AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Question
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.
You are designing a data storage solution for a healthcare application that stores patient records. The solution must meet compliance requirements that data in the US must be stored in US regions, and data in the EU must be stored in EU regions. Additionally, the solution must support global queries with low latency. What should you use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes and conflict resolution policy based on region
Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes is the correct choice because it provides active-active replication across multiple regions, enabling low-latency global queries by allowing writes and reads from any region. The conflict resolution policy based on region ensures that data sovereignty requirements are met by prioritizing writes from the region where the data originates (e.g., US writes win in US regions, EU writes win in EU regions), which aligns with the compliance requirement that data must stay within its respective geographic boundary.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 with RA-GRS storage accounts in each region
Why it's wrong here
RA-GRS replicates to a paired region, which may violate data residency.
✗
Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication and a failover policy
Why it's wrong here
Geo-replication replicates data across regions without strict residency controls.
✓
Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes and conflict resolution policy based on region
Why this is correct
Cosmos DB allows you to configure write regions per compliance and resolve conflicts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure SQL Managed Instance with failover groups
Why it's wrong here
Failover groups replicate data across regions without residency controls.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse active geo-replication (which has a single writable primary) with multi-region writes (which allow multiple writable regions), and they may overlook the need for a conflict resolution policy to enforce data sovereignty, assuming that simply replicating data across regions meets compliance requirements.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Cosmos DB uses a multi-master replication model where each region can accept writes, and conflicts are resolved using a user-defined conflict resolution policy (e.g., last-writer-wins or custom). For data sovereignty, you can configure a conflict resolution policy based on region by using a custom conflict resolver that checks the region of the write and applies the appropriate rule, ensuring that data written in the US stays in US regions and data written in the EU stays in EU regions, while still providing global low-latency reads and writes via Cosmos DB's turnkey global distribution.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-305 question in full detail.
Design data storage solutions — This question tests Design data storage solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes and conflict resolution policy based on region — Azure Cosmos DB with multi-region writes is the correct choice because it provides active-active replication across multiple regions, enabling low-latency global queries by allowing writes and reads from any region. The conflict resolution policy based on region ensures that data sovereignty requirements are met by prioritizing writes from the region where the data originates (e.g., US writes win in US regions, EU writes win in EU regions), which aligns with the compliance requirement that data must stay within its respective geographic boundary.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
This AZ-305 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-305 exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.