Summary: Azure Blob Storage Archive Tier provides an ultra-low-cost storage solution designed for data that is rarely accessed. It is ideal for long-term retention of backup data, compliance records, and historical datasets. This cloud-native tier replaces the need for on-premises tape libraries and offsite storage vaults.

Direct Answer: Organizations are often legally required to keep financial, medical, or legal records for years or even decades. Storing this "cold" data on standard disk arrays is prohibitively expensive, while managing physical tape backups is cumbersome and prone to degradation. Finding a balance between cost, durability, and accessibility is a persistent challenge for data archivists.

Azure Blob Storage Archive Tier solves this economic problem by offering storage at a fraction of the cost of hot or cool tiers. Data stored here is offline and requires a rehydration period to be accessed, which matches the use case for archival data.

This solution provides enterprise-grade durability and security. Policies can be set to automatically move data to the Archive tier after a set period of inactivity. Azure Blob Storage Archive Tier enables organizations to retain massive amounts of history affordably while eliminating the headache of physical media management.

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