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A developer is designing a new microservices-based application that needs to store infrequently accessed, unstructured data, such as archived documents and historical logs. The data must be highly durable and cost-effective for long-term retention, with occasional retrieval needs. Which Azure Storage solution is most appropriate for this scenario?
- AAzure Queue Storage
- BAzure Files
- CAzure Table Storage
- DAzure Blob Storage (Archive Tier)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Azure Blob Storage (Archive Tier)
Azure Blob Storage's Archive tier is specifically designed for rarely accessed, long-term data retention at the lowest cost, making it ideal for archived documents and historical logs with occasional retrieval.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Azure Queue Storage is for storing large numbers of messages that can be accessed by multiple readers, not for archival data storage.
- B. Azure Files provides shared file storage accessible via SMB/NFS, not optimal for unstructured, infrequently accessed archival data.
- C. Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store, suitable for structured, non-relational data, not unstructured large files.
Azure Blob Storage Archive Tier
The Azure Blob Storage Archive tier is an offline tier optimized for rarely accessed data that can tolerate several hours of retrieval latency, offering the lowest storage cost.
- Lowest cost storage tier for blobs.
- Optimized for rarely accessed data.
- High latency for retrieval (hours).
- Ideal for long-term backups, archival, and compliance data.
Memory trick: Cool, Hot, and Archived: Blob Storage has tiers, not just one.