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DP-300 Configure and manage automation of tasks Practice Question

You are a database administrator for a retail company that uses Azure SQL Database. You need to automate the process of detecting and responding to high CPU usage. You want to create an alert that triggers an action when CPU usage exceeds 80% for 10 minutes. Which two components must you configure? (Choose two.)

⚠ Common exam trap

A common mix-up: candidates confuse metric alerts with log alerts; metric alerts do not require diagnostic settings or a Log Analytics workspace.

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

✓

An action group that defines the notification and action types.

To automate detection and response to high CPU usage, you need an alert rule that monitors the CPU percentage metric and an action group that defines the response. The alert rule evaluates the condition and fires when the threshold is exceeded. The action group then executes the specified actions, such as sending notifications or triggering automation. Diagnostic settings and Log Analytics are not required for metric alerts, and Elastic Jobs are not triggered by alerts.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
An action group that defines the notification and action types.
Why this is correct
An action group specifies what happens when an alert fires, such as sending an email, SMS, or triggering a runbook. To respond to high CPU usage, you must associate an action group with the alert rule. Without an action group, the alert would only be visible in the Azure portal but would not perform any automated response.
✗
A diagnostic setting that streams resource logs to a Log Analytics workspace.
Why it's wrong here
Diagnostic settings stream logs and metrics to destinations like Log Analytics, but they do not create alerts. While you can create log-based alerts from Log Analytics, the question specifies CPU usage, which is a metric. Metric alerts are more efficient and do not require diagnostic settings. This component is not required for a metric-based alert.
✓
An alert rule in Azure Monitor with a metric signal for CPU percentage.
Why this is correct
Azure Monitor alert rules evaluate metrics and fire when conditions are met. For CPU usage, you select the CPU percentage metric and set a threshold of 80% over a 10-minute window. This is the core component that detects the condition. Without an alert rule, no alert would be generated regardless of other actions.
✗
An Elastic Job that runs a T-SQL script to scale the database when the alert fires.
Why it's wrong here
Elastic Jobs are for scheduled T-SQL execution, not for responding to alerts. To automate a response, you would use an action group that triggers an Azure Automation runbook or Logic App. Elastic Jobs cannot be directly triggered by Azure Monitor alerts, so this is not a required component.
✗
A Log Analytics workspace to store the CPU metrics for analysis.
Why it's wrong here
A Log Analytics workspace is not required for metric alerts. Azure Monitor stores platform metrics for 93 days by default and can evaluate them without a workspace. While a workspace is useful for advanced analysis, it is not a prerequisite for creating a metric alert on CPU percentage.

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DP-300 Configure and manage automation of tasks Practice Question

Why each option matters

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