AZ-204 Develop for Azure storage Practice Question
You need to store millions of small log entries (each <1 KB) per day from an IoT device. The logs are rarely read. Which storage solution is most cost-effective?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often choose Azure Table Storage because they think it is designed for small, structured log entries, but they overlook that Blob Storage's Cool/Archive tiers provide dramatically lower storage costs for rarely accessed data, making it the more cost-effective choice despite Table Storage's lower per-entity transaction cost.
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
✓
Azure Blob Storage Block Blob
Azure Blob Storage Block Blob is the most cost-effective solution for storing millions of small log entries (<1 KB) that are rarely read because it offers extremely low storage costs per GB, supports high-throughput ingestion, and is optimized for large-scale, append-oriented workloads. Block blobs can be stored in the 'Cool' or 'Archive' access tier to further reduce costs, and they can be efficiently batched into larger blocks (up to 100 MB per block) to minimize transaction costs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Azure Blob Storage Block Blob
Why this is correct
Azure Blob Storage Block Blobs are the ideal choice for storing millions of small, unstructured log entries due to their massive scalability, cost-effectiveness, and support for tiered storage. They are optimized for handling billions of objects, allowing for efficient ingestion and retrieval of 1KB log files. Lifecycle management policies can automatically move older logs to cooler tiers (Cool or Archive), significantly reducing long-term storage costs while maintaining data availability.
- ✗
Azure SQL Database
Why it's wrong here
Azure SQL Database is a relational database service best suited for structured, transactional data requiring strong consistency and complex querying capabilities. Storing millions of 1KB log entries as individual rows would incur significant overhead in terms of storage cost per record, indexing, and transaction processing. This approach would lead to prohibitive operational expenses and potential performance bottlenecks, as it's not optimized for high-volume, unstructured append-only data.
- ✗
Azure Table Storage
Why it's wrong here
Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store designed for semi-structured data, offering high scalability and cost-efficiency for specific data models. While cost-effective, it's optimized for structured entities with defined properties, not for storing raw, unstructured 1KB log files as the primary content. Storing each log entry as a separate table entity would introduce unnecessary schema overhead and limit efficient content-based querying, making it less suitable than object storage for this specific log format.
- ✗
Azure Files
Why it's wrong here
Azure Files provides managed cloud file shares accessible via SMB and NFS protocols, primarily intended for traditional file system workloads and lift-and-shift scenarios. It is not optimized for storing millions of small, independent objects like individual log entries, which would result in inefficient resource utilization and higher costs compared to object storage. Its design is geared towards shared access to larger files or a moderate number of files within a hierarchical structure, not high-volume, independent object ingestion.
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.