DP-203 Practice Question: Secure, monitor, and optimize data storage and data processing
You have an Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL pool that is used for reporting. You notice that the tempdb database is growing rapidly and causing queries to fail. Which two actions should you take to mitigate the issue? (Select two.)
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
✓
Reduce the degree of parallelism (MAXDOP) for the workload.
The correct actions are C and E. Reducing MAXDOP lowers the degree of parallelism, which directly reduces the number of concurrent tempdb allocations per query, and optimizing queries that perform large sorts or hash joins minimizes the spills to tempdb that cause it to grow rapidly. Increasing DWU (B) scales compute resources but does not reduce tempdb consumption per query, and it can even increase parallelism. Enabling result-set caching (A) is not a feature of dedicated SQL pools in this context and does not address tempdb growth from sorts and hash joins. Moving tempdb to a separate storage account (D) is not supported in Azure Synapse dedicated SQL pools, as tempdb is managed by the service.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable result-set caching to reduce query reruns.
Why it's wrong here
Result-set caching does not impact tempdb usage.
- ✗
Increase the service level (DWU) of the dedicated SQL pool.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing DWU increases tempdb size but does not fix the underlying issue of high tempdb usage.
- ✓
Reduce the degree of parallelism (MAXDOP) for the workload.
Why this is correct
Lowering MAXDOP reduces the number of concurrent operations that can consume tempdb resources.
- ✗
Move tempdb to a separate storage account.
Why it's wrong here
tempdb is managed by the service and cannot be moved.
- ✓
Optimize queries that perform large sorts or hash joins.
Why this is correct
Large sorts and hash joins use tempdb; optimizing them reduces tempdb usage.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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