Azure Data Fundamentals · 18% of the exam

Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure: free practice questions

5 sample questions from our 12-question bank for this domain — answers and explanations included. These are the same scenario-based style as the real Azure exam.

1. A media company needs to store millions of video files cheaply, serve them over HTTP, and move older files to progressively cheaper storage automatically. Which Azure service and feature combination fits?

  • A. Azure Blob Storage with lifecycle management moving blobs between Hot, Cool, and Archive tiers✓ Correct
  • B. Azure SQL Database with columnstore indexes
  • C. Azure Table Storage with partition keys
  • D. Azure Cosmos DB with autoscale throughput
Explanation

Blob storage is Azure's object store for unstructured files at massive scale, with HTTP access and lifecycle policies that transition blobs across Hot → Cool → Archive tiers automatically. SQL Database (B) isn't built to store terabytes of video. Table Storage (C) stores small key-value entities, not media. Cosmos DB (D) has per-item size limits, making it wrong for video files.

2. Which scenario is the BEST match for Cosmos DB for Gremlin?

  • A. Modeling a social network where you traverse relationships — friends of friends, shortest connection paths✓ Correct
  • B. Storing flat CSV exports
  • C. Hosting SMB file shares
  • D. Running monthly batch aggregation over a data warehouse
Explanation

Gremlin is Cosmos DB's graph API: data as vertices and edges, queried by traversing relationships — ideal for social graphs, recommendations, and network analysis. Flat file exports (B) belong in Blob/data lake storage. File shares (C) are Azure Files. Warehouse aggregation (D) is an analytical workload for Synapse/Fabric-style engines.

3. Cosmos DB offers multiple APIs. Which pairing of API to data model is CORRECT?

  • A. Cosmos DB for NoSQL → JSON documents queried with a SQL-like syntax✓ Correct
  • B. Cosmos DB for Cassandra → graph vertices and edges
  • C. Cosmos DB for Gremlin → column-family wide rows
  • D. Cosmos DB for Table → relational tables with joins
Explanation

The native NoSQL API stores JSON documents and queries them with a SQL-like language. The other pairings are shuffled: Cassandra is the column-family API (not graph), Gremlin is the graph API (not column-family), and the Table API is key-value (no joins, not relational).

4. A team needs to lift-and-shift an on-premises application that writes to a shared network drive (\\server\share). They want to retire the file server without changing application code. What should they use?

  • A. Azure Files with the share mounted over SMB✓ Correct
  • B. Azure Cosmos DB for Table
  • C. Azure Blob Storage with REST API calls
  • D. A bigger on-premises file server
Explanation

Azure Files was built for exactly this: the application keeps using an SMB path while the share lives in Azure — no code changes. Cosmos DB for Table (B) is a NoSQL API, requiring a rewrite. Blob via REST (C) would require replacing file I/O with API calls — code changes the requirement forbids. Option D keeps the hardware they're trying to retire.

5. Which TWO statements about Azure Cosmos DB are TRUE? (Select 2)

  • A. It offers turnkey global distribution, replicating data across any number of Azure regions✓ Correct
  • B. It provides single-digit-millisecond latency backed by SLAs✓ Correct
  • C. It only supports the SQL Server relational engine
  • D. It cannot scale beyond a single server
  • E. It requires customers to patch the underlying virtual machines
Explanation

Cosmos DB's headline features are global distribution with multi-region replication (A) and SLA-backed single-digit-millisecond reads/writes (B), plus elastic scale. Option C is false — it's a multi-model NoSQL service, not SQL Server. Option D contradicts its horizontally partitioned architecture. Option E is false — it's fully managed PaaS.

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Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure — Free Azure Data Fundamentals Practice Questions | DataCertPrep — Certification Prep