AZ-204 Develop for Azure storage Practice Question
You are a developer for a healthcare company that stores patient diagnostic images in Azure Blob Storage. The images are uploaded by medical devices and must be retained for 7 years due to regulatory requirements. After 7 years, the data must be permanently deleted. The images are accessed infrequently after the first month. You need to design a storage lifecycle management policy to minimize costs while meeting compliance. The storage account uses general-purpose v2 with LRS. The container is named 'diagnostics'. Which of the following policies should you implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often choose Option C thinking Archive is cheapest immediately, but they overlook the early deletion penalty and the fact that data is accessed frequently in the first month, making Cool tier more appropriate initially.
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
✓
Move blobs to Cool tier after 30 days, move to Archive tier after 90 days, and delete after 7 years.
It aligns with the access pattern: blobs are moved to the Cool tier after 30 days (when infrequent access begins), then to the Archive tier after 90 days for long-term, low-cost storage, and finally deleted after 7 years to meet regulatory retention and deletion requirements. This minimizes costs by using the most cost-effective tier for each stage of the data lifecycle.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Move blobs to Cool tier after 30 days, and delete after 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
This policy fails to meet the critical 7-year data retention requirement for healthcare data, as it dictates deletion after only 30 days. While moving to the Cool tier after 30 days might be a reasonable initial cost optimization for data that becomes infrequently accessed, the subsequent deletion rule makes this option non-compliant and unacceptable for long-term data preservation needs.
- ✓
Move blobs to Cool tier after 30 days, move to Archive tier after 90 days, and delete after 7 years.
Why this is correct
This option provides an optimal balance between cost efficiency and compliance for healthcare data. By transitioning to the Cool tier after 30 days and then to the Archive tier after 90 days, it intelligently aligns storage costs with decreasing access frequency over time. The final deletion after 7 years perfectly satisfies the long-term data retention mandates, making it the most suitable lifecycle policy.
- ✗
Move blobs to Archive tier immediately after upload, and delete after 7 years.
Why it's wrong here
Moving blobs directly to the Archive tier immediately after upload is highly inefficient and costly for data that might be accessed frequently in its initial lifecycle. The Archive tier is designed for rarely accessed data, incurring significant data retrieval costs and potentially hours of rehydration latency. This approach would lead to poor user experience and excessive expenses if data needs to be accessed within the first few months.
- ✗
Move blobs to Cool tier after 1 year, and delete after 7 years.
Why it's wrong here
This strategy fails to adequately optimize storage costs by delaying the transition to more economical tiers. Keeping data in the Hot or Cool tier for a full year, when its access frequency likely diminishes much sooner (e.g., after 30 or 90 days), results in unnecessarily higher monthly storage expenses. While it meets the 7-year retention, it misses significant opportunities for early cost reduction.
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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