DP-900 Practice Exam 56 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A company's data engineering team uses Azure Data Factory to orchestrate a pipeline that ingests data from Azure Blob Storage, transforms it using Azure Databricks, and loads it into Azure Synapse Dedicated SQL Pool. The pipeline fails intermittently due to transient errors. Which pattern should they implement to improve reliability?

Accepted Answer

Configure retry policy with exponential backoff on activities. Option D is correct because configuring a retry policy with exponential backoff on the Azure Data Factory activities directly addresses transient errors (e.g., network blips, throttling) by automatically retrying the failed activity after increasing delays. This pattern is specifically designed for intermittent failures and is a built-in feature of Azure Data Factory, improving pipeline reliability without architectural changes.

Answer

Replace Azure Databricks with Azure Functions

Answer

Increase the pipeline timeout to 24 hours

Answer

Split the pipeline into multiple smaller pipelines

Question 2

An organization uses Azure SQL Database and needs to maintain a copy of the database for read-only reporting without affecting the production workload. Which feature should they use?

Accepted Answer

Active geo-replication. Active geo-replication (Option C) creates a readable secondary replica of an Azure SQL Database in a different Azure region. This secondary replica is continuously updated asynchronously from the primary and can be used for read-only query workloads, offloading reporting traffic without impacting the production database's performance or transaction throughput.

Answer

Azure SQL Database read replica

Answer

Automated backups

Answer

Failover groups

Question 3

Which TWO Azure services are primarily used for data integration and orchestration?

Accepted Answer

Azure Logic Apps. Azure Logic Apps is correct because it is a serverless workflow service that integrates apps, data, and services using connectors and triggers, making it ideal for data integration and orchestration. Azure Data Factory is correct because it is a cloud-based ETL and data integration service that orchestrates and automates data movement and transformation across various data stores.

Answer

Azure Synapse Analytics

Answer

Azure Stream Analytics

Answer

Azure Analysis Services

Question 4

A retail company uses Azure SQL Database to store customer transactions. They need to analyze sales trends over time. Which Azure service should they use to build interactive dashboards and reports without moving data out of Azure?

Accepted Answer

Power BI. Power BI is the correct choice because it is a business analytics service that can connect directly to Azure SQL Database to build interactive dashboards and reports without requiring data movement. It supports DirectQuery mode, which queries the source database in real-time, enabling live analysis of sales trends while data remains in Azure.

Answer

Azure Analysis Services

Answer

Azure Synapse Analytics

Answer

Microsoft Purview

Question 5

Your organization uses Azure SQL Database and needs to ensure that all customer data is encrypted at rest and in transit with minimal administrative overhead. Which solution should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Enable Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and enforce TLS 1.2 for connections.. Option B is correct because Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) encrypts Azure SQL Database data files at rest without requiring any application changes, and enforcing TLS 1.2 ensures all data in transit is encrypted using a strong, industry-standard protocol. This combination meets the requirement for encryption at rest and in transit with minimal administrative overhead, as TDE is managed by the platform and TLS enforcement is a simple server-level setting.

Answer

Use Microsoft Purview Information Protection to label and encrypt the data.

Answer

Implement Dynamic Data Masking on the customer table.

Answer

Enable Always Encrypted for all sensitive columns and use client-side encryption.

Question 6

You need to choose a data storage solution for a global e-commerce platform that requires single-digit millisecond read and write latencies across multiple regions. The data is semi-structured and includes user profiles and product catalogs. Which Azure service should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB is the correct choice because it is a globally distributed, multi-model database service that guarantees single-digit millisecond read and write latencies at the 99th percentile, regardless of the number of regions. It supports semi-structured data natively through its document (JSON) API, making it ideal for user profiles and product catalogs that require low-latency access across multiple geographic regions.

Answer

Azure Redis Cache

Answer

Azure Table Storage

Answer

Azure SQL Database

Question 7

You are designing a batch processing pipeline that runs nightly to transform CSV files from an FTP server into Parquet files in Azure Data Lake Storage. Which Azure service should you use to orchestrate the pipeline?

