hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
DP-203 Practice Question: A data engineer is monitoring Azure Data Lake…
A data engineer is monitoring Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 costs and notices high transaction costs for a specific container. The container stores Parquet files used by Azure Databricks for read-heavy analytics. The files are accessed frequently by multiple jobs. What is the most cost-effective way to reduce transaction costs?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume increasing file size (Option B) reduces costs because fewer files mean fewer transactions, but they overlook that each read of a large file still incurs a single transaction per API call, and transaction costs are per operation, not per file size.
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
✓
Enable Azure CDN to cache the files.
Enabling Azure CDN caches the frequently accessed Parquet files at edge locations, reducing the number of direct read requests to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. This lowers transaction costs (both read and list operations) while maintaining low-latency access for read-heavy analytics workloads. The CDN serves cached content, so the storage account incurs fewer billable transactions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Move the data to Azure Blob Storage cool tier.
Why it's wrong here
Cool tier has higher read costs, increasing transaction costs.
- ✗
Increase the Parquet file size to maximize block size.
Why it's wrong here
While larger files reduce the number of transactions, it may not be practical to change file sizes arbitrarily.
- ✗
Convert the container to Azure Files.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Files is more expensive for read-heavy analytics and does not reduce transaction costs.
- ✓
Enable Azure CDN to cache the files.
Why this is correct
Azure CDN caches data at edge locations, reducing the number of direct read transactions to the storage account.
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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