DP-203 Design and implement data storage Practice Question
You are designing a data storage solution for a financial services company. The solution must meet the following requirements: store transaction data for 7 years for regulatory compliance, support point-in-time restore (PITR) for the last 30 days, and minimize storage costs for historical data. Which THREE actions should you take?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 with a cost-effective archival solution, when in fact it is designed for high-throughput analytics and lacks the tiered pricing that Blob Storage offers for long-term retention.
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
✓
Use Azure Blob Storage with cool access tier for data older than 30 days
Azure Blob Storage's cool access tier is designed for infrequently accessed data with lower storage costs, making it ideal for historical transaction data older than 30 days. This tier provides cost-effective storage while still allowing retrieval when needed, aligning with the requirement to minimize storage costs for historical data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Store historical data in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Why it's wrong here
Data Lake Storage is for analytics, not necessary for simple archival.
- ✓
Use Azure Blob Storage with cool access tier for data older than 30 days
Why this is correct
Cool tier is cost-effective for infrequently accessed data.
- ✓
Use Azure SQL Database with automated backups and PITR retention of 30 days
Why this is correct
Azure SQL Database provides PITR up to 35 days.
- ✓
Implement a data export process using Azure Data Factory to move data older than 30 days to Blob Storage
Why this is correct
Data Factory can automate the export to Blob Storage.
- ✗
Use Azure Table Storage for archival
Why it's wrong here
Table Storage is not relational and does not support PITR.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-203 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 DP-203 exam.