DP-203 Design and implement data storage Practice Question
A company is designing a data lake on Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. Data comes from multiple sources with varying schemas. The team must minimize storage costs while keeping all data available for future processing. Which storage tier should they use for the raw ingested data?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'minimize storage costs' with 'cheapest tier possible' and select Archive, forgetting that raw data must be immediately accessible for future processing, which Archive cannot provide without significant delay.
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
✓
Cool tier
The Cool tier is the optimal choice for raw ingested data in a data lake because it offers low storage costs while maintaining low-latency access for future processing. Unlike the Archive tier, Cool tier data is immediately available without the multi-hour rehydration delay, and it is significantly cheaper than the Hot tier for data that is infrequently accessed but must remain online for ETL or batch processing.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Premium tier
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Premium tier is for high-performance workloads and is expensive.
- ✗
Archive tier
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Archive tier has high retrieval latency and is not suitable for data that may need to be accessed for processing.
- ✓
Cool tier
Why this is correct
Correct. Cool tier balances cost and availability for infrequently accessed data.
- ✗
Hot tier
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Hot tier is more expensive and not necessary for raw data that may not be accessed frequently.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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