DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You are monitoring an Azure SQL Database and notice high PAGELATCH waits. What is the most likely cause?
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
✓
Concurrent inserts into a table with a clustered index causing last-page contention.
PAGELATCH waits indicate contention on data pages, often due to concurrent inserts to the same page, such as the last page of a clustered index. Option B is wrong because buffer pool insufficient leads to PAGEIOLATCH waits, not PAGELATCH. Option C is wrong because high CPU usage due to inefficient queries causes CPU pressure, not directly PAGELATCH waits. Option D is wrong because long-running transactions blocking other queries results in lock waits, not page latch contention.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Concurrent inserts into a table with a clustered index causing last-page contention.
Why this is correct
High PAGELATCH waits commonly result from hotspot contention on the last page of an index.
- ✗
Insufficient buffer pool size leading to frequent reads from disk.
Why it's wrong here
That would cause PAGEIOLATCH waits.
- ✗
High CPU usage due to inefficient queries.
Why it's wrong here
CPU pressure shows as SOS_SCHEDULER_YIELD waits.
- ✗
Long-running transactions blocking other queries.
Why it's wrong here
Blocking is indicated by wait type LCK_M_*.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Azure SQL Indexes
Structures in Azure SQL Database that speed up data retrieval by providing quick access paths to rows, similar to a book index.
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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