Match each blob tier or protection feature to the correct description.
Drag a concept onto its matching description — or click a concept then click the description.
Best for data accessed frequently and kept immediately available.
Best for infrequently accessed data that still remains online.
Stores data offline and requires rehydration before it can be read.
Moves archived data back to an online tier so it can be accessed again.
Helps prevent modification or deletion for a retention period.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Hot: Optimized for frequent access, low latency, highest storage cost, no access cost.
The hot, cool, and archive tiers differ in access frequency and cost structure. Soft delete, immutable storage, and point-in-time restore are protection features that prevent data loss or tampering.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Hot: Optimized for frequent access, low latency, highest storage cost, no access cost.
Why this is correct
The Hot access tier is intended for data that is read or written frequently. It offers the lowest latency and no per-GB data retrieval fee, but this is offset by the highest per-GB storage cost among the three tiers. Because storage operations are the primary cost driver, Hot is appropriate for active datasets such as transactional databases or user uploads that require immediate access.
Cool: Optimized for infrequent access, moderate latency, lower storage cost, moderate access cost.
Why this is correct
The Cool tier is optimized for data that is not accessed often but must be available on demand. It has a lower monthly storage price than Hot but introduces a per-GB retrieval charge and has slightly higher latency due to its design for batch or infrequent access patterns. This tier also requires a minimum storage duration of 30 days, making it unsuitable for data that might be deleted shortly after upload.
Archive: Optimized for rarely accessed data, high latency, lowest storage cost, high access cost.
Why this is correct
Archive offers the lowest storage cost of any blob tier and is meant for data that is accessed very rarely, such as long-term backups, compliance archives, or historical logs. However, reading this data requires a rehydration step that can take up to 15 hours, and you pay both high retrieval fees and a rehydration charge, so it is never used for real-time workloads. There is also a mandatory 180-day retention window to avoid early deletion penalties.
Soft delete: Protects blobs from accidental deletion by retaining deleted blobs for a specified retention period.
Why this is correct
Soft delete protects individual blobs, snapshots, and versions from being permanently purged on a delete operation. When enabled, deleted blobs remain in a soft-deleted state for a configurable retention period (1 to 365 days), during which they can be restored at any time using the Azure portal, API, or SDK. The feature operates at the storage account level and is a critical component of a zero-data-loss strategy, complementing snapshots and versioning.
Hot: Optimized for infrequent access, moderate latency.
Why it's wrong here
This description mistakenly assigns Cool-tier characteristics to the Hot tier. Hot is actually designed for frequent access and low latency, so the phrase 'infrequent access, moderate latency' directly contradicts that purpose. The matching feature for that behavior is the Cool tier, not Hot, which is why this statement is incorrect.
Cool: Optimized for rare access, high latency.
Why it's wrong here
Cool is not for rare access or high latency; those traits belong to the Archive tier. The Cool tier sits in the middle of the hot/cool/archive spectrum—it has moderate latency and is meant for infrequent access, but does not require the multi-hour rehydration process that Archive does. Therefore, this option confuses two distinct access tiers, making it incorrect.
Quick reference
| 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
Learn chapter
Customer-Managed Keys (CMK) for Storage Encryption
Key term
Blob tier
Blob tier is a category of storage in cloud platforms (like Azure Blob Storage) that defines the cost, performance, and access frequency of data, with tiers ranging from hot for frequent access to cool and archive for rarely accessed data.
Key term
Soft delete
A soft delete marks data as deleted without actually removing it from the database, allowing recovery if needed.
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
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. Match each lifecycle management requirement to the blob tier transition or action that should be configured.
mediumWhy A: Lifecycle management rules define actions (tier changes or deletion) based on age or access. The actions correspond to moving to cooler tiers (cool, cold, archive) or deleting, and can apply to snapshots.
Variation 2. A records team stores blobs that are read often during the first month and then rarely accessed later, but the files must stay online the whole time. Which two access tiers should they use for the active and inactive data sets? Select two.
easyWhy A: The Hot access tier is optimized for frequent reads and provides low-latency online access, making it ideal for the active data set that is read often during the first month. Option B is correct because the Cool access tier is designed for infrequently accessed data that must remain online, with lower storage costs but higher access costs, perfectly matching the rarely accessed but always online requirement.
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.