Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure (AZ-204) Practice Exam

Which account type option in Azure Cosmos DB specifies the number of RUs for an application on a per-second basis?

1. Provisioned throughput

2. Serverless

3. Autoscale

4. Dynamic scaling

The correct answer is: Provisioned throughput

The correct choice specifies the account type known as provisioned throughput, which allows you to define a specific number of Request Units (RUs) per second for your Azure Cosmos DB application. Provisioned throughput is measured and allocated on a per-second basis, giving you granular control over the performance of your database. This model is ideal for applications with predictable usage patterns, as it ensures that you provision enough RUs to meet your application’s performance needs. Provisioned throughput enables users to reserve RUs in advance, allowing for consistent performance levels when accessing the database. Users can scale up or down the provisioned RUs as needed, but the fixed allocation per second is a key aspect of this model. While serverless and autoscale options exist within Cosmos DB, they operate differently. Serverless accounts do not require a set throughput upfront; they automatically scale based on demand but do not provide the same predictability as provisioned throughput. Autoscale offers the ability to automatically increase and decrease RUs based on the workload, but it still depends on a provisioned baseline rather than specifying RUs directly. Dynamic scaling, while related to adjusting resource allocation, doesn’t specifically address the RUs on a per-second basis as provisioned throughput does.