Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure →hardMultiple SelectObjective-mapped
DP-900 Practice Question: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure
Which THREE of the following are features of Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2?
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
✓
Integration with Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID)
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (ADLS Gen2) combines Blob Storage with a hierarchical namespace, enabling high-performance analytics. Option A is correct: it integrates with Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID) for fine-grained access control. Option C is correct: it supports POSIX-compliant access control lists (ACLs) for Unix-like permissions. Option D is correct: it allows atomic rename of directories, which is efficient for big data workloads. Option B is wrong: Geo-redundant storage (GRS) is a replication option available for storage accounts, but it is not a feature specific to ADLS Gen2. Option E is wrong: fixed-size block storage is a characteristic of Azure Blob Storage, not ADLS Gen2, which uses a hierarchical namespace with variable-size files.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Integration with Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID)
Why this is correct
Integration with Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID) is a hallmark of Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. It uses Entra ID for OAuth 2.0 authentication, allowing users, service principals, and managed identities to be verified before accessing the storage. Authorization is then layered via Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) at the account/container scope plus POSIX ACLs at the file/directory level, giving a unified identity control plane. This is a native feature of the Data Lake Storage Gen2 account model, not an optional extra.
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Geo-redundant storage (GRS)
Why it's wrong here
Geo-redundant storage (GRS) is a data-replication setting available to any Azure Storage account, including standard Blob Storage and Data Lake Storage Gen2, so it is not a distinguishing feature. GRS copies data synchronously within a primary region and asynchronously to a secondary region to protect against regional outages, but this redundancy is independent of the hierarchical namespace. Marking it as a Data Lake feature confuses an infrastructure-replication option with the file-system-specific capabilities that make Data Lake Storage Gen2 unique.
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POSIX-compliant access control lists (ACLs)
Why this is correct
POSIX-compliant access control lists (ACLs) are a core feature of Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, enabling fine-grained, Unix-style permissions on directories and files. Each object has an owning user, owning group, and a mask, plus ACL entries for named users, groups, and default ACLs inherited by children. Unlike simple blob containers that only support container-level permissions, these ACLs work with the hierarchical namespace to control access down to the file level, which is essential for secure big data analytics.
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Atomic rename of directories
Why this is correct
Atomic rename of directories is possible in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 because the hierarchical namespace stores directory metadata directly, so a rename operation updates the metadata entry in a single transaction. In a flat blob store, renaming a 'directory' would require enumerating and copying every object, then deleting the originals, which is neither atomic nor scalable. The Gen2 design ensures that no client ever sees a partial state during the rename, making this a distinguishing performance and consistency feature.
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Fixed-size block storage
Why it's wrong here
Fixed-size block storage is not a feature of Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2; it describes a storage-account tier for virtual machine disks (Azure managed disks or page blobs) that is optimized for low-latency I/O. Data Lake Storage Gen2, in contrast, is built on Blob Storage and organizes data using a hierarchical namespace with ACLs and directory semantics, not fixed-size blocks. Additionally, Gen2 blob writes are append- or block-based depending on blob type, but they never rely on fixed-size block allocation as a file-system feature.
Visual reference
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 |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Roles and Core Concepts
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
Key term
Blob storage
Blob storage is a cloud service for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data, like documents, images, and videos.
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