DP-203 Develop data processing Practice Question
You are troubleshooting a data processing job in Azure Synapse Pipelines that fails intermittently with the error: 'Operation on target Sink failed: The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel.' The pipeline reads from Azure Blob Storage and writes to an Azure SQL Database. The source and sink are in the same region. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse SSL/TLS errors with network connectivity or throttling issues, overlooking the specific protocol version mismatch that Azure services now enforce.
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
✓
The self-hosted integration runtime is using TLS 1.0, which is not supported by the services.
The error 'Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel' indicates a TLS version mismatch. Azure SQL Database and Azure Blob Storage require at least TLS 1.2 for secure connections. If the self-hosted integration runtime (SHIR) is configured to use TLS 1.0, the handshake fails because the services reject the older protocol. This is the most likely cause given the intermittent nature and the specific error message.
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 SQL Database firewall rules blocking the IP address of the integration runtime.
Why it's wrong here
Firewall blocks would give a different error message, like 'Cannot open server...'.
- ✗
Transient network connectivity issues between the services.
Why it's wrong here
Transient issues usually show timeout or connection reset errors, not SSL specific.
- ✗
The Azure SQL Database DTU limit has been exceeded, causing throttling.
Why it's wrong here
Throttling returns HTTP 429 or specific Azure SQL error codes.
- ✓
The self-hosted integration runtime is using TLS 1.0, which is not supported by the services.
Why this is correct
SSL/TLS handshake failure often stems from TLS version mismatch.
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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