DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You are configuring alerts for an Azure SQL Database. You need to be notified when the database reaches 90% of its allocated storage. Which Azure Monitor alert signal should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse storage_percent with storage; the former is a percentage, the latter is an absolute value.
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
✓
storage_percent
Azure SQL Database exposes the storage_percent metric, which directly reports the percentage of allocated storage used. Setting an alert on this metric at 90% will notify you when storage utilization reaches the threshold. Other metrics like storage (absolute size) or dtu_consumption_percent (compute) do not provide the required percentage of storage usage.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
storage
Why it's wrong here
The storage metric reports the amount of storage space used in bytes, not a percentage. While you could create an alert based on a calculated threshold, the scenario asks for a percentage-based notification. The storage metric alone does not provide the percentage, so it is not the best choice.
- ✓
storage_percent
Why this is correct
The storage_percent metric in Azure Monitor for Azure SQL Database reports the percentage of storage space used relative to the maximum data size. Setting an alert on this metric at 90% directly meets the requirement. This metric is specific to Azure SQL Database and is the correct signal to monitor storage utilization.
- ✗
physical_data_read_percent
Why it's wrong here
physical_data_read_percent represents the percentage of physical data reads relative to the limit, which is an I/O metric. It does not measure storage capacity usage. Using this metric would not alert you when the database approaches its storage limit, so it is incorrect for this scenario.
- ✗
dtu_consumption_percent
Why it's wrong here
dtu_consumption_percent measures the percentage of DTU (Database Transaction Unit) consumption, which reflects compute and I/O resource usage, not storage space. This metric is relevant for performance monitoring but does not indicate how full the database storage is. Therefore, it does not satisfy the requirement.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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