The correct answer is to configure a daily ingestion cap and enable Basic Logs for the workspace. This combination directly addresses cost reduction because the daily cap sets a hard limit on total data ingested per day, preventing unexpected overages, while Basic Logs store security events at a significantly lower ingestion price and support up to one year of retention by default. On the SC-200 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Sentinel’s two-tier log pricing model and the distinction between cost control mechanisms and retention policies. A common trap is to choose only the daily cap, which can cause data loss when the limit is reached, or to select Log Analytics workspace retention settings alone, which do not lower ingestion costs. Remember the memory tip: “Cap the flow, Basic the log” — the cap stops the flood, and Basic Logs keep the data cheap for a full year.
SC-200 Manage a security operations environment Practice Question
This SC-200 practice question tests your understanding of manage a security operations environment. 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.
Your organization uses Microsoft Sentinel with a workspace in the East US region. You need to reduce data ingestion costs while retaining security events for one year. You have enabled Azure Monitor Agent on all servers. What should you do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure a daily ingestion cap and enable Basic Logs for the workspace.
Option B is correct because configuring a daily ingestion cap limits the total data ingested per day, directly controlling costs. Enabling Basic Logs for the workspace allows you to store security events at a lower ingestion cost while retaining them for up to one year, as Basic Logs support up to 365 days of retention by default. This combination meets the requirement to reduce costs and retain security events for one year without losing data.
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.
✗
Configure a daily ingestion cap and enable archiving for data older than 90 days.
Why it's wrong here
Archiving is not directly supported in Sentinel; Basic Logs is the recommended method.
✓
Configure a daily ingestion cap and enable Basic Logs for the workspace.
Why this is correct
Basic Logs reduce storage cost and can be retained for up to one year.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Set a daily ingestion cap and convert the workspace to Auxiliary Logs.
Why it's wrong here
Auxiliary Logs are a preview feature and not generally available.
✗
Reduce the data retention period to 90 days and set a daily ingestion cap.
Why it's wrong here
Retaining data for only 90 days may violate compliance requirements.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse archiving or retention reduction with cost savings, but the question specifically requires retaining security events for one year, so only Basic Logs (which offer low-cost long-term retention) combined with a daily ingestion cap satisfy both cost reduction and retention requirements.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Basic Logs in Microsoft Sentinel are designed for high-volume, verbose logs that are less frequently queried, offering a lower ingestion price (approximately 50% less than Analytics Logs) and up to 365 days of retention by default. The daily ingestion cap is a hard limit that stops data ingestion once the cap is reached, which can cause data loss if not carefully managed; it is best used as a cost-control measure rather than a primary retention strategy. In practice, you would configure the daily cap to a budget-friendly value and enable Basic Logs on the security event table (e.g., SecurityEvent) to retain data for one year at reduced cost.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SC-200 question in full detail.
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 a daily ingestion cap and enable Basic Logs for the workspace. — Option B is correct because configuring a daily ingestion cap limits the total data ingested per day, directly controlling costs. Enabling Basic Logs for the workspace allows you to store security events at a lower ingestion cost while retaining them for up to one year, as Basic Logs support up to 365 days of retention by default. This combination meets the requirement to reduce costs and retain security events for one year without losing data.
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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Question Discussion
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