DP-203 Design and implement data storage Practice Question
You are designing a storage solution for a global application that requires low-latency reads and writes of JSON documents. The data model includes nested properties, and you need to query these properties efficiently. You also need to ensure the data is available in multiple regions with automatic failover. Which Azure service should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that relational databases with geo-replication provide multi-region writes; most only allow writes to a single primary region.
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
✓
Azure Cosmos DB with Core (SQL) API and multi-region writes enabled.
Azure Cosmos DB with Core (SQL) API is designed for JSON documents, supports querying nested properties, and offers multi-region writes with automatic failover, ensuring low latency globally. Other services either lack native JSON support, do not support multi-region writes, or are not optimized for document queries.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Azure SQL Database with active geo-replication.
Why it's wrong here
Azure SQL Database supports JSON data through built-in functions, but it is a relational database and not optimized for document-centric workloads with nested properties. While active geo-replication provides multi-region read replicas, it does not support multi-region writes; only one primary region accepts writes. This limits write scalability and increases latency for global writes.
- ✗
Azure Blob Storage with RA-GRS replication.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Blob Storage is object storage and does not provide a query engine for JSON documents. RA-GRS provides read access to a secondary region, but writes are only accepted in the primary region, and failover is not automatic. It is suitable for storing large unstructured data, not for low-latency document queries with multi-region writes.
- ✗
Azure Table Storage with a partition key and row key.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Table Storage is a key-value store that supports storing structured data but does not natively handle JSON documents with nested properties. Querying nested properties requires storing them as separate columns or serializing them, which is inefficient. It also does not provide multi-region automatic failover with low-latency reads. It is a cost-effective solution for simple key-value data, not for complex JSON documents.
- ✓
Azure Cosmos DB with Core (SQL) API and multi-region writes enabled.
Why this is correct
Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database that natively supports JSON documents and allows querying nested properties using SQL-like syntax. With multi-region writes enabled, it provides low-latency reads and writes across multiple regions and automatic failover. It is designed for global distribution and elastic scalability, making it ideal for this scenario.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.