Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ-301) Practice Exam

What Azure service ensures data can be accessed by REST and minimizes costs with geo-replication?

1. An Azure SQL Database elastic database pool with active geo-replication

2. Tables in an Azure Storage account that use geo-redundant storage

3. Tables in an Azure Storage account that uses read-access geo-redundant storage

4. An Azure SQL database that uses active geo-replication

The correct answer is: Tables in an Azure Storage account that uses read-access geo-redundant storage

The correct answer relates to the functionality provided by Azure Storage accounts configured with read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS). This service is designed to maintain high availability and disaster recovery capabilities by replicating data across different geographic regions. While geo-replication ensures that your data is available even in the event of an outage in the primary location, read-access geo-redundant storage specifically allows for data to be accessed in a read-only mode from the secondary location during such outages. This is particularly advantageous for applications requiring high availability and quick data access. The REST API support from Azure Storage means data can be accessed programmatically, meeting modern application requirements while minimizing costs associated with downtime. Additionally, using RA-GRS instead of GRS allows organizations to read from the secondary replica, which can reduce latency for global users and provide a cost-effective solution for disaster recovery scenarios. In contrast, the other options either do not emphasize read capabilities from the secondary region (in the case of active geo-replication in SQL databases) or involve services that may not focus specifically on minimizing retrieval costs while providing geo-redundancy.