DP-900 Practice Question: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  Move blobs from Hot to Cool after 30 days, then to Archive after 2 years

  Why this is correct

  This policy correctly matches the access pattern: Hot tier for frequent initial access, Cool for infrequent intermediate access (still retained for 2 years but accessed rarely), and Archive for long-term compliance retention where data is rarely accessed and retrieval latency is acceptable.

• ✗

  Store all data in Hot tier for the full retention period

  Why it's wrong here

  Keeping all data in the Hot tier for the full 7-year period ignores the access pattern: after the initial 30 days, the transcripts are accessed rarely, so paying the highest storage price (Hot tier) for 7 years would incur unnecessary costs. Hot tier is designed for data accessed frequently and has no early-deletion penalty, but using it for cold, compliance-only data is wasteful and contradicts Azure cost optimization best practices, which recommend automatically migrating to cheaper tiers as access frequency declines.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the question required maximum access performance for the entire retention period and cost was not a concern, or if the data was accessed frequently throughout the entire 7+ year period, then keeping all data in the Hot tier would be appropriate.

• ✗

  Move blobs from Hot to Archive after 30 days and delete after 2 years

  Why it's wrong here

  Moving directly to Archive after 30 days is inappropriate because Archive is optimized for rarely accessed data with high retrieval latency (hours), but these transcripts are still accessed occasionally during the first two years for customer service follow-ups. Deleting blobs after 2 years violates the 7-year compliance requirement, as lifecycle management policies would permanently remove data needed for legal or regulatory audits, leading to potential non-compliance penalties.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the compliance requirement was to retain data for only 2 years and then delete, and access patterns were hot for 30 days then archive, this policy would be correct.

• ✗

  Store all data in Cool tier for the first 30 days, then move to Archive

  Why it's wrong here

  Storing frequently accessed transcripts in Cool tier for the first 30 days is suboptimal because Cool tier has higher per-GB retrieval costs and lower latency than Hot, and frequent reads during that initial period would incur additional access charges and degrade user experience for customer support agents. Also, Cool tier imposes a 30-day minimum retention period; if blobs are moved or deleted before that, early deletion fees apply, so placing new data directly into Cool is both more expensive and slower than using Hot for the active phase.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the question stated that data is accessed infrequently from day one (e.g., monthly reports accessed only a few times) and must be retained for compliance, then storing directly in Cool and moving to Archive after 30 days would be cost-effective.

Option-by-option analysis

Why each answer is right or wrong

Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The DP-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.

Analysis generated from the official DP-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”