The most likely cause of the increasing storage cost is suboptimal storage tier configuration for archival data (Option C). Cloud providers offer different storage tiers, such as:
* Hot Storage: Expensive but optimized for frequent access.
* Cool Storage (Warm Storage): More affordable for infrequently accessed data.
* Cold Storage (Archival Storage): The cheapest option, designed for long-term storage with occasional access.
If archival data is stored in a more expensive hot storage tier instead of a cost-effective archival storage tier, the monthly costs can increase significantly without any real benefit.
* A. The database (DB) data drive size is set to 512GB, and the DB size is 384GB.
* This does not directly impact cost because cloud storage costs are typically based on actual usage, not allocated capacity (except in pre-provisioned volumes).
* A 512GB allocated drive does not necessarily mean all space is being used.
* B. The virtual memory in IaaS instances is utilizing space from the OS drive.
* While virtual memory (swap space) can impact performance, it does not significantly contribute to increasing storage costs unless there is excessive swapping to premium storage.
* However, swap usage is a compute-related issue, not a storage-tier pricing issue.
* D. The DB backup drive is reaching 80% utilization and needs to be cleaned up.
* While excessive backups can increase storage costs, cloud storage providers typically offer lifecycle management policies to automatically archive or delete old backups.
* 80% utilization does not necessarily correlate with a rapid increase in storage costs, and backup data should be managed separately.
The most likely reason for month-over-month increases in storage costs is that archival data is stored in an expensive storage tier rather than a cost-effective archival tier. Implementing proper storage lifecycle policies and moving data to cheaper cold storage can optimize costs.
Reference:CompTIA Cloud+ CV0-003 Exam Objectives (Storage management, cost optimization strategies) Cloud+ Study Guide (Storage tiering best practices and lifecycle policies)