DP-203 PolyBase Practice Question
A company stores IoT sensor data in Azure Blob Storage. The data is appended every minute and must be queried in near real-time using a SQL interface. Which Azure service should be used to enable this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume that Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 provides a SQL interface on its own, but it is only a storage layer. The correct service to enable SQL queries over Blob Storage is Azure Synapse Analytics (using SQL Pool or Serverless SQL).
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Azure Synapse SQL Pool
Azure Synapse SQL Pool (part of Azure Synapse Analytics) can query IoT sensor data stored in Blob Storage or ADLS Gen2 in near real-time using PolyBase or external tables. This schema-on-read approach provides a SQL interface directly over the stored data without needing to move it into a traditional database.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Azure Cosmos DB
Why it's wrong here
Azure Cosmos DB is a NoSQL database and does not provide a native SQL interface over Blob Storage. It is designed for transactional workloads, not direct querying of blob data.
- ✗
Azure SQL Database
Why it's wrong here
Azure SQL Database is a relational database but cannot directly query data stored in Blob Storage without importing it. It is not designed for near real-time queries over external blob data.
- ✓
Azure Synapse SQL Pool
Why this is correct
Azure Synapse SQL Pool (within Azure Synapse Analytics) can query data in Blob Storage/ADLS Gen2 using PolyBase or external tables, enabling near real-time SQL queries over the stored IoT data.
- ✗
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
Why it's wrong here
Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is a storage service that provides scalable blob storage with hierarchical namespace, but it does not include a SQL query interface. A separate query service like Azure Synapse SQL Pool is required.
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
Go deeper
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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