Question 642 of 919
DP-300 Plan and implement data platform resources Practice Question
You are a database administrator for a large e-commerce company. The company has an Azure SQL Database named 'OrdersDB' in the General Purpose service tier, with a 2 TB database. The database has a table named 'OrderDetails' that contains over 1 billion rows. The table is partitioned by date using a partition function that splits data by month. You notice that queries that filter on a specific date range are performing poorly, and the query plan shows a clustered index scan on the partition column. The table has a clustered columnstore index to support analytics. You need to improve query performance for date-range queries without affecting the analytics workload. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume partitioning alone improves query performance, but without an appropriate index, the query still scans all partitions; they may also mistakenly think rebuilding or changing the clustered index is necessary, ignoring that a nonclustered index can coexist with a columnstore index.
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
✓
Create a nonclustered index on the partition key column (OrderDate) and include other columns as needed.
Creating a nonclustered index on the partition key (OrderDate) allows SQL Server to perform an index seek for date-range queries, avoiding the full clustered columnstore index scan. This index does not interfere with the existing columnstore index, which remains optimal for analytics workloads. The nonclustered index can include additional columns as included columns to cover the query without touching the base table.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a new partition scheme with a different partition function.
Why it's wrong here
Partitioning is already by date; changing scheme may not help.
- ✓
Create a nonclustered index on the partition key column (OrderDate) and include other columns as needed.
Why this is correct
Nonclustered index supports seek for date range queries without affecting columnstore.
- ✗
Rebuild the clustered columnstore index with a different compression setting.
Why it's wrong here
Rebuilding may not change the scan behavior for range queries.
- ✗
Change the clustered index to a rowstore B-tree index on the partition key.
Why it's wrong here
This would negatively impact analytics queries that benefit from columnstore.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This DP-300 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-300 exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.