AZ-900 Describe Azure architecture and services Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe azure architecture and services. 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 needs to store archival data for 10 years with the lowest possible storage cost. Data may be accessed once a year for compliance audits. Which Azure Storage access tier should they choose?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Archive
The Archive access tier is designed for data that is rarely accessed and has a flexible latency requirement, making it the most cost-effective option for long-term archival storage. With a 10-year retention period and only annual access for compliance audits, Archive provides the lowest storage cost per gigabyte compared to Cool or Hot tiers, though it incurs higher retrieval costs and latency (typically hours to rehydrate data).
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.
✗
Cool
Why it's wrong here
Cool tier has lower storage cost than Hot but is more expensive than Archive and not intended for long-term archival.
✗
Hot
Why it's wrong here
Hot tier is for data accessed frequently, with higher storage cost and lowest access cost, not suitable for archival.
✓
Archive
Why this is correct
Archive tier offers the lowest storage cost for data that is rarely accessed, with up to several hours retrieval time.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Premium
Why it's wrong here
Premium is for high-performance workloads, not for cost-effective archival.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'lowest storage cost' with 'lowest overall cost,' forgetting that Archive has higher retrieval and data access charges, but the question explicitly asks for the lowest storage cost, making Archive the correct choice despite the access latency.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure Storage access tiers are managed at the blob level, and the Archive tier stores data offline with a 180-day minimum retention period (for block blobs) and requires a rehydration process (changing the tier to Cool or Hot) before reading, which can take up to 15 hours for standard priority. In real-world scenarios, compliance audits often require data to be restored within a specific window, so planning rehydration ahead of the audit is critical to avoid delays.
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 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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-900 question in full detail.
Describe Azure architecture and services — This question tests Describe Azure architecture and services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Archive — The Archive access tier is designed for data that is rarely accessed and has a flexible latency requirement, making it the most cost-effective option for long-term archival storage. With a 10-year retention period and only annual access for compliance audits, Archive provides the lowest storage cost per gigabyte compared to Cool or Hot tiers, though it incurs higher retrieval costs and latency (typically hours to rehydrate data).
What should I do if I get this AZ-900 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.
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Question Discussion
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