Accepted Answer

Azure Data Factory. Azure Data Factory (ADF) is the correct choice because it is a cloud-based ETL and data integration service designed specifically for orchestrating and automating data pipelines. It supports scheduled triggers (e.g., nightly runs), native connectors for FTP and Azure Data Lake Storage, and built-in data transformation activities like Copy Data and Mapping Data Flows to convert CSV to Parquet. ADF's control flow and dependency management make it ideal for batch processing pipelines.

Answer

Azure Functions

Answer

Azure Logic Apps

Answer

Azure Batch

Question 8

A company stores customer transaction data in Azure Blob Storage. They need to query the data using SQL-based tools without moving the data. Which Azure service should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool. Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool allows you to query data directly from Azure Blob Storage using T-SQL without moving or copying the data. It uses a pay-per-query model and supports reading common file formats like Parquet, CSV, and JSON, making it ideal for ad-hoc querying over data lakes.

Answer

Azure SQL Database

Answer

Azure Analysis Services

Answer

Azure Cosmos DB

Question 9

The exhibit shows a Kusto Query Language (KQL) query run in Azure Data Explorer. What is the output of this query?

Accepted Answer

The top 5 event types in Texas by total property damage. The query uses `summarize sum(PropertyDamage) by EventType` to aggregate total property damage per event type, then `top 5 by TotalPropertyDamage` to return the five event types with the highest totals. The `where State == 'TEXAS'` filter ensures only Texas storms are considered. This directly yields the top 5 event types in Texas by total property damage.

Answer

All storm events in Texas with property damage

Answer

The total property damage for all event types in Texas

Answer

A list of the top 5 property damage amounts in Texas

Question 10

A company stores IoT sensor data in Azure Blob Storage. Data scientists need to query the data using SQL without moving it to another store. Which Azure service should they use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool. Azure Synapse Serverless SQL pool allows you to query data directly from Azure Blob Storage using T-SQL without moving or copying the data. It uses a distributed query engine that reads files (Parquet, CSV, JSON) in place, making it ideal for ad-hoc analytics over IoT sensor data stored in Blob Storage.

Answer

Azure Analysis Services

Answer

Azure Data Lake Storage

Answer

Azure SQL Database

Question 11

Refer to the exhibit. You are designing a fact table for a data warehouse. The table will store sales transactions with daily granularity. Which column would be most appropriate as the distribution column in a hash-distributed table in Azure Synapse Analytics?

Accepted Answer

CustomerKey. CustomerKey (B) is the most appropriate distribution column because it has high cardinality and is frequently used in joins with dimension tables, ensuring data is evenly distributed across distributions in Azure Synapse Analytics. A hash-distributed table requires a column with many unique values to avoid data skew, and CustomerKey is a natural key for sales transactions that meets this requirement.

Answer

SalesAmount

Answer

ProductKey

Answer

OrderDate

Question 12

A company stores customer transaction data in Azure Blob Storage. The data is rarely accessed after 30 days, but must be retained for 7 years for compliance. Which access tier minimizes storage cost while meeting the retention requirement?

Accepted Answer

Archive tier. The Archive tier is the correct choice because it offers the lowest storage cost for data that is rarely accessed, which aligns with the scenario where data is accessed infrequently after 30 days but must be retained for 7 years. Azure Blob Storage's Archive tier is designed for long-term retention with a retrieval latency of several hours, making it cost-effective for compliance-driven data that does not require immediate access.

Answer

Hot tier

Answer

Cool tier

Answer

Premium tier

Question 13

Which THREE are characteristics of structured data? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Has a predefined schema. Structured data has a predefined schema, meaning the data types, relationships, and constraints are defined before data is entered. This schema ensures consistency and enables efficient querying, which is why relational databases enforce a fixed schema through table definitions and constraints like primary keys and foreign keys.

