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1.1.2. What Is Your Intent?
💡 First Principle: Intent determines optimization. A system optimized for writing (transactions) cannot simultaneously be optimized for reading (analytics). Knowing the primary intent narrows your options to services designed for that purpose.
| Intent | Optimization | Service Category |
|---|---|---|
| Transactional | Many small, fast writes with ACID | OLTP databases (Azure SQL, Cosmos DB) |
| Analytical | Few large, complex reads with aggregations | OLAP systems (Synapse, Databricks, Power BI) |
| Archival | Cheap long-term storage, rare access | Cold/Archive storage (Blob tiers) |
| Streaming | Real-time, event-by-event processing | Stream processors (Event Hubs, Stream Analytics) |
Reasoning Tool: Ask "what will users DO with this data?" If they're placing orders—transactional. If they're generating reports—analytical. If they're keeping backups for 7 years—archival.
Written byAlvin Varughese
Founder•15 professional certifications