easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
DP-203 Practice Question: A company uses Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 to…
A company uses Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 to store sensor data. They notice that queries on the data are slow. Which feature should they enable to optimize query performance without moving data?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse PolyBase (a query engine) with a storage optimization feature, or assume that enabling a search service or CDC will improve query performance on static data, when in fact the hierarchical namespace is the only option that directly optimizes storage layout for faster queries.
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
✓
Enable hierarchical namespace on the storage account.
Enabling hierarchical namespace on Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 organizes blobs into a directory hierarchy, which allows query engines like Azure Synapse Analytics and Apache Spark to perform directory-level pruning and partition elimination. This reduces the amount of data scanned during queries, directly improving performance without requiring data movement or restructuring.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement Change Data Capture (CDC).
Why it's wrong here
CDC tracks data changes, not performance optimization.
- ✗
Enable Azure Search on the storage account.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Search is a search service, not a storage optimization feature.
- ✗
Use PolyBase to query the data.
Why it's wrong here
PolyBase is for querying external data sources, not for internal optimization.
- ✓
Enable hierarchical namespace on the storage account.
Why this is correct
Hierarchical namespace organizes data in directories, improving query performance.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Azure Data Engineering
Key term
Azure Data Lake Gen2
Azure Data Lake Gen2 is a cloud-based data storage service that combines the scalability and performance of a data lake with the hierarchical file system and security of a data warehouse, designed for big data analytics.
Key term
Azure Synapse Analytics
Azure Synapse Analytics is a cloud-based data integration, warehousing, and analytics service that brings together big data and data warehouse capabilities under one platform.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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