The answer is setting a daily ingestion cap on the Log Analytics workspace, enabling Basic logs, and using data collection rules to filter out unnecessary events. These three methods directly reduce Microsoft Sentinel data ingestion costs by limiting the volume of data stored and choosing cheaper storage tiers. Basic logs, for instance, cost roughly 25% of Analytics logs, making them ideal for high-volume, low-value sources like verbose firewall logs, while a daily cap prevents budget overruns by stopping ingestion once a threshold is hit. On the SC-200 exam, this topic tests your ability to balance security visibility with cost governance, often appearing in scenario-based questions where you must recommend the most cost-effective retention strategy. A common trap is confusing a daily cap with data retention policies—remember, a cap stops new data, while retention deletes old data. Memory tip: think “Cap, Class, and Collect” for Cap, Basic log Class, and Collection rules.
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.
Which THREE of the following are valid methods to reduce the cost of Microsoft Sentinel data ingestion?
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 for high-volume, low-value data sources.
A is correct because Basic logs offer a lower ingestion cost (approximately 25% of the cost of Analytics logs) for high-volume, low-value data sources such as verbose firewall logs or debug events. By routing these logs to the Basic log table tier, you reduce the per-GB ingestion charge while still retaining the data for security investigations when needed.
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 Basic logs for high-volume, low-value data sources.
Why this is correct
Basic logs are cheaper.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use analytics rules with efficient KQL queries to reduce false positives.
Why this is correct
Fewer alerts may reduce data processing, but mainly reduces noise.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Set a daily ingestion cap on the Log Analytics workspace.
Why this is correct
Caps prevent over-ingestion.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable Sentinel on premium storage accounts.
Why it's wrong here
Premium storage increases cost.
✗
Increase the data retention period to 90 days.
Why it's wrong here
Retention does not affect ingestion cost.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse data retention costs with ingestion costs, assuming that lowering retention (or increasing it) directly reduces the cost of bringing data into Sentinel, when in fact ingestion volume is the primary cost driver and retention is a separate storage charge.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Basic logs use a separate table schema (e.g., 'Basic_AWSCloudTrail' or custom tables) and support only simple queries (KQL with no joins or cross-workspace queries), which reduces indexing and query processing overhead. This tier is ideal for data that is rarely queried but must be available for compliance or forensic purposes, and it can be upgraded to Analytics logs on a per-table basis if deeper analysis is needed later.
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 Basic logs for high-volume, low-value data sources. — A is correct because Basic logs offer a lower ingestion cost (approximately 25% of the cost of Analytics logs) for high-volume, low-value data sources such as verbose firewall logs or debug events. By routing these logs to the Basic log table tier, you reduce the per-GB ingestion charge while still retaining the data for security investigations when needed.
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 →
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 designing a Microsoft Sentinel deployment. You need to minimize ingestion costs while ensuring that all security-relevant events are collected. Which strategy should you use?
hard
A.Use Analytic Logs for all data sources to ensure full query capabilities
✓ B.Use Basic Logs for verbose data sources like Windows firewall logs, and Analytic Logs for high-value security logs
C.Set short retention periods for all logs and export to storage
D.Collect only logs from Microsoft 365 Defender and ignore other sources
Why B: Option A is correct because Basic Logs are cheaper and suitable for verbose logs. Option B is wrong because Analytic logs are more expensive. Option C is wrong because you need some logs. Option D is wrong because not all logs need full retention.
Variation 2. Your Microsoft Sentinel workspace is experiencing high ingestion costs. Which of the following actions will most effectively reduce costs while maintaining security visibility?
easy
A.Delete unused analytics rules to reduce log ingestion.
✓ B.Configure Basic Logs for verbose logs like Windows events from non-critical servers.
C.Disable collection of all informational logs.
D.Reduce the data retention period to 30 days.
Why B: Option B is correct because configuring Basic Logs for verbose logs (e.g., Windows Event ID 4688 from non-critical servers) reduces ingestion costs by storing them in a lower-cost tier while still retaining them for security investigations. Basic Logs are charged at a lower ingestion rate and support simple queries and search jobs, preserving visibility for incident response without the full cost of Analytics Logs.
Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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