AZ-204 Practice Question: Blob lifecycle management for automatic tiering…
Audit logs are written daily as block blobs to an Azure Storage account. Logs older than 90 days must move to Cool tier automatically; logs older than 365 days must be deleted. The developer wants to implement this with no custom code and no recurring jobs. What is the correct solution?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates may overlook the 'no custom code and no recurring jobs' constraint and choose a serverless compute option (Azure Function or Logic App) instead of the built-in lifecycle management policy, which is the only fully managed, no-code solution.
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
✓
Create a lifecycle management policy with two rules: tier to Cool after 90 days and delete after 365 days
Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management policies allow you to automate tier transitions and deletions based on blob age, without any custom code or recurring jobs. By defining a rule to tier blobs to Cool after 90 days and another rule to delete blobs after 365 days, the developer meets all requirements with a fully managed, no-code solution.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create a lifecycle management policy with two rules: tier to Cool after 90 days and delete after 365 days
Why this is correct
Lifecycle management policies are evaluated nightly by Azure. The two rules (tier after 90 days, delete after 365 days) are declared in JSON and applied to blobs matching the prefix filter. No code is required — the storage service acts on them automatically.
- ✗
Write an Azure Function with a Timer trigger that lists all blobs, checks last-modified dates, and tiers or deletes them via the SDK
Why it's wrong here
Implementing an Azure Function with a Timer trigger to programmatically manage blob lifecycle, while technically feasible, is an overly complex solution. This approach necessitates writing, deploying, and maintaining custom code using the Azure Storage SDK to list blobs, determine their age, and then perform tiering or deletion operations. It introduces overhead for Function App management, authentication, potential performance issues with large blob counts, and incurs compute costs, whereas lifecycle management policies handle these tasks natively within the storage service without any custom code.
- ✗
Enable Blob versioning and set a version retention policy of 365 days
Why it's wrong here
Blob versioning retains deleted or overwritten versions for a retention period. It does not move blobs between tiers based on age, and it does not delete blobs after 365 days based on their creation time.
- ✗
Configure a Logic App with a Recurrence trigger to enumerate and process blobs weekly
Why it's wrong here
Configuring an Azure Logic App with a Recurrence trigger to manage blob lifecycle introduces unnecessary external orchestration and operational overhead. While Logic Apps offer a low-code approach, this solution still requires designing custom workflows to enumerate blobs, evaluate their age, and then invoke storage operations like tiering or deletion. This method incurs recurring costs for Logic App executions and requires ongoing maintenance of the workflow logic, unlike the native, zero-code lifecycle management policies.
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 |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-204 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-204 exam.