DP-203 Design and implement data storage Practice Question
Which TWO strategies can be used to optimize storage costs for historical data in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse data protection features (soft delete, encryption, replication) with cost optimization strategies, but only tiering and compression directly reduce the amount or cost of stored data.
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
✓
Implement lifecycle management policies to move data to archive tier
Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management policies allow you to automatically transition data from hot to cool to archive tiers based on age or last modification time. Moving historical data to the archive tier significantly reduces storage costs, as archive is the lowest-cost storage tier, though it incurs higher retrieval latency and costs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable soft delete to recover data
Why it's wrong here
Soft delete increases storage cost due to retention.
- ✗
Use geo-redundant storage (GRS) for durability
Why it's wrong here
GRS increases cost.
- ✓
Implement lifecycle management policies to move data to archive tier
Why this is correct
Archive tier is cheapest.
- ✓
Store data in compressed columnar format like Parquet
Why this is correct
Reduces storage footprint.
- ✗
Encrypt data with Azure Storage Service Encryption
Why it's wrong here
Encryption does not affect cost.
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
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