Quick Answer
The answer is Azure RBAC and Azure Monitor. Azure RBAC provides fine-grained access control for Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 by assigning roles like Storage Blob Data Contributor to users or service principals, ensuring only authorized users can read, write, or delete files. Azure Monitor then collects and analyzes activity logs and diagnostic settings for the storage account, enabling full auditing of access events such as successful and failed authentication attempts. On the DP-900 exam, this pairing tests your understanding that access control and auditing are separate but complementary responsibilities—a common trap is choosing only one service, like Azure RBAC, and forgetting the auditing layer. Remember the memory tip: “RBAC locks the door, Monitor watches who knocks.”
This DP-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe core data concepts. 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 company uses Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 for a data lake. They need to ensure that only authorized users can access files and that access is audited. Which two Azure services should they combine? (Choose two options that together form the solution.)
Azure Policy
Why wrong: Policy enforces rules but does not provide access control.
Azure Key Vault
Why wrong: Key Vault manages secrets, not access control.
Azure RBAC
RBAC controls access to storage resources.
Azure Monitor
Azure Monitor collects audit logs for storage access.
Microsoft Entra ID
Why wrong: Entra ID provides identity, but RBAC is needed for authorization.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Azure RBAC
Azure RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) is correct because it provides fine-grained access management for Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, allowing you to assign roles (e.g., Storage Blob Data Contributor) to users, groups, or service principals to control who can read, write, or delete files. Azure Monitor is correct because it can collect and analyze activity logs and diagnostic settings for the storage account, enabling auditing of access events such as successful and failed authentication attempts.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Azure Policy
Why it's wrong here
Policy enforces rules but does not provide access control.
Azure Key Vault
Why it's wrong here
Key Vault manages secrets, not access control.
Azure RBAC
Why this is correct
RBAC controls access to storage resources.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Azure Monitor
Why this is correct
Azure Monitor collects audit logs for storage access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Microsoft Entra ID
Why it's wrong here
Entra ID provides identity, but RBAC is needed for authorization.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Microsoft Entra ID (the identity provider) with the actual access control mechanism (RBAC) and auditing service (Monitor), thinking Entra ID alone handles both, but it only authenticates identities—RBAC authorizes them and Monitor audits the actions.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 uses POSIX-like access control lists (ACLs) alongside Azure RBAC; RBAC roles (e.g., Storage Blob Data Owner) grant coarse permissions at the container or storage account level, while ACLs provide finer-grained control at the directory or file level. Azure Monitor integrates with Azure Activity Logs to capture control-plane operations (e.g., role assignments) and with diagnostic settings to capture data-plane audit logs (e.g., read/write operations) via the Storage Analytics logs feature, which can be sent to Log Analytics workspaces for querying.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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.
What to study next
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FAQ
Describe core data concepts — This question tests Describe core data concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Azure RBAC — Azure RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) is correct because it provides fine-grained access management for Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, allowing you to assign roles (e.g., Storage Blob Data Contributor) to users, groups, or service principals to control who can read, write, or delete files. Azure Monitor is correct because it can collect and analyze activity logs and diagnostic settings for the storage account, enabling auditing of access events such as successful and failed authentication attempts.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Same concept, more angles
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Variation 1. A company uses Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 for a data lake. They implement a folder structure with access control lists (ACLs). A new data scientist needs to read data from a specific folder but not write to it. Which ACL permission should be assigned?
hardWhy A: Execute (X) permission on a folder in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is required to traverse the folder and access its contents. Without Execute, a user cannot list or read files inside the folder, even if Read permission is granted. Since the data scientist only needs to read data (not write), assigning Execute on the folder and Read on the files allows traversal and read access without write capability.
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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