Master the Cloud 2025: Power Through the Microsoft Azure Architect (AZ-300) Challenge!

Server Side Encryption (SSE) in Azure automatically encrypts data across all Azure Storage services, which encompasses Azure Blob storage, Azure Files, Azure Queue storage, and Azure Table storage. The purpose of SSE is to enhance security by ensuring that data is always encrypted before it is written to the storage and decrypted when it is retrieved.

This broad application of encryption helps safeguard sensitive information irrespective of the storage medium used within Azure. It is particularly beneficial in a cloud context, as it abstracts the complexity of encryption management from users and allows organizations to focus on deploying and managing applications without needing to worry about the underlying encryption mechanisms.

The other options lack the comprehensive coverage that SSE provides. For instance, saying that SSE encrypts only Azure Blob storage limits the understanding of Azure's encryption capabilities. Additionally, encrypting only local on-premises storage and only data at rest in public clouds does not reflect the scope of SSE's purpose and functionality.