BenchMark Quizzes by MDFT Pro

Select Cosmos DB API for Key-Value SaaS Application

You work as a SaaS Platform Architect for MDFT Pro, a well-known training agency that delivers certification courses to students worldwide. Claire, the Product Strategy Director, has tasked you with developing a Student Progress Tracking application that stores student learning data as key-value pairs—mapping student IDs to completion percentages, quiz scores, and last accessed timestamps. The application will be offered as a SaaS product with multiple pricing tiers. The Basic edition (lowest cost) must provide best-effort performance with no regional failover for budget-conscious students and small training organizations. The Premium and Enterprise editions must allow customers to select guaranteed performance levels and support for multiple geographic regions to ensure high availability for global enterprises. The architecture must minimize Azure costs across all tiers while providing the flexibility to scale performance and features for higher-paying customers.

Which Azure Cosmos DB API should you use for the application?

Choose the correct answer from the options below.

Explanations for each answer:

MongoDB is incorrect. MongoDB API is designed for document-based data models with rich querying capabilities. While it can store key-value pairs, it's over-engineered for simple key-value scenarios and would incur higher costs than necessary. MongoDB is better suited for complex documents with nested structures and advanced query requirements.
Table API is correct. Table API is optimized for key-value and entity storage with a schema-less design. It offers a serverless option for the lowest-cost, best-effort performance tier, and can scale to guaranteed performance with multi-region support for premium tiers. This flexibility matches the requirement for multiple editions at different price points while minimizing Azure costs.
Cassandra is incorrect. Cassandra API is designed for wide-column data models requiring high write throughput and horizontal scaling across multiple regions. While powerful, it's more complex and costly than needed for simple key-value storage. Cassandra excels at time-series data and high-volume writes, not basic key-value operations.
Core (SQL) is incorrect. Core (SQL) API provides rich SQL querying, indexing, and transaction support for document data models. While it supports all Cosmos DB features including multi-region and performance tiers, it's more feature-rich and potentially costlier than Table API for simple key-value scenarios where advanced querying isn't needed.

Learn more about Table API:

Cosmos DB Table API

Practice Exam

Select Cosmos DB API for Key-Value SaaS Application

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