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

Which scenario illustrates increased resource costs due to waste?

1. Archiving infrequently accessed data to an archive storage tier.

2. Using a service that adjusts resources based on load.

3. Pooled databases to share provisioned capacity.

4. Running a development environment overnight that is only used during business hours.

The correct answer is: Running a development environment overnight that is only used during business hours.

The scenario of running a development environment overnight that is only used during business hours illustrates increased resource costs due to waste. In this case, the environment is provisioned and consuming resources during hours when it is not actively being used, resulting in unnecessary expenditures. Resource costs can escalate when infrastructure is not utilized efficiently, as is the case when a development environment is kept running at times when no work is being done. By maintaining resources in an idle state, the organization incurs costs without deriving any value from them. In contrast, archiving infrequently accessed data to an archive storage tier effectively reduces costs, as it optimizes storage usage for data that does not require frequent access. On the other hand, using a service that adjusts resources based on load helps to manage expenses by dynamically scaling resources up or down based on utilization. Finally, pooling databases to share provisioned capacity ensures that resources are utilized more effectively across multiple applications or services. Thus, these alternatives illustrate strategies for cost management rather than ineffectiveness that leads to wasted resources.