Question 56 of 997

Develop for Azure storage →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

AZ-204 Develop for Azure storage Practice Question

This AZ-204 practice question tests your understanding of develop for azure storage. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.

You need to store large amounts of unstructured data (images and videos) that are accessed rarely (a few times per year) but must be available within minutes when requested. The data must be geo-redundant for disaster recovery. You want to minimize storage costs. Which storage tier and redundancy option should you choose?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

A
Hot storage tier with geo-redundant storage (GRS)
Why wrong: Hot tier has the highest storage cost. Since data is rarely accessed, using Hot is not cost-effective. GRS provides geo-replication, but the tier choice is too expensive.
B
Cool storage tier with geo-redundant storage (GRS)
Cool tier provides low storage cost for infrequently accessed data with immediate availability. GRS ensures geo-redundancy for disaster recovery at a moderate cost, meeting all requirements.
C
Archive storage tier with read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS)
Why wrong: Archive tier has the lowest storage cost but requires rehydration (hours) before data can be read. The requirement 'available within minutes' cannot be met with Archive.
D
Premium storage tier with local redundant storage (LRS)
Why wrong: Premium storage is for high-performance scenarios and is very expensive. LRS provides only local redundancy, not geo-redundancy, failing the disaster recovery requirement.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Cool storage tier with geo-redundant storage (GRS)

The Cool storage tier is designed for data that is infrequently accessed (a few times per year) and stored for at least 30 days, offering lower storage costs than Hot tier while still providing low-latency retrieval within minutes. Geo-redundant storage (GRS) replicates data to a paired secondary region, ensuring disaster recovery with geo-redundancy. This combination meets the requirements of rare access, minutes-availability, geo-redundancy, and minimal cost.

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.

✗
Hot storage tier with geo-redundant storage (GRS)
Why it's wrong here
Hot tier has the highest storage cost. Since data is rarely accessed, using Hot is not cost-effective. GRS provides geo-replication, but the tier choice is too expensive.
✓
Cool storage tier with geo-redundant storage (GRS)
Why this is correct
Cool tier provides low storage cost for infrequently accessed data with immediate availability. GRS ensures geo-redundancy for disaster recovery at a moderate cost, meeting all requirements.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Archive storage tier with read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS)
Why it's wrong here
Archive tier has the lowest storage cost but requires rehydration (hours) before data can be read. The requirement 'available within minutes' cannot be met with Archive.
✗
Premium storage tier with local redundant storage (LRS)
Why it's wrong here
Premium storage is for high-performance scenarios and is very expensive. LRS provides only local redundancy, not geo-redundancy, failing the disaster recovery requirement.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often confuse the Archive tier's low storage cost with its high retrieval latency (hours), forgetting the requirement for data to be available within minutes, or they overlook that GRS is sufficient for geo-redundancy without needing read-access (RA-GRS).

Trap categories for this question

Scenario analysis trap
Premium storage is for high-performance scenarios and is very expensive. LRS provides only local redundancy, not geo-redundancy, failing the disaster recovery requirement.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Azure Blob Storage access tiers (Hot, Cool, Archive) are billed differently: Hot has higher storage cost but no retrieval cost, Cool has lower storage cost with a retrieval cost per GB, and Archive has the lowest storage cost but significant retrieval time and cost. GRS replicates data synchronously within the primary region and asynchronously to a secondary region, ensuring durability even in a regional disaster. The Cool tier's 30-day minimum storage duration aligns with the 'few times per year' access pattern, and retrieval latency is typically under 15 minutes for blobs of any size.

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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this AZ-204 question test?

Develop for Azure storage — This question tests Develop for Azure storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Cool storage tier with geo-redundant storage (GRS) — The Cool storage tier is designed for data that is infrequently accessed (a few times per year) and stored for at least 30 days, offering lower storage costs than Hot tier while still providing low-latency retrieval within minutes. Geo-redundant storage (GRS) replicates data to a paired secondary region, ensuring disaster recovery with geo-redundancy. This combination meets the requirements of rare access, minutes-availability, geo-redundancy, and minimal cost.

What should I do if I get this AZ-204 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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