Chapter 2 of 4 · Microsoft AZ-305

Design data storage solutions

Relational databases, Cosmos DB and storage accounts, durability and protection, and data integration and analysis.

  • 5topics
  • 24 minfast track
  • 2diagrams and exhibits
  • 20–25%of the exam
Start with Relational Data Storage and Service Tiers

Topics in this chapter

Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.

  1. 1Relational Data Storage and Service TiersAZ-305 relational design: choose Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, SQL on VMs or PostgreSQL and MySQL, and pick vCore…Diagram5 min
  2. 2Database Scalability and Data ProtectionAZ-305 database scale and security: scale up, read replicas and sharding, failover groups, TDE, Always Encrypted, dynamic data…5 min
  3. 3Semi Structured Data and Cosmos DBAZ-305 NoSQL design: choose a Cosmos DB API, consistency level, provisioned autoscale or serverless throughput, partition key and…5 min
  4. 4Unstructured Data and Storage AccountsAZ-305 unstructured data: choose Blob, Data Lake Gen2 or Azure Files, access tiers and lifecycle rules, redundancy options…Diagram5 min
  5. 5Data Integration and AnalysisAZ-305 data platform design: choose Data Factory, Synapse, Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, Stream Analytics and Event Hubs for…4 min

About this chapter

What this chapter covers

Almost every solution stores data, and choosing the wrong store is expensive to undo. This domain is worth 20 to 25 percent of the exam. It covers relational databases (service, tier, scaling and protection), semi structured and unstructured storage (Cosmos DB, Blob, Data Lake and Files), and data integration and analysis (Data Factory, Synapse, Fabric and Databricks).

The recurring skill is matching data shape, scale, consistency, latency and cost to the right service and tier.

How the topics fit together

Choose the storerelational, document, blob, fileSize ittier, throughput, redundancyProtect itencryption, durability, retentionMove and analyseintegration pipelines
  • Relational data storage and service tiers covers Azure SQL, Managed Instance and open source databases.
  • Database scalability and data protection covers scaling options, replicas, encryption and masking.
  • Semi structured data and Cosmos DB covers APIs, consistency, throughput and partitioning.
  • Unstructured data and storage accounts covers redundancy, access tiers, Data Lake and Files.
  • Data integration and analysis covers pipelines and analytics platforms.
Exam tip

Look for the deciding word. "Global", "millisecond latency", "relational integrity", "archive", "petabyte analytics" and "lowest cost" each point to a different service.

How to use these pages

Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.

  • What it is: the idea in plain words.
  • How it works: the mechanism, with examples and tables.
  • What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise and how questions are phrased.
  • Common mistakes: the classic traps.
  • Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.

Ready for more practice?

The full Microsoft AZ-305 question bank has 755 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.

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