DP-300 Elastic pool Practice Question
You are configuring an Azure SQL Database elastic pool for a SaaS application. The pool will host 50 databases with varying workloads. You need to minimize cost while ensuring performance meets baseline requirements. Which tier and configuration should you choose?
⚠ Common exam trap
The key trap is that many candidates assume Serverless tier is available for elastic pools, but it is only available for single databases. For elastic pools, DTU-based or vCore-based (Provisioned) tiers are the options, and DTU-based is often more cost-effective for mixed workloads.
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
✓
DTU-based elastic pool with 200 DTUs
A DTU-based elastic pool offers a cost-effective solution for hosting 50 databases with varying workloads. DTU pools provide a shared resource model (eDTUs) that automatically balances capacity across databases, minimizing cost while meeting baseline performance requirements. Serverless tier (Option C) is not supported for elastic pools, making it invalid. Hyperscale (Option A) is designed for large, highly scalable databases and is overkill and costly. Provisioned vCore-based pool (Option B) with 2 vCores may be insufficient for 50 databases and is generally more expensive than DTU-based pools for variable workloads.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Hyperscale tier with 4 vCores
Why it's wrong here
Hyperscale tier with 4 vCores is a poor fit because Hyperscale is a service tier designed for large, highly scalable single databases, not for elastic pools; Microsoft does not offer Hyperscale for elastic pools. Even if it were possible, 4 vCores in a pool shared by 50 databases would likely be overwhelmed during load spikes, and Hyperscale's architecture (separate compute nodes, log service, and automatic storage scale) introduces costs that are impractical for many small databases with varying workloads. A DTU pool is specifically built for this use case, whereas Hyperscale targets terabyte-scale databases with high throughput and storage elasticity.
- ✗
Provisioned tier with General Purpose and 2 vCores
Why it's wrong here
A Provisioned vCore-based elastic pool with General Purpose and only 2 vCores provides too little aggregate CPU and memory for 50 databases, likely causing throttling and latency even if individual workloads are light. Furthermore, the vCore purchasing model charges per-core and includes separate storage and backup costs, making it significantly more expensive than an equivalent DTU-based pool for a mixed, variable workload where many databases idle at different times. With 2 vCores, the pool cannot effectively absorb simultaneous bursty demand across the 50 databases, so this configuration is both underpowered and cost-inefficient for the scenario.
- ✗
Serverless tier with General Purpose and auto-pause enabled
Why it's wrong here
The serverless tier with General Purpose and auto-pause enabled is not supported for elastic pools; serverless compute is exclusively available for single databases in Azure SQL Database. Elastic pools have multiple databases sharing the same resource boundary, and auto-pause would attempt to pause the entire pool, which defeats the purpose of continuous availability for all databases. Because the serverless model's cost savings rely on idle time for a single database, it cannot be applied to a pooled environment, making this option invalid for the scenario.
- ✓
DTU-based elastic pool with 200 DTUs
Why this is correct
A DTU-based elastic pool with 200 DTUs (eDTUs) is the correct choice because it gives 50 small-to-medium databases a shared pool of compute and storage resources, letting them absorb bursts by using spare capacity from quiet databases. The DTU purchasing model bundles compute, storage, and backup into a simple, cost-effective unit; 200 DTUs typically sustains around 200 MB/s of I/O and enough CPU/GPU resources (approximately 4 vCore-equivalent) for variable workloads. Because you pay only for the pool's aggregate DTUs, not per-database DTUs, this is the most economical way to serve 50 databases with fluctuating demand.
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
Implementing High Availability for Azure SQL Databases
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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