AZ104-Q: Archive tier for rarely accessed data
Q: Compliance blobs must be stored for 7 years and are accessed about once a year, with retrieval delay acceptable. Which blob access tier gives the lowest storage cost while remaining retrievable?
- A) Hot
- B) Cool
- C) Archive ✓
- D) Premium
Answer: C — Archive. The Archive tier offers the lowest storage cost for data that is rarely accessed (about once a year or less) and can tolerate a retrieval/rehydration delay (hours). Hot is for frequent access (highest cost, lowest latency); Cool for infrequent access but still must be instantly retrievable. Archive adds a rehydration step before download, which is the accepted trade-off here.
Why it helps
Tier choice is a guaranteed AZ-104 topic: Hot = frequent/instant, Cool = infrequent/instant, Archive = rare/lowest cost with rehydration delay. Match the “how often + is delay OK” to the tier.