AZ-305 Design infrastructure solutions Practice Question
A company is deploying a new application on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). The application requires persistent storage that can be dynamically provisioned and accessed by multiple pods simultaneously. Which Azure storage solution should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Azure Disk (RWO) with Azure Files (RWX) because both are block or file storage, but Azure Disk cannot be shared across pods, which is a critical distinction for multi-pod access scenarios.
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 Files
Azure Files provides SMB and NFS file shares that can be mounted concurrently by multiple pods in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), meeting the requirement for persistent storage that is dynamically provisioned and accessible by multiple pods simultaneously. Azure Files supports the ReadWriteMany (RWX) access mode, which is essential for multi-pod access, and can be dynamically provisioned using a StorageClass with the `provisioner: file.csi.azure.com`.
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
Why it's wrong here
Azure Blob Storage is an object store that exposes a REST API rather than a POSIX-compliant file system. While the BlobFuse CSI driver can present blob storage as a mountable volume, it does so via a FUSE daemon and introduces performance overhead and limited consistency guarantees. As a result, Blob Storage is not a first-class Kubernetes volume with native RWX semantics, and it requires an intermediate layer to emulate a filesystem.
- ✓
Azure Files
Why this is correct
Azure Files provides fully managed SMB 3.0 file shares that can be mounted by many clients concurrently, giving it native ReadWriteMany (RWX) support. The Azure Files CSI driver dynamically provisions persistent volumes in Kubernetes, and it can integrate with AAD identity for per-share access control. This makes it the ideal choice for a single, shared filesystem that multiple pods across different nodes can access simultaneously.
- ✗
Azure Disk
Why it's wrong here
Azure Disk is a block-level storage device that attaches to a single VM node at a time, which translates to the Kubernetes ReadWriteOnce (RWO) access mode. Because the disk is not a network share, it cannot be mounted by pods running on more than one node simultaneously; it is fundamentally designed for a single VM and thus unsuitable for a multi-pod, shared workload.
- ✗
Azure NetApp Files
Why it's wrong here
Azure NetApp Files does offer high-performance, enterprise-grade NFS/SMB shares with ReadWriteMany support, but it is overkill for a typical cluster and carries a significantly higher per-GiB cost. While it provides advanced features like snapshots and cross-region replication, for a common multi-pod application Azure Files delivers the same RWX sharing at a lower price, making NetApp Files the more expensive alternative.
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