This DP-203 practice question tests your understanding of develop data processing. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which TWO configuration options are required to enable change data capture (CDC) in Azure Data Factory for incremental loading from Azure SQL Database?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable CDC on the source Azure SQL Database.
Option B is correct because enabling CDC on the source Azure SQL Database is a prerequisite for Azure Data Factory (ADF) to capture incremental changes. ADF uses the native CDC mechanism of the source database, which requires the database to have CDC enabled at the database level and on the specific tables being tracked. Without this, ADF cannot read the change data from the system tables.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Create a dedicated folder in Azure Blob Storage for CDC logs.
Why it's wrong here
Not required; CDC uses its own internal tables.
✓
Enable CDC on the source Azure SQL Database.
Why this is correct
CDC must be enabled at the database level.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Create a 'Change data capture' resource in Azure Data Factory.
Why this is correct
The CDC resource is needed to manage incremental loads.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Provision a staging Azure SQL Database.
Why it's wrong here
Staging is not mandatory.
✗
Configure a full load of the entire table first.
Why it's wrong here
Full load is optional.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse the 'Change Data Capture' resource in ADF (which is a configuration option within a dataset) with a separate resource type that must be explicitly created, leading them to select option C as a required configuration when it is actually part of the dataset setup and not a standalone resource.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When CDC is enabled on Azure SQL Database, it uses the SQL Server Agent to capture insert, update, and delete activity from the transaction log and writes it to change tables. ADF's 'Change Data Capture' resource (option C) is a linked service or dataset that connects to these change tables, but it does not create a separate resource in ADF; instead, it configures the source dataset to use CDC. The CDC resource in ADF is essentially a configuration that points to the source database's CDC-enabled tables, not a standalone resource that needs to be created separately.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this DP-203 question in full detail.
Develop data processing — This question tests Develop data processing — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable CDC on the source Azure SQL Database. — Option B is correct because enabling CDC on the source Azure SQL Database is a prerequisite for Azure Data Factory (ADF) to capture incremental changes. ADF uses the native CDC mechanism of the source database, which requires the database to have CDC enabled at the database level and on the specific tables being tracked. Without this, ADF cannot read the change data from the system tables.
What should I do if I get this DP-203 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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