Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ-304) Practice Test

If an organization needs to prevent accidental deletion of archived data, what should be implemented?

1. Azure Policy restrictions.

2. Storage account access keys management.

3. Soft delete functionality.

4. Immutable storage policies.

The correct answer is: Immutable storage policies.

Implementing immutable storage policies is an effective way to prevent accidental deletion of archived data. These policies allow organizations to set a retention period during which data cannot be altered or deleted. Once immutable policies are in place, any data that falls under these policies remains unchanged until the specified retention period expires, providing a reliable safeguard against accidental or malicious deletions. This capability is particularly useful in compliance scenarios where data must be retained for legal and regulatory purposes. Immutable storage is often utilized in conjunction with Azure Blob Storage, where organizations can ensure that archived data remains intact and is preserved in its original form. In contrast, while Azure Policy restrictions could help manage the governance of resources, they may not specifically target the prevention of deletion on archived data. Similarly, managing storage account access keys enhances security but does not directly prevent data deletion. Soft delete functionality provides a temporary safety mechanism that allows deleted blobs to be recovered within a certain period, but it still relies on the user actively restoring deleted items, making it less robust for long-term preservation compared to immutable storage policies.