- A
Reduce the retention period for all data to 30 days.
Why wrong: This might cause loss of historical data needed for investigations.
- B
Switch the pricing tier from Capacity Reservations to Pay-as-you-go.
Why wrong: Pay-as-you-go is more expensive for consistent high volume.
- C
Disable analytics rules that generate high volume of alerts.
Why wrong: This reduces security monitoring capabilities.
- D
Configure basic logs ingestion for verbose data sources such as firewall logs.
Basic logs are cheaper and still searchable for incident response.
Question 518 of 1,639
SC-200 Manage a security operations environment Practice Question
This SC-200 practice question tests your understanding of manage a security operations environment. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
Your Microsoft Sentinel workspace is ingesting logs from multiple sources. You notice that the data ingestion cost is higher than expected. You want to reduce costs without losing security value. Which action should you take?
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
✓
Configure basic logs ingestion for verbose data sources such as firewall logs.
Basic logs are designed for high-volume, verbose data sources (e.g., firewall logs, syslog) that have lower security value. They are stored at a reduced cost and support only summary queries, not full KQL analytics. By routing verbose logs to basic logs, you reduce ingestion costs while retaining the ability to perform threat hunting and incident response on high-value analytics logs.
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.
- ✗
Reduce the retention period for all data to 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
This might cause loss of historical data needed for investigations.
- ✗
Switch the pricing tier from Capacity Reservations to Pay-as-you-go.
Why it's wrong here
Pay-as-you-go is more expensive for consistent high volume.
- ✗
Disable analytics rules that generate high volume of alerts.
Why it's wrong here
This reduces security monitoring capabilities.
- ✓
Configure basic logs ingestion for verbose data sources such as firewall logs.
Why this is correct
Basic logs are cheaper and still searchable for incident response.
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 confuse reducing retention (Option A) with reducing ingestion volume, or they mistakenly think disabling analytics rules (Option C) lowers ingestion costs, when in fact ingestion cost is driven by data volume, not rule execution.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Basic logs use a separate, cheaper ingestion pipeline that stores data in a read-only, append-only format with limited query capabilities (e.g., no join, no summarize over large time ranges). This is ideal for firewall traffic logs, DNS queries, or netflow data where you only need to search for specific events or perform simple aggregations. In contrast, analytics logs support full KQL and are priced higher, so segregating data by value is a key cost optimization strategy in Microsoft Sentinel.
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
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-200 question test?
Manage a security operations environment — This question tests Manage a security operations environment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure basic logs ingestion for verbose data sources such as firewall logs. — Basic logs are designed for high-volume, verbose data sources (e.g., firewall logs, syslog) that have lower security value. They are stored at a reduced cost and support only summary queries, not full KQL analytics. By routing verbose logs to basic logs, you reduce ingestion costs while retaining the ability to perform threat hunting and incident response on high-value analytics logs.
What should I do if I get this SC-200 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This SC-200 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 SC-200 exam.
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