- A
Hot
Why wrong: The Hot tier is designed for data accessed frequently and has the highest storage cost. This would be unnecessarily expensive for compliance footage accessed only a few times per year.
- B
Cool
Why wrong: The Cool tier is for data that is accessed infrequently (30+ days) and has lower storage cost than Hot but is still more expensive than Archive. Given the very rare access pattern, Archive is more cost-effective.
- C
Cold
Why wrong: The Cold tier is for data accessed rarely (90+ days) but is still not the cheapest option. Archive provides lower storage costs for data with a compliance retention requirement and very low access frequency.
- D
Archive
The Archive tier offers the lowest storage cost for data that is rarely accessed and can tolerate a retrieval latency of up to 15 hours. This matches the company's requirements of access only a few times per year and a 24-hour recovery window.
DP-900 Practice Question: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure
This DP-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe considerations for working with non-relational data on azure. 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.
A media company stores raw video footage as blobs in Azure Blob Storage. After processing, the raw footage is kept for compliance purposes and is accessed only a few times per year. The company wants to minimize storage costs while ensuring the data is durable and can be restored within 24 hours if needed. Which Azure Blob Storage access tier should they use?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
Archive
The Archive tier is the correct choice because it offers the lowest storage cost for data that is rarely accessed (a few times per year) and can tolerate a retrieval latency of up to 15 hours, which is well within the 24-hour restoration requirement. Azure Blob Storage's Archive tier is designed for long-term retention, compliance, and backup scenarios where durability is maintained through geo-redundant replication options, and data can be rehydrated to an online tier (e.g., Hot or Cool) within the specified time frame.
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.
- ✗
Hot
Why it's wrong here
The Hot tier is designed for data accessed frequently and has the highest storage cost. This would be unnecessarily expensive for compliance footage accessed only a few times per year.
- ✗
Cool
Why it's wrong here
The Cool tier is for data that is accessed infrequently (30+ days) and has lower storage cost than Hot but is still more expensive than Archive. Given the very rare access pattern, Archive is more cost-effective.
- ✗
Cold
Why it's wrong here
The Cold tier is for data accessed rarely (90+ days) but is still not the cheapest option. Archive provides lower storage costs for data with a compliance retention requirement and very low access frequency.
- ✓
Archive
Why this is correct
The Archive tier offers the lowest storage cost for data that is rarely accessed and can tolerate a retrieval latency of up to 15 hours. This matches the company's requirements of access only a few times per year and a 24-hour recovery window.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
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 the Cold tier (which is a separate tier in Azure, not to be mistaken with Archive) and assume it is the cheapest option, but Archive is actually the lowest-cost tier for data that can tolerate a 24-hour retrieval time, while Cold is still more expensive and has a lower retrieval latency.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Archive tier stores blobs in an offline state where they are not directly readable via HTTP/HTTPS; to access the data, you must initiate a rehydration operation that changes the blob's tier to Hot or Cool, which can take up to 15 hours for standard priority. A subtle behavior is that while Archive offers the lowest storage cost, it incurs higher read and data retrieval costs (including a per-GB read penalty) compared to other tiers, so it is only cost-effective when access is extremely rare. In a real-world compliance scenario, the company could use lifecycle management policies to automatically transition blobs from Hot or Cool to Archive after 30 days, ensuring cost optimization without manual intervention.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DP-900 question test?
Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure — This question tests Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Archive — The Archive tier is the correct choice because it offers the lowest storage cost for data that is rarely accessed (a few times per year) and can tolerate a retrieval latency of up to 15 hours, which is well within the 24-hour restoration requirement. Azure Blob Storage's Archive tier is designed for long-term retention, compliance, and backup scenarios where durability is maintained through geo-redundant replication options, and data can be rehydrated to an online tier (e.g., Hot or Cool) within the specified time frame.
What should I do if I get this DP-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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