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A company is planning to store infrequently accessed archival data in Azure Blob Storage. The data needs to be accessible within a few hours when requested, but the primary concern is minimizing storage costs. Which access tier should you recommend for this scenario?
- AHot
- BCool
- CArchive
- DPremium
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Archive
The Archive access tier is designed for rarely accessed data with flexible latency requirements (up to several hours) and offers the lowest storage costs. This aligns perfectly with the requirement for infrequently accessed archival data where cost minimization is key.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The Hot tier is for frequently accessed data and has higher storage costs.
- B. The Cool tier is for infrequently accessed data but with higher availability requirements (milliseconds) and higher costs than Archive.
- D. Premium is a performance tier for block blobs, not an access tier, and is designed for high transaction rates and low latency, making it the most expensive.
Azure Blob Archive Tier
The Azure Blob Archive tier is an offline tier optimized for storing rarely accessed data with flexible latency requirements of several hours, offering the lowest storage costs.
- Lowest storage cost among all tiers.
- Data retrieval can take several hours (up to 15 hours).
- Suitable for long-term backups, archival, and compliance data.
Memory trick: Hot for 'now', Cool for 'later', Archive for 'never-unless-I-really-need-it'.