Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect ExpertDesign data storage solutionsEasy

A global e-commerce company needs to store product catalog information, including product descriptions, images, and pricing. The data volume is expected to grow rapidly, and the solution must support high-throughput, low-latency access from various geographical regions. The company also requires strong consistency for pricing and inventory data. Which Azure data storage solution is most suitable for this scenario?

  1. AAzure SQL Database
  2. BAzure Cosmos DB (Core SQL API)
  3. CAzure Blob Storage
  4. DAzure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B. Azure Cosmos DB (Core SQL API)

Azure Cosmos DB with the Core SQL API offers globally distributed, multi-master capabilities with low-latency access and strong consistency guarantees, making it ideal for rapidly growing, high-throughput e-commerce catalog data.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. Azure SQL Database is a relational database and while it offers strong consistency, its global distribution and low-latency access across multiple regions for rapidly growing NoSQL-like data might be more complex and costly to implement compared to Cosmos DB.
  • C. Azure Blob Storage is designed for unstructured object data and is not suitable for structured catalog information requiring transactional consistency and query capabilities.
  • D. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is optimized for big data analytics and large files, not for transactional, low-latency access to structured documents.

Azure Cosmos DB (Core SQL API)

A globally distributed, multi-model database service offered by Microsoft Azure. It provides turn-key global distribution, multi-master replication, and guarantees single-digit millisecond latencies at the 99th percentile, with five well-defined consistency models.

  • Globally distributed, multi-region writes
  • Low-latency access with guaranteed throughput
  • Multiple consistency models (Strong, Bounded Staleness, Session, Consistent Prefix, Eventual)
  • Supports various APIs including SQL (Core), MongoDB, Cassandra, Gremlin, and Table.

Memory trick: Catalog on Cosmos DB, global reach with rapid data flow.

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