AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Question
A company runs a line-of-business application on Azure VMs that requires a highly available, low-latency SMB file share with support for active-active access from multiple VMs. The application requires high IOPS and throughput, and the file share must be mountable on both Linux and Windows VMs. Which Azure file storage solution should they recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse Azure Blob Storage (which is object storage) with file shares, or incorrectly assume that Azure Disk Shared Disks provide an SMB mountable share, when in fact they are block-level and require cluster-aware applications.
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
✓
B
Azure NetApp Files provides a fully managed, high-performance file share service that supports both SMB and NFS protocols. It offers low-latency, high IOPS and throughput, and enables active-active access from multiple VMs. It can be mounted on both Linux and Windows VMs, meeting all stated requirements. While Azure Files Premium also provides SMB shares, Azure NetApp Files is better suited for demanding, low-latency workloads requiring high performance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A
Why it's wrong here
Azure Files (standard) provides SMB file shares but its IOPS and throughput performance may be insufficient for high-performance workloads.
- ✓
B
Why this is correct
Azure NetApp Files is a high-performance, enterprise-grade file storage service that supports SMB (both Windows and Linux) and can deliver thousands of IOPS with low latency.
- ✗
C
Why it's wrong here
Azure Blob Storage is accessed via REST API and is not designed for SMB file sharing or low-latency shared access required by the application.
- ✗
D
Why it's wrong here
Azure Disk Storage can be attached to a single VM and cannot be mounted by multiple VMs simultaneously for active-active sharing.
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