Answer

Consists of audio and video files

Answer

Uses JSON or XML format

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. You create an Azure Policy to deny virtual machines that are not using approved SKUs. After assigning the policy to a subscription, a user tries to create a VM with SKU 'Standard_DS2_v2' and the creation is allowed. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The alias 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/sku.name' is incorrect; the correct alias is 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/sku'.. Option C is correct because the alias 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/sku.name' is invalid; the correct alias for the SKU property of a virtual machine is 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/sku'. Azure Policy aliases must exactly match the ARM resource property path. Using an incorrect alias means the policy rule never evaluates the intended property, so the deny effect never triggers, allowing any SKU to be created.

Answer

The policy is not assigned to the resource group where the VM is created.

Answer

The field type 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines' is incorrect.

Answer

The policy rule does not specify a deny effect.

Question 15

Your team is migrating on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure. They need to minimize application changes and support both OLTP and reporting workloads. Which Azure data service supports hybrid transactional and analytical processing (HTAP)?

Accepted Answer

Azure SQL Database with Hyperscale. Azure SQL Database with Hyperscale supports hybrid transactional and analytical processing (HTAP) by using built-in columnstore indexes and near-instantaneous snapshot isolation. This allows the same database to handle high-volume OLTP transactions while simultaneously running complex analytical queries on up-to-date data, minimizing application changes because the existing SQL Server code and tools work without modification.

Answer

Azure Analysis Services

Answer

Azure SQL Managed Instance

Answer

Azure Data Factory

Question 16

Your company stores customer data in Azure Blob Storage. To comply with data residency regulations, you must ensure data is replicated within the same Azure region. Which replication option should you choose?

Accepted Answer

Locally-redundant storage (LRS). Locally-redundant storage (LRS) replicates data three times within a single physical location in the same Azure region, ensuring data residency compliance by never copying data outside that region. This is the only option that guarantees all replicas stay within one region without any cross-region or cross-zone replication.

Answer

Zone-redundant storage (ZRS)

Answer

Geo-redundant storage (GRS)

Answer

Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS)

Question 17

You need to store semi-structured JSON data from a web application and query it using SQL-like syntax. The solution must support high throughput with low latency. Which Azure data store should you use?

Accepted Answer

Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB is the correct choice because it natively supports semi-structured JSON documents and offers SQL-like querying via its core (SQL) API. It is designed for high throughput and low latency with guaranteed single-digit millisecond response times at the 99th percentile, making it ideal for web applications with demanding performance requirements.

Answer

Azure Blob Storage

Answer

Azure SQL Database

Answer

Azure Table Storage

Question 18

A data analyst needs to query a large dataset stored in Azure Blob Storage using serverless SQL pool in Azure Synapse Analytics. Which data format should they use to minimize storage costs while still supporting efficient querying?

Accepted Answer

Parquet. Parquet is a columnar storage format that compresses data efficiently and supports predicate pushdown, allowing serverless SQL pool in Azure Synapse to read only the necessary columns and rows. This minimizes storage costs while maintaining high query performance, unlike row-oriented formats such as CSV or JSON.

Answer

CSV

Answer

JSON

Answer

Avro

Question 19

A company needs to store semi-structured data from IoT devices, including temperature readings and device status. The data will be queried by time range and device ID. Which Azure data service is most cost-effective for this use case?

Accepted Answer

Azure Table Storage. Azure Table Storage is a NoSQL key-value store that is optimized for storing large amounts of semi-structured data without requiring a fixed schema. It supports efficient queries by partition key (device ID) and row key (timestamp), making it ideal for time-series IoT data at a lower cost than other Azure data services.

Answer

Azure Blob Storage

Answer

Azure Cosmos DB

Answer

Azure SQL Database

Question 20

Your company is designing a data solution for IoT sensor data that arrives in high volume and must be stored for long-term analytics. The data is append-only and rarely updated. You need to choose a storage solution that balances cost and query performance for historical analysis. Which Azure data store should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2. Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is the correct choice because it combines a hierarchical namespace with Azure Blob Storage, offering scalable, cost-effective storage for high-volume append-only data like IoT sensor logs. It supports both structured and unstructured data, integrates with analytics engines like Azure Synapse and Spark, and provides POSIX-compliant access control, making it ideal for long-term historical analysis at low cost.

Answer

Azure Cosmos DB

Answer

Azure Table Storage

Answer

Azure SQL Database