- A
Blob soft delete
Why wrong: Soft delete helps restore deleted blobs but does not enforce immutability.
- B
Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy
Immutable storage provides WORM protection for the specified retention period.
- C
Blob lifecycle management to move data to Cool tier
Why wrong: Lifecycle management optimizes placement and cost but does not enforce WORM retention.
- D
A shared access signature
Why wrong: A SAS grants delegated access and does not enforce compliance retention.
Question 719 of 1,170
AZ-104 Implement and Manage Storage Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of implement and manage storage. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
Your application stores compliance documents in Azure Blob Storage. The documents must be kept in a write-once-read-many state for five years and must not be altered or removed during that time. What should you configure?
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
✓
Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy
Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy enforces a write-once-read-many (WORM) state, ensuring that blobs cannot be modified or deleted for a specified retention period. This directly meets the requirement of keeping compliance documents unaltered for five years, as the policy locks the data at the storage level, overriding any user permissions or delete operations.
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.
- ✗
Blob soft delete
Why it's wrong here
Soft delete helps restore deleted blobs but does not enforce immutability.
When this WOULD be correct
A question where the requirement is to recover blobs that were accidentally deleted or overwritten within a specified retention period, without needing to prevent intentional modification or deletion by authorized users.
- ✓
Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy
Why this is correct
Immutable storage provides WORM protection for the specified retention period.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Blob lifecycle management to move data to Cool tier
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle management optimizes placement and cost but does not enforce WORM retention.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asks: 'You want to automatically move blobs older than 30 days to Cool tier to reduce costs. What should you configure?' In that scenario, blob lifecycle management is the correct answer.
- ✗
A shared access signature
Why it's wrong here
A SAS grants delegated access and does not enforce compliance retention.
When this WOULD be correct
You need to grant a third-party application time-limited, restricted access to download specific blobs from a storage account without exposing the account key. A SAS token with read permissions and an expiry time 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.
✓Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policyCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Immutable storage provides WORM protection for the specified retention period.
✗Blob soft deleteWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Blob soft delete protects against accidental deletion or overwriting, but it does not enforce a write-once-read-many (WORM) state; data can still be modified or deleted within the retention period if the soft delete policy is changed.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question where the requirement is to recover blobs that were accidentally deleted or overwritten within a specified retention period, without needing to prevent intentional modification or deletion by authorized users.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse soft delete with immutable storage because both involve retention periods, but soft delete is designed for recovery, not for enforcing data immutability against modification or deletion.
✗Blob lifecycle management to move data to Cool tierWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Blob lifecycle management moves data between tiers (e.g., Hot to Cool) based on age, but does not prevent deletion or modification. It cannot enforce a write-once-read-many state or protect against alterations.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asks: 'You want to automatically move blobs older than 30 days to Cool tier to reduce costs. What should you configure?' In that scenario, blob lifecycle management is the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse lifecycle management with retention policies, thinking that moving data to Cool tier somehow protects it, or they may assume that tiering implies immutability.
✗A shared access signatureWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A shared access signature (SAS) provides delegated access to blobs but does not prevent deletion or modification of blobs; it only controls who can access them, not enforce immutability.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
You need to grant a third-party application time-limited, restricted access to download specific blobs from a storage account without exposing the account key. A SAS token with read permissions and an expiry time would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think SAS can restrict write or delete operations by setting appropriate permissions, but SAS permissions apply to the accessor, not to the data itself, and cannot enforce a write-once-read-many 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?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse blob soft delete (which only recovers deleted blobs but does not prevent modification) with immutable storage, or mistakenly think lifecycle management or SAS tokens can enforce a write-once-read-many state.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Immutable storage uses a legal hold or time-based retention policy that applies a WORM lock at the container or blob level. Under the hood, Azure enforces this by rejecting any write or delete requests (including those from the storage account owner) while the retention period is active, using a policy that is stored as metadata and checked by the storage service before any operation. In a real-world scenario, financial institutions often use time-based retention for SEC Rule 17a-4 compliance, where the policy must be set before data is written and cannot be shortened once applied.
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.
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 |
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: Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy — Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy enforces a write-once-read-many (WORM) state, ensuring that blobs cannot be modified or deleted for a specified retention period. This directly meets the requirement of keeping compliance documents unaltered for five years, as the policy locks the data at the storage level, overriding any user permissions or delete operations.
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 →
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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