The correct answer is to transition to cool tier after 30 days, transition to archive tier after 365 days, and delete after 2555 days. This policy directly maps to the requirements: moving rarely accessed log data to a lower-cost cool tier after one month, archiving it after one year for long-term retention, and deleting it after exactly seven years to meet compliance mandates. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 lifecycle management policies automate these tier transitions based on blob age, reducing manual overhead and optimizing storage costs as access patterns shift. On the DP-203 exam, this scenario tests your ability to map business rules to the three lifecycle actions—tier change, archive, and deletion—while avoiding common traps like using the hot tier for cold data or misaligning the deletion window with the retention period. A strong memory tip is “30-365-2555”: think of the 30-day cool-down, the one-year archive anniversary, and the 7-year compliance tombstone.
DP-203 Design and implement data storage Practice Question
This DP-203 practice question tests your understanding of design and implement data storage. 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.
You are designing a solution to store large amounts of log data that is written once and accessed rarely. The data must be retained for 7 years for compliance. After 30 days, the data should be moved to a lower-cost storage tier. After 1 year, the data should be archived. Which Azure Storage lifecycle management policy should you implement for an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 account?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Transition to cool tier after 30 days; transition to archive tier after 365 days; delete after 2555 days (7 years).
Option B is correct because it aligns with the specified lifecycle requirements: transition to cool tier after 30 days for cost savings, transition to archive tier after 365 days for long-term retention, and delete after 2555 days (7 years) for compliance. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 supports lifecycle management policies that automate tier transitions and deletion based on age, ensuring data is moved to lower-cost storage as access patterns change.
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.
✗
Transition to cool tier after 30 days; delete after 7 years.
Why it's wrong here
Does not archive after 1 year; deletion may not be needed if compliance requires retention.
✓
Transition to cool tier after 30 days; transition to archive tier after 365 days; delete after 2555 days (7 years).
Why this is correct
Matches the requirements exactly.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Transition to archive tier after 30 days; delete after 7 years.
Why it's wrong here
Skips cool tier; archive after 30 days incurs early deletion fee if accessed before 180 days.
✗
Transition to cool tier after 30 days; transition to cool tier again after 365 days.
Why it's wrong here
Transition to cool twice is redundant; archive tier is needed.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse the required tiering order (cool then archive) with direct archiving after 30 days (Option C) or fail to include a deletion rule (Option D), missing the 7-year compliance requirement.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Storage lifecycle management policies use rules with filters and actions (e.g., 'tierToCool', 'tierToArchive', 'delete') applied to blobs based on age (days from creation or last modification). The archive tier has a 180-day minimum retention period before deletion, so transitioning to archive after 365 days and deleting after 2555 days satisfies this constraint. In real-world scenarios, log data often requires granular tiering to balance cost and compliance, and lifecycle policies can be scoped to specific paths or blob types using prefix filters.
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 DP-203 question in full detail.
Design and implement data storage — This question tests Design and implement data storage — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Transition to cool tier after 30 days; transition to archive tier after 365 days; delete after 2555 days (7 years). — Option B is correct because it aligns with the specified lifecycle requirements: transition to cool tier after 30 days for cost savings, transition to archive tier after 365 days for long-term retention, and delete after 2555 days (7 years) for compliance. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 supports lifecycle management policies that automate tier transitions and deletion based on age, ensuring data is moved to lower-cost storage as access patterns change.
What should I do if I get this DP-203 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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