Microsoft Azure Data FundamentalsDescribe how to work with non-relational data on AzureMedium
A retail company uses Azure Blob Storage to store millions of customer receipts as PDF files. Due to compliance regulations, these receipts must be retained for a minimum of seven years. However, after the first year, they are rarely accessed. To optimize storage costs while ensuring compliance, which Azure Blob Storage access tier should be used for receipts older than one year?
- AArchive
- BHot
- CPremium
- DCool
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Archive
The Archive access tier is the most cost-effective for rarely accessed data with flexible latency requirements. It's suitable for long-term retention of data that can tolerate several hours of retrieval time, which aligns with the scenario of receipts rarely accessed after one year but needing to be retained for seven.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Hot is for frequently accessed data and has higher storage costs than Cool or Archive.
- C. Premium is the most expensive tier, designed for high-performance, low-latency access, which is not needed for rarely accessed data.
- D. Cool is for infrequently accessed data (at least 30 days), but Archive is more cost-effective for data that is rarely accessed and has longer retention requirements.
Azure Blob Storage Access Tiers
Different cost-performance tiers for storing unstructured data in Azure Blob Storage.
- Hot: frequently accessed, higher storage cost, lower access cost.
- Cool: infrequently accessed (min 30 days), lower storage cost, higher access cost.
- Archive: rarely accessed (min 180 days), lowest storage cost, highest access cost.
Memory trick: Hot for now, Cool for later, Archive for forever.