- A
Reduce the data retention period for all tables to 30 days.
Why wrong: Reducing retention may affect compliance and investigation capabilities.
- B
Disable the collection of Windows event logs from domain controllers.
Why wrong: This reduces visibility into critical security events.
- C
Configure specific tables to use the Basic Logs tier instead of Analytics Logs.
Basic Logs are cheaper and suitable for verbose logs that are less frequently queried.
- D
Export logs to Azure Storage and use Azure Data Explorer for analysis.
Why wrong: This adds complexity and cost, and may not integrate with Sentinel.
Question 1,252 of 1,639
How to Reduce Microsoft Sentinel Log Ingestion Costs Without Losing Security Visibility
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 organization has a Microsoft Sentinel workspace that ingests data from multiple sources. You notice that the cost of data ingestion is higher than expected. You need to reduce costs without affecting security visibility. 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 specific tables to use the Basic Logs tier instead of Analytics Logs.
Option C is correct because configuring specific tables to use the Basic Logs tier reduces ingestion costs for high-volume, low-security-value data (e.g., verbose diagnostics or debug logs) while retaining full analytical capabilities for security-critical tables in the Analytics Logs tier. Basic Logs are charged at a lower ingestion rate and support simple queries, but they lack the full KQL and indexing features of Analytics Logs, so you must carefully select which tables to downgrade to avoid impacting security visibility.
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 data retention period for all tables to 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
Reducing retention may affect compliance and investigation capabilities.
- ✗
Disable the collection of Windows event logs from domain controllers.
Why it's wrong here
This reduces visibility into critical security events.
- ✓
Configure specific tables to use the Basic Logs tier instead of Analytics Logs.
Why this is correct
Basic Logs are cheaper and suitable for verbose logs that are less frequently queried.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Export logs to Azure Storage and use Azure Data Explorer for analysis.
Why it's wrong here
This adds complexity and cost, and may not integrate with Sentinel.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume reducing retention or disabling log sources is the simplest cost-saving measure, but the SC-200 exam emphasizes that cost reduction must never compromise security visibility, making the Basic Logs tier the only option that selectively lowers cost without losing critical security data.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Basic Logs tier in Microsoft Sentinel stores data in a separate, lower-cost index that supports only a subset of KQL operators (e.g., no joins, no summarize over large time ranges) and has a default retention of 30 days with no option for long-term retention. This tier is ideal for high-volume, low-value data like Azure Activity logs from non-critical resources or custom application logs, but you must ensure that tables used for analytics rules, UEBA, or threat hunting remain in the Analytics Logs tier to maintain full query performance and security visibility.
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 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 specific tables to use the Basic Logs tier instead of Analytics Logs. — Option C is correct because configuring specific tables to use the Basic Logs tier reduces ingestion costs for high-volume, low-security-value data (e.g., verbose diagnostics or debug logs) while retaining full analytical capabilities for security-critical tables in the Analytics Logs tier. Basic Logs are charged at a lower ingestion rate and support simple queries, but they lack the full KQL and indexing features of Analytics Logs, so you must carefully select which tables to downgrade to avoid impacting security visibility.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on SC-200
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. You are managing a Microsoft Sentinel workspace that ingests data from multiple sources. You need to reduce the cost of log ingestion while maintaining security visibility. Which two actions should you take?
hard- A.Remove all custom log connectors that are not used frequently.
- B.Increase the retention period for all tables to 90 days to avoid data loss.
- ✓ C.Enable analytics rules to run only on high-value data sources.
- ✓ D.Configure data collection rules to send non-critical logs to the Basic Logs tier.
- E.Use compression algorithms in Log Analytics to reduce log size.
Why C: Option C is correct because enabling analytics rules to run only on high-value data sources reduces the volume of data that must be queried and processed, directly lowering ingestion and analytics costs while preserving security visibility on critical logs. In Microsoft Sentinel, analytics rules incur costs based on the data scanned; by scoping rules to high-value sources, you avoid unnecessary processing of low-signal data.
Variation 2. You are responsible for Microsoft Sentinel pricing. You notice that data ingestion costs are high due to verbose logs from Windows security events. You need to reduce costs while still collecting critical security events. What should you do?
hard- A.Use Common Event Format (CEF) connector instead of Windows Events
- B.Change the table plan to Basic Logs
- C.Increase the workspace retention period to archive warm data
- ✓ D.Configure Windows Security Events via AMA connector with event filtering
Why D: Option D is correct because the Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) connector for Windows Security Events allows granular filtering of event IDs and levels, enabling you to collect only critical security events (e.g., 4624, 4625) while excluding verbose logs like Event ID 5156 (Windows Filtering Platform permit connections). This reduces ingestion volume and cost without losing essential security visibility.
Keep practising
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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