DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You are monitoring an Azure SQL Database and notice that the average CPU usage is 80% and the average data IO percentage is 70%. You need to identify the most likely cause of the high resource usage. What should you check first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to 'blocking and deadlocks' (Option C) because they associate high resource usage with concurrency issues, but sustained CPU and IO are far more commonly driven by inefficient queries rather than blocking.
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
✓
Use Query Store to identify top resource-consuming queries
High average CPU (80%) and data IO (70%) suggest that the database is under sustained load from inefficient or resource-intensive queries. Query Store captures query execution plans, runtime statistics, and resource consumption per query, making it the fastest way to pinpoint the top resource consumers. Checking Query Store first allows you to identify the specific queries driving CPU and IO, which is the most direct diagnostic step.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Check for long-running maintenance tasks
Why it's wrong here
Maintenance tasks are scheduled and not the most likely first cause.
- ✗
Check for connection pooling issues
Why it's wrong here
Connection pooling issues cause connection errors, not high CPU/IO.
- ✗
Check for blocking and deadlocks
Why it's wrong here
Blocking causes waits, not necessarily high CPU/IO.
- ✓
Use Query Store to identify top resource-consuming queries
Why this is correct
Query Store helps find queries consuming CPU and IO.
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.
Key term
Query Store
Query Store is a built-in SQL Server feature that captures and stores a history of query execution plans and performance data for easy monitoring and troubleshooting.
About these practice questions
One of 906 original DP-300 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-300 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DP-300 exam.