neither restores nor rehydrates the data and reads still fail until the tier is changed.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question asked for a method to ensure data durability in a secondary region, converting to GZRS would be correct. For example: 'You need to protect archived blobs against a regional disaster. Which storage redundancy option should you enable?'
- ✗
Set the container ACL to public so archived blobs can be read without rehydration.
Why it's wrong here
Setting a container's public access level to Blob or Container grants anonymous read permissions, but that is an authorization setting, not a storage-tier change. An archived blob is physically offline; a public ACL does not bring the data online or override the requirement to rehydrate, so an anonymous read attempt will still receive an error while the blob remains in the Archive tier.
When this WOULD be correct
In a scenario where a blob is in the Cool or Hot tier and you need to allow anonymous read access to it, setting the container ACL to public 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.
✓Change the blob access tier from Archive to Hot or Cool so the data becomes online again.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Azure Blob Storage's Archive tier is offline by design; to make an archived blob readable you must move it to an online tier such as Hot or Cool using the Set Blob Tier operation, a copy with rehydration, or a lifecycle policy. This action initiates the rehydration process and changes the tier property so the data is no longer in the offline archive state.
✗Enable a private endpoint, because archive blobs can only be read through private connectivity.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Archived blobs can be read through public endpoints after rehydration; private endpoints are not required. The blob must be rehydrated to a hot or cool tier before access, regardless of network connectivity.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
When a question specifies that the storage account must be accessed securely over a private network and the blob is already in a hot or cool tier, enabling a private endpoint would be the correct action to restrict access.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse the offline nature of archive blobs with network restrictions, assuming that private connectivity is needed to access archived data, when in fact rehydration is the prerequisite.
✗Convert the storage account to GZRS, because geo-replication automatically restores archived blobs.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Converting to GZRS does not automatically restore archived blobs; rehydration requires changing the tier or using copy operations. Geo-replication only provides redundancy, not automatic rehydration.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question asked for a method to ensure data durability in a secondary region, converting to GZRS would be correct. For example: 'You need to protect archived blobs against a regional disaster. Which storage redundancy option should you enable?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse geo-replication with a feature that automatically restores data, or think that replication includes tier changes, not realizing rehydration is a separate manual step.
✗Set the container ACL to public so archived blobs can be read without rehydration.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Setting the container ACL to public does not rehydrate an archived blob; archived blobs are offline and cannot be read until rehydrated to Hot or Cool tier, regardless of public access.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
In a scenario where a blob is in the Cool or Hot tier and you need to allow anonymous read access to it, setting the container ACL to public would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may mistakenly think that making a blob public bypasses the need for rehydration, confusing access permissions with blob tier state.
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
Access Reviews in Entra ID
Key term
Blob
A blob is a large piece of unstructured data, like a photo or video, stored in the cloud with a unique identifier.
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.
About these practice questions
This AZ-104 question is part of Courseiva's 1,049-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 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 batch job fails with a blob read error after the administrator moved a 200-GB blob to the archive tier. The file must be available again within a few hours, and the administrator wants the least disruptive recovery. What should be done?
medium- A.Delete the archived blob and upload a new copy from backup.
- ✓ B.Change the blob tier to Hot or Cool and wait for the rehydration process to finish.
- C.Enable soft delete on the storage account and retry the read operation.
- D.Convert the storage account to premium performance.
Why B: Moving a blob to the archive tier makes it offline; to read it, you must first rehydrate it by changing the tier to Hot or Cool. Rehydration typically completes within a few hours (up to 15 hours for archive), meeting the requirement. This is the least disruptive method as it avoids data loss or additional uploads.
Variation 2. An administrator moved old log blobs to the Archive tier last month. An auditor now needs one blob for review later today. What must happen before the blob can be opened?
medium- A.Download the blob directly from the Archive tier and open it immediately
- ✓ B.Change the blob to Hot or Cool and wait for rehydration to complete
- C.Create a snapshot of the blob and open the snapshot instead
- D.Copy the blob to another container without changing its tier
Why B: Blobs in the Archive tier are offline and cannot be read directly. To access the data, you must first change the blob's access tier to Hot or Cool (rehydrate it), which can take up to 15 hours depending on the rehydration priority. Only after rehydration completes can the blob be downloaded and opened.
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.