A media company stores large video files that are accessed once a month for audits. When needed, they must be available for download immediately (within seconds). The company wants to minimize storage costs. Which Azure Blob Storage access tier should they use?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
Hot tier
Hot tier has the highest storage cost and is designed for frequent access, not cost-effective for monthly access.
Best answer
Cool tier
Cool tier balances lower storage cost with immediate access, ideal for data accessed less than 30 days apart.
Distractor review
Cold tier
Cold tier has the lowest storage cost but higher access costs, best for data accessed very rarely (90+ days); for monthly access, Cool is more cost-effective.
Distractor review
Archive tier
Archive tier has the lowest storage cost but requires manual rehydration (taking hours) before data can be read, not suitable for immediate access.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company is designing hub-and-spoke networking. Spoke VNets must use a central Azure Firewall for outbound internet traffic. Which two configurations are required?
Question 2
A company is designing private access to a PaaS database from workloads in a VNet. The database should not be reachable over its public endpoint. What should be recommended?
Question 3
A data platform must support analytical queries over petabytes of files in a data lake, while preserving hierarchical namespaces and fine-grained ACLs. Which storage service should you design around?
Question 4
A database workload has an RPO of 15 minutes and an RTO of 4 hours. Cost is more important than near-zero data loss. Which design is usually more appropriate than synchronous multi-region replication?
Question 5
A hub-and-spoke Azure network must centralize outbound inspection and still allow spokes to resolve private endpoint DNS names. Which two components are commonly required? (Choose 2.)
Question 6
A multinational company uses Microsoft Entra ID and several Azure subscriptions. Security administrators need to review privileged role assignments every month and require justification for continued access. Which design should be recommended?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Cool tier — The Cool access tier is designed for data that is accessed infrequently (roughly once a month) but still requires immediate retrieval. It offers lower storage costs than Hot with similar latency. Cold tier has lower storage cost but higher access cost, making it suitable for data accessed less often (every 90+ days). Archive requires data rehydration, which takes hours, not seconds.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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