DP-203 Develop data processing Practice Question
You are troubleshooting a Synapse Pipeline that runs a Copy activity from an on-premises SQL Server to Azure Synapse Dedicated SQL Pool. The pipeline fails with the error: 'Failure happened on 'Source' side. ErrorCode=SqlOperationFailed.' The on-premises SQL Server has no firewall restrictions. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume the error is due to credentials or schema mismatches, but the source-side failure with 'SqlOperationFailed' in an on-premises scenario almost always points to the self-hosted integration runtime connectivity, not the SQL Server itself.
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 not configured properly.
The error 'Failure happened on 'Source' side. ErrorCode=SqlOperationFailed' indicates that the Copy activity cannot connect to the on-premises SQL Server. Since the question states there are no firewall restrictions, the most likely cause is that the self-hosted integration runtime (SHIR) is not properly configured, registered, or running. The SHIR is required to bridge the on-premises network to Azure, and if it is not correctly set up, the source connection will fail.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Staging is not enabled for the Copy activity.
Why it's wrong here
Staging is optional and not required for basic copy operations; its absence would not cause a source-side error.
- ✗
The destination table in Synapse has a different schema.
Why it's wrong here
A schema mismatch would fail on the sink side, not the source side.
- ✗
The SQL Server credentials in the linked service are incorrect.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect credentials would cause a login failure, but the error is generic 'SqlOperationFailed' and could be connectivity-related.
- ✓
The self-hosted integration runtime is not configured properly.
Why this is correct
A self-hosted integration runtime is required to connect from Azure to on-premises networks; misconfiguration is a common cause of source-side failures.
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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