DP-300 Plan and implement data platform resources Practice Question
A company is designing a new Azure SQL Database for an e-commerce application. The database will experience variable workloads with frequent read-heavy operations. To optimize performance and cost, the company wants to use a serverless compute tier. However, they also need to ensure the database can handle sudden bursts of user activity without significant latency. Which configuration should the team implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume a short auto-pause delay (e.g., 1 minute) saves more cost, but they overlook the cold-start latency penalty that makes it unsuitable for bursty workloads requiring immediate responsiveness.
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
✓
Set the serverless auto-pause delay to a high value (e.g., 24 hours) and configure a minimum vCore count that matches the expected baseline load.
Setting a high auto-pause delay (e.g., 24 hours) prevents the serverless database from pausing during idle periods, avoiding cold-start latency. Configuring a minimum vCore count that matches the expected baseline load ensures the database always has sufficient resources for steady-state read-heavy operations, while the maximum vCore count can scale up to handle sudden bursts without significant latency.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a provisioned General Purpose tier with read scale-out enabled to offload read traffic to a secondary replica.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: This is a provisioned tier solution, not serverless; read scale-out helps read-heavy but not serverless burst.
- ✗
Set the serverless auto-pause delay to 0 (disabled) and configure a maximum vCore count equal to the expected burst peak.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Disabling auto-pause increases cost; maximum vCores alone do not prevent cold start latency.
- ✗
Enable auto-pause with a 1-minute delay and configure the maximum vCore count to handle bursts.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Short auto-pause delay causes frequent cold starts, increasing latency during bursts.
- ✓
Set the serverless auto-pause delay to a high value (e.g., 24 hours) and configure a minimum vCore count that matches the expected baseline load.
Why this is correct
Correct: High auto-pause delay prevents frequent cold starts, and minimum vCores guarantee baseline performance for bursts.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Azure SQL Performance Tuning
Azure SQL Performance Tuning is the process of optimizing the speed and efficiency of queries and database operations in Microsoft Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance to reduce latency and improve throughput.
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