- A
Blob soft delete
Why wrong: Soft delete helps recover deleted data but does not enforce immutability.
- B
Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy
This enforces WORM protection for the required period.
- C
Lifecycle management to move data to Archive
Why wrong: Lifecycle management moves data between tiers but does not enforce WORM retention.
- D
A shared access signature
Why wrong: A SAS delegates access and does not enforce retention or immutability.
Question 1,129 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 regulatory records in Azure Blob Storage. The records must remain in a write-once-read-many state for four years and must not be altered or deleted 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 duration. This directly meets the regulatory requirement of four-year retention without alteration or deletion, as the policy locks the data at the container level and prevents any changes until the retention period expires.
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 recover deleted data but does not enforce immutability.
When this WOULD be correct
A question requiring protection against accidental deletion of blobs for a specific retention period, without needing to prevent overwrites or modifications, would make blob soft delete correct.
- ✓
Immutable blob storage with a time-based retention policy
Why this is correct
This enforces WORM protection for the required period.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Lifecycle management to move data to Archive
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle management moves data between tiers but does not enforce WORM retention.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asks: 'You need to automatically move blobs older than 90 days to cool storage to reduce costs. What should you configure?' In that scenario, lifecycle management is the correct answer.
- ✗
A shared access signature
Why it's wrong here
A SAS delegates access and does not enforce retention or immutability.
When this WOULD be correct
A question requiring time-limited, secure access to a specific blob or container for a third-party application, without exposing the storage account key, would make a SAS the correct answer.
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
This enforces WORM protection for the required period.
✗Blob soft deleteWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Blob soft delete protects against accidental deletion but does not prevent overwrites or enforce a write-once-read-many (WORM) state, so it cannot ensure records remain unaltered for four years.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question requiring protection against accidental deletion of blobs for a specific retention period, without needing to prevent overwrites or modifications, would make blob soft delete correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse soft delete with immutable storage because both offer data protection, but soft delete only handles deletion, not modification, leading to a false sense of compliance.
✗Lifecycle management to move data to ArchiveWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Lifecycle management moves data to Archive tier based on age, but does not prevent deletion or modification. The question requires a write-once-read-many (WORM) state with deletion protection, which lifecycle management cannot enforce.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asks: 'You need to automatically move blobs older than 90 days to cool storage to reduce costs. What should you configure?' In that scenario, lifecycle management is the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse cost optimization (archiving old data) with data protection requirements, assuming that moving data to Archive also prevents modification, which it does not.
✗A shared access signatureWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A shared access signature (SAS) provides delegated access to storage resources but does not enforce write-once-read-many (WORM) compliance or prevent deletion or modification of blobs.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question requiring time-limited, secure access to a specific blob or container for a third-party application, without exposing the storage account key, would make a SAS the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse access control mechanisms with data protection policies, thinking that restricting access via SAS can prevent unauthorized modifications or deletions.
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 often confuse soft delete (which only protects against deletion) with immutable storage (which prevents both modification and deletion), leading them to choose blob soft delete when the question explicitly requires a write-once-read-many state.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Immutable blob storage uses a time-based retention policy that sets a retention interval in seconds, minutes, or days, and once applied, no user (including the storage account owner) can delete or overwrite the blobs until the interval expires. Under the hood, Azure enforces this by locking the blob's metadata and preventing any write or delete operations at the storage platform level, even bypassing role-based access control (RBAC). A real-world scenario is financial institutions storing audit logs that must comply with SEC Rule 17a-4, which requires WORM storage; Azure's immutable blobs are designed to meet these regulatory standards.
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 duration. This directly meets the regulatory requirement of four-year retention without alteration or deletion, as the policy locks the data at the container level and prevents any changes until the retention period expires.
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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