Quick Answer
The correct combination is Azure Event Hubs and Azure Blob Storage. Event Hubs is purpose-built for IoT near real-time ingestion, capable of handling millions of events per second from devices with low latency, while Blob Storage provides durable, cost-effective storage for the raw data that can later be fed into batch processing pipelines like Azure Data Lake Analytics or Azure Synapse. On the AZ-305 exam, this pairing tests your understanding of decoupling ingestion from processing—a common architectural pattern for scalable IoT solutions. A frequent trap is choosing Azure IoT Hub for storage, but IoT Hub is for device management and bidirectional communication, not long-term raw data storage; Event Hubs is the correct ingestion endpoint. Another pitfall is selecting Azure SQL Database for batch storage, which is too expensive and transactional for raw IoT data. Memory tip: think of Event Hubs as the high-speed turnstile for streaming data and Blob Storage as the massive warehouse holding everything for later analysis.
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design data storage solutions. 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.
A company wants to analyze IoT sensor data from millions of devices in near real-time and store the raw data for batch processing. Which combination of Azure services should they use?
Azure Event Hubs and Azure Synapse Analytics
Why wrong: Synapse is for analytics, not raw storage.
Azure IoT Hub and Azure Cosmos DB
Why wrong: Cosmos DB is not for raw data storage.
Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure Stream Analytics
Why wrong: Real-time ingestion is better with Event Hubs.
Azure Event Hubs and Azure Blob Storage
Ingests and stores raw data efficiently.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Azure Event Hubs and Azure Blob Storage
Azure Event Hubs is a highly scalable data streaming platform and event ingestion service capable of ingesting millions of events per second from IoT devices in near real-time. Azure Blob Storage provides cost-effective, durable object storage for the raw data, which can then be used for batch processing with services like Azure Data Lake Analytics or Azure Synapse. This combination directly meets the requirements for near real-time ingestion and raw data storage for batch processing.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Azure Event Hubs and Azure Synapse Analytics
Why it's wrong here
Synapse is for analytics, not raw storage.
Azure IoT Hub and Azure Cosmos DB
Why it's wrong here
Cosmos DB is not for raw data storage.
Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure Stream Analytics
Why it's wrong here
Real-time ingestion is better with Event Hubs.
Azure Event Hubs and Azure Blob Storage
Why this is correct
Ingests and stores raw data efficiently.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure IoT Hub with Azure Event Hubs, assuming IoT Hub is required for all IoT scenarios, but Event Hubs is the correct choice for high-throughput, near real-time event ingestion without device management overhead.
Detailed technical explanation
Azure Event Hubs uses a partitioned consumer model with AMQP 1.0 and HTTPS protocols, enabling parallel processing of high-throughput streams, and can retain data for up to 7 days by default, acting as a buffer. Azure Blob Storage supports hot, cool, and archive tiers, allowing cost optimization for raw data that will be batch-processed later, and integrates natively with Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 for hierarchical namespace support. In a real-world scenario, millions of IoT sensors can send data to Event Hubs, which is then captured directly to Blob Storage via the Capture feature, eliminating the need for a separate processing step.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
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FAQ
Design data storage solutions — This question tests Design data storage solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Azure Event Hubs and Azure Blob Storage — Azure Event Hubs is a highly scalable data streaming platform and event ingestion service capable of ingesting millions of events per second from IoT devices in near real-time. Azure Blob Storage provides cost-effective, durable object storage for the raw data, which can then be used for batch processing with services like Azure Data Lake Analytics or Azure Synapse. This combination directly meets the requirements for near real-time ingestion and raw data storage for batch processing.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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