Question 255 of 820
DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question
A healthcare organization stores patient records in Azure Blob Storage and must comply with data retention policies that require deleting records after 7 years. They also need to prevent any modification or deletion of records before the retention period ends. Which Azure feature should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse soft delete (which only protects against accidental deletion) or lifecycle management (which automates tiering/expiry) with the strict WORM guarantee required for regulatory compliance, where no modification or deletion is allowed before the retention period ends.
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
✓
Immutable storage with time-based retention policy
Immutable storage with a time-based retention policy (WORM – Write Once, Read Many) ensures that blobs cannot be modified or deleted until the retention period expires. This directly meets the dual requirement of preventing premature deletion while enforcing a 7-year retention, as the policy locks the data for the specified duration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Immutable storage with time-based retention policy
Why this is correct
Immutable storage with a time-based retention policy enforces a WORM (write-once, read-many) state at the container level. Once the policy is configured with a retention interval, blobs cannot be overwritten or deleted until that interval expires, and the retention period cannot be shortened. For patient records, this guarantees non-erasable, non-modifiable storage that directly satisfies regulatory and compliance mandates.
- ✗
Azure Backup for Blob Storage
Why it's wrong here
Azure Backup for Blob Storage creates point-in-time copies (snapshots) and retains them according to a backup policy, enabling restore of data lost to corruption or accidental deletion. However, backup runs on a schedule, so a deletion occurring between backup cycles will remove the live blob, and the backup only lets you recover from an earlier copy. It does not block or forbid the delete operation itself, so it cannot guarantee that patient records remain intact if an authorized user issues a delete.
- ✗
Soft delete for Blob Storage
Why it's wrong here
Soft delete for Blob Storage marks a deleted blob as logically deleted and preserves it for a configured retention period, allowing easy restoration, but the delete operation still succeeds immediately. During that period, the blob becomes inaccessible through normal use, and after the retention period it can be permanently purged. Because it does not prevent a user from issuing a delete or make the blob unmodifiable, it only provides recovery, not the immutability that healthcare compliance requires.
- ✗
Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management
Why it's wrong here
Azure Blob Storage lifecycle management automatically applies rules that move blobs to cooler tiers (hot/cool/cold/archive) or delete them based on conditions like age or last modification. It is purely an operational tool to optimize cost, and it has no mechanism to lock blob content or block user modifications. In fact, a poorly configured lifecycle rule could delete patient data, so it cannot be used to enforce retention or immutability.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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