This AZ-204 practice question tests your understanding of develop for azure storage. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
Your company stores sensitive financial documents in Azure Blob Storage. You need to ensure that only authorized users can access the blobs, and you must avoid exposing storage account keys. You want to generate time-limited URLs that grant access to specific blobs. What should you use?
Shared Access Signatures (SAS)
SAS tokens provide time-limited, delegated access to specific blobs.
Storage account access keys
Why wrong: Access keys provide full account access and are not time-limited.
Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
Why wrong: RBAC does not generate time-limited URLs for specific blobs.
Managed identities for Azure resources
Why wrong: Managed identities are used for authentication, not for generating URLs.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Shared Access Signatures (SAS)
Option D is correct because Shared Access Signatures (SAS) allow you to grant time-limited, specific permissions to a blob without exposing account keys. Option A is incorrect because Azure RBAC does not provide time-limited, delegated access to a specific blob. Option B is incorrect because storage account keys grant full access to the account. Option C is incorrect because managed identities are used for service-to-service authentication, not for generating time-limited URLs.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Shared Access Signatures (SAS)
Why this is correct
SAS tokens provide time-limited, delegated access to specific blobs.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Storage account access keys
Why it's wrong here
Access keys provide full account access and are not time-limited.
Azure role-based access control (RBAC)
Why it's wrong here
RBAC does not generate time-limited URLs for specific blobs.
Managed identities for Azure resources
Why it's wrong here
Managed identities are used for authentication, not for generating URLs.
Common exam traps
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-204 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Develop for Azure storage — This question tests Develop for Azure storage — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
The correct answer is: Shared Access Signatures (SAS) — Option D is correct because Shared Access Signatures (SAS) allow you to grant time-limited, specific permissions to a blob without exposing account keys. Option A is incorrect because Azure RBAC does not provide time-limited, delegated access to a specific blob. Option B is incorrect because storage account keys grant full access to the account. Option C is incorrect because managed identities are used for service-to-service authentication, not for generating time-limited URLs.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related AZ-204 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: Jun 21, 2026
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