The answer is Azure Blob Storage with an immutable storage policy, because it provides WORM (Write Once, Read Many) functionality that guarantees audit logs cannot be altered or deleted for the required 7-year retention period. This immutability is enforced at the storage container level through a time-based retention policy, ensuring compliance with regulations like SOX or HIPAA by preventing tampering even by administrators. On the Microsoft Azure Database Administrator Associate DP-300 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to meet long-term compliance requirements for Azure SQL Database audit logs, often appearing as a trap where candidates mistakenly choose Azure SQL Auditing alone or Azure Monitor Logs, which lack native immutable retention. The key distinction is that while Azure SQL Database can stream audit logs directly to Blob Storage, the immutability must be explicitly configured on the storage account. Memory tip: think “Blob for the long job” — Blob Storage with a locked policy locks logs for the full seven years.
DP-300 Plan and implement data platform resources Practice Question
This DP-300 practice question tests your understanding of plan and implement data platform resources. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 for storing audit logs from Azure SQL Database. The logs must be retained for 7 years and must be immutable to prevent tampering. Which Azure service should you use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage policy
Azure Blob Storage with an immutable storage policy (WORM – Write Once, Read Many) is the correct choice because it ensures that audit logs cannot be modified or deleted for a specified retention period (7 years). This meets the immutability and retention requirements for compliance with regulations such as SOX or HIPAA. Azure SQL Database audit logs can be directly streamed to Azure Blob Storage, making it a seamless and secure storage solution.
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.
✗
Use Azure Files share with read-only permissions
Why it's wrong here
Azure Files does not provide immutable storage.
✗
Send logs to Azure Log Analytics workspace
Why it's wrong here
Log Analytics has a maximum retention of 2 years and no immutability.
✗
Store logs in an audit table in Azure SQL Database
Why it's wrong here
Database tables can be altered or deleted.
✓
Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage policy
Why this is correct
Immutable blob storage prevents deletion and modification.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'immutable' with 'read-only permissions' (Option A) or assume that a database table (Option C) can be made immutable by restricting permissions, but true immutability requires storage-level WORM enforcement that cannot be bypassed by any user or process.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Blob Storage immutable policies support two types: time-based retention (set a fixed retention period, e.g., 7 years) and legal hold (indefinite retention until explicitly removed). Under the hood, the policy is enforced at the storage service level, preventing any writes or deletes to blobs, even by the storage account owner or Azure support. In a real-world scenario, you would configure Azure SQL Database auditing to write logs to a container with an immutable policy, ensuring that even if the database is compromised, the audit trail remains intact.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this DP-300 question in full detail.
Plan and implement data platform resources — This question tests Plan and implement data platform resources — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Azure Blob Storage with immutable storage policy — Azure Blob Storage with an immutable storage policy (WORM – Write Once, Read Many) is the correct choice because it ensures that audit logs cannot be modified or deleted for a specified retention period (7 years). This meets the immutability and retention requirements for compliance with regulations such as SOX or HIPAA. Azure SQL Database audit logs can be directly streamed to Azure Blob Storage, making it a seamless and secure storage solution.
What should I do if I get this DP-300 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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