AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Question
A company needs to store video files for a media streaming application. The files are accessed frequently for the first 30 days, then rarely after that. The solution must minimize storage costs while ensuring low-latency access during the initial period. Which storage tier should be used for the first 30 days?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose the Cool tier thinking it balances cost and access, but they overlook that Cool tier has higher access costs and a 30-day early deletion penalty, making it more expensive than Hot for frequent access during the first 30 days.
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 Hot tier
Azure Blob Storage Hot tier is designed for data that is accessed frequently, offering low-latency access (typically under 10 milliseconds for first-byte read) and the highest storage cost but lowest access cost. Since the video files require low-latency access during the first 30 days, the Hot tier meets the performance requirement while minimizing overall cost compared to Premium Blob Storage, which is optimized for sub-millisecond latency and higher IOPS scenarios.
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 Hot tier
Why this is correct
Azure Blob Storage Hot tier is the default and optimal choice for video files that are accessed frequently, such as during the first 30 days of a media streaming workload. It provides low latency (milliseconds) and high throughput for continuous streaming, with storage costs that are lower than Premium or Archive tiers while still being performant. Unlike Cool or Archive tiers, Hot tier has no minimum storage duration or retrieval charges, making it cost-efficient for sustained, high-frequency read operations.
- ✗
Azure Blob Storage Cool tier
Why it's wrong here
Azure Blob Storage Cool tier is intended for data that is infrequently accessed (e.g., once a month) and stored for at least 30 days, offering lower storage prices but significantly higher per-access costs. For a media streaming scenario where video files are read continuously or very often, the access fees would quickly exceed the storage savings, making it unsuitable. Additionally, Cool tier's retrieval latency is still low, but its billing model—charging for every read operation—penalizes high-frequency streaming far more than the Hot tier would.
- ✗
Azure Premium Blob Storage
Why it's wrong here
Azure Premium Blob Storage uses high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and is engineered for applications requiring high transaction rates and sub-millisecond latency, typically for small or frequently updated objects. For large video files, the premium cost per GB is unjustified because streaming performance depends primarily on sequential read throughput, which Hot tier already provides at a fraction of the price. Premium tiers are also optimized for IOPS-heavy workloads, not the necessarily bandwidth-intensive but low-IOPS streaming pattern of video delivery.
- ✗
Azure Blob Storage Archive tier
Why it's wrong here
Azure Blob Storage Archive tier is an offline tier designed for long-term data archival where retrieval times range from minutes to hours, requiring a rehydration operation before content can be read. This makes it completely unsuitable for a media streaming service that needs immediate, low-latency response to user requests—the delay would break playback. Even though Archive costs the least for storage, its inherent retrieval latency and extra rehydration fees make it viable only for cold data like old backups, never for active streaming content.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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