DP-900 Practice Question: Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure
Which TWO of the following are characteristics of Azure Blob Storage?
⚠ Common exam trap
DP-900 often tests the confusion between object storage characteristics (schema-less, tiered, binary-optimized) and relational characteristics (fixed schema, ACID transactions) — candidates pick ACID or fixed schema because they sound like general database features, but Blob Storage is neither.
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
✓
Supports access tiers (Hot, Cool, Archive)
Option B is correct because Azure Blob Storage natively supports access tiers — Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive — allowing you to optimize storage cost versus access latency based on how frequently data is read. Option C is correct because Blob Storage is designed for unstructured data and can store massive binary objects such as videos, images, backups, and disk images, with block blobs supporting up to roughly 190.7 TiB per blob. Option A is incorrect because Blob Storage is schema-less and stores unstructured data, unlike Azure Table Storage or a relational database. Option D is incorrect because ACID transactions across multiple records are a feature of relational databases such as Azure SQL Database, not Blob Storage. Option E is incorrect because Blob Storage supports three blob types — block blobs, append blobs, and page blobs — not only block blobs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enforces a fixed schema for stored data
Why it's wrong here
Blob Storage is schema-less by design, treating each blob as an opaque sequence of bytes with no enforced structure. It does not require users to define tables, columns, or data types before uploading content, so a fixed schema is not a characteristic. This contrasts sharply with relational data stores where schema constraints are mandatory.
- ✓
Supports access tiers (Hot, Cool, Archive)
Why this is correct
Azure Blob Storage supports Hot, Cool, and Archive access tiers to balance performance and cost. Hot tiers serve frequently accessed data with low latency, Cool tiers are for infrequent access with a lower storage cost, and Archive offers the cheapest storage but requires rehydration before reading. This tiering capability is a key cost-optimization feature unique to object storage.
- ✓
Supports storing large binary objects such as videos
Why this is correct
Blob Storage natively handles massive unstructured binary files, such as videos, images, and backups, scaling up to petabytes. It stores these objects using block blobs, which allow efficient upload and download of large payloads. Because the service treats data as raw bytes, it is an ideal repository for media-heavy workloads.
- ✗
Provides ACID transactions across multiple records
Why it's wrong here
Blob Storage does not provide ACID transactions across multiple records or blobs; each individual blob operation is atomic, but there is no multi-record transaction mechanism. Relational databases enforce ACID guarantees, but blob storage is a distributed object store designed for scale and throughput, not transactional integrity. Any multi-blob consistency must be handled through application-side patterns.
- ✗
Only supports block blobs
Why it's wrong here
Blob Storage actually supports three distinct blob types: block blobs for large binary objects, append blobs for streaming and logging, and page blobs for frequent random read/write operations. Saying it only supports block blobs overlooks these other types, which serve different workloads such as VHD virtual disks and append-only logs. Thus, 'only block blobs' is an incorrect characterization.
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
Key-Value Stores and In-Memory Caching
Key term
Relational database
A relational database organizes data into tables with rows and columns, where each table relates to others using unique keys, allowing efficient storage, retrieval, and manipulation of structured information.
Key term
Unstructured data
Unstructured data is information that does not have a predefined data model or is not organized in a predefined manner, making it difficult for traditional databases to read and process.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DP-900 question from scratch — 851 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
This DP-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DP-900 exam.