DP-300 Configure and manage automation of tasks Practice Question
You are implementing automated table partitioning maintenance for a large Azure SQL Database. The partitioning function uses a monthly range. You need to add a new partition for the next month and remove the oldest partition. What is the best way to automate this?
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
✓
Schedule a T-SQL script via Elastic Database Jobs that uses ALTER PARTITION FUNCTION to SPLIT the range and MERGE the oldest boundary.
To automate monthly partition maintenance, you need to add a new partition for the next month (split the range) and remove the oldest partition (merge the oldest boundary). The T-SQL commands ALTER PARTITION FUNCTION ... SPLIT RANGE and ALTER PARTITION FUNCTION ... MERGE RANGE accomplish this. Scheduling these via Elastic Database Jobs provides automation. Option A's SELECT INTO and TRUNCATE are not partition management operations. Option B's ALTER INDEX REORGANIZE is for index maintenance, not partition boundary changes. Option D's SWITCH PARTITION moves data without altering the partition function/scheme.
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 stored procedure that uses SELECT INTO to copy old data to a history table and then TRUNCATE the partition.
Why it's wrong here
This manual process is not efficient and does not use partition management features.
- ✗
Use ALTER INDEX REORGANIZE to compress old partitions.
Why it's wrong here
ALTER INDEX REORGANIZE reorganizes index fragments, not partitions.
- ✓
Schedule a T-SQL script via Elastic Database Jobs that uses ALTER PARTITION FUNCTION to SPLIT the range and MERGE the oldest boundary.
Why this is correct
ALTER PARTITION FUNCTION with SPLIT and MERGE is the standard way to add and remove partitions.
- ✗
Use the SWITCH PARTITION operation to move the oldest partition to a staging table and then drop the staging table.
Why it's wrong here
SWITCH PARTITION is used to move data out, but the partition still exists; you still need to merge the boundary.
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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