AZ-204 Develop for Azure storage Practice Question
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — 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).
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.
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
The Hot storage tier is designed for frequently accessed data, offering the lowest access costs and immediate availability. However, for data that is rarely accessed, its high storage cost makes it economically inefficient. While Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) provides essential geo-redundancy for disaster recovery, the base tier's expense for infrequently used content renders this option unsuitable for cost-optimization.
- ✓
Cool storage tier with geo-redundant storage (GRS)
Why this is correct
The Cool storage tier is an optimal choice for infrequently accessed data, such as images and videos, providing a balance between storage cost and immediate availability. Data stored in the Cool tier can be accessed within minutes, aligning with the requirement for quick retrieval. Coupled with Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS), it ensures robust disaster recovery by replicating data to a secondary Azure region, offering a cost-effective solution that meets both availability and redundancy needs.
- ✗
Archive storage tier with read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS)
Why it's wrong here
The Archive storage tier offers the absolute lowest storage cost, making it ideal for long-term retention of rarely accessed data. However, retrieving data from the Archive tier requires a rehydration process that can take several hours, directly contradicting the requirement for data to be 'available within minutes.' Despite the cost savings and geo-redundancy from RA-GRS, the significant latency for data access makes this tier inappropriate for the specified availability needs.
- ✗
Premium storage tier with local redundant storage (LRS)
Why it's wrong here
Premium storage is engineered for high-performance workloads demanding low latency and high throughput, typically utilizing SSDs, which makes it significantly more expensive than other tiers. This high cost is unwarranted for storing infrequently accessed unstructured data like images and videos. Furthermore, Local Redundant Storage (LRS) only provides data redundancy within a single data center, failing to meet the crucial requirement for geo-redundancy necessary for robust disaster recovery across regions.
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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.