DP-203 Self-hosted Integration Runtime Practice Question
You have an Azure Data Factory pipeline that loads data from an on-premises SQL Server to Azure Synapse Analytics. The pipeline fails intermittently with network connectivity errors. You need to ensure reliable data transfer with minimal latency. Which solution should you recommend?
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
✓
Deploy a self-hosted IR with high availability on two nodes
A self-hosted integration runtime (SHIR) is required for on-premises data sources. To improve reliability, a high-availability SHIR with two or more nodes provides redundancy and load balancing. Option A is incorrect because a site-to-site VPN provides network connectivity but does not directly improve the reliability of the data transfer pipeline; the IR component is still needed. Option C is incorrect because staging data in Blob Storage with sharded files is a performance optimization for parallel loading, but it does not address intermittent network connectivity issues. Option D is incorrect because the Azure Integration Runtime cannot access on-premises networks directly.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set up a site-to-site VPN gateway
Why it's wrong here
A site-to-site VPN provides network connectivity between on-premises and Azure, but it does not directly improve the reliability of the data transfer pipeline. The pipeline still relies on an integration runtime, and without a high-availability SHIR, connectivity errors can still occur.
- ✓
Deploy a self-hosted IR with high availability on two nodes
Why this is correct
Deploying a self-hosted IR with high availability on two nodes provides redundancy and load balancing, ensuring that if one node fails, the other can take over, minimizing the impact of network connectivity errors.
- ✗
Stage data in Azure Blob Storage using sharded files
Why it's wrong here
Staging data in Azure Blob Storage using sharded files is a technique to improve parallel loading performance, but it does not address intermittent network connectivity issues during the initial data transfer from on-premises.
- ✗
Use an Azure Integration Runtime instead
Why it's wrong here
The Azure Integration Runtime cannot access on-premises networks directly, so it is not suitable for this scenario. A self-hosted IR is required.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Azure Data Engineering
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.
Key term
Data Transformation Pipelines
Data transformation pipelines are automated sequences of steps that take raw data from a source, clean and reshape it into a usable format, and then load it into a destination for analysis or storage.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-203 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DP-203 exam.