For data with high access frequency, where should it be placed in a tiered storage system?

• A. Place high-frequency data on the high-performance tier
• B. Place high-frequency data on the capacity tier
• C. Promote high-frequency data to the archival tier
• D. Downgrade high-frequency data to the low-performance tier

Answer: (A)

This question tests how data access frequency guides placement in a tiered storage system. Data that is accessed frequently—hot data—needs to be on the fastest, most responsive storage to minimize latency and maximize I/O throughput. The high-performance tier is designed for this demand, so keeping hot data there makes retrieval and updates quick, supporting applications that rely on rapid access.

If you put high-frequency data on the capacity tier, you’d gain cost savings but suffer slower access, which can bottleneck performance for workloads that expect instant reads or writes. Moving it to an archival tier would place it in long-term, rarely accessed storage with much higher latency, which would severely impede responsiveness. Similarly, downgrading to a low-performance tier defeats the purpose of tiering by sacrificing speed without a proportional benefit.

In short, aligning frequently accessed data with the high-performance tier delivers the necessary speed and responsiveness to keep applications running smoothly.