DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You are monitoring an Azure SQL Database that hosts a financial application. You notice that the average DTU consumption is 20%, but occasionally spikes to 95% for 5-minute intervals. Users report slow response times during these spikes. You need to ensure consistent performance without over-provisioning resources. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume spikes always require scaling up (Option B) or migrating to a higher tier (Option A), but the DP-300 exam emphasizes that optimization and scheduling are often more cost-effective than over-provisioning.
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
✓
Identify and optimize the queries running during the spike periods, possibly rescheduling a heavy ETL job.
The issue is not a consistent resource shortage but periodic spikes caused by specific queries, likely from a heavy ETL job. By identifying and optimizing those queries or rescheduling the job, you can eliminate the spikes without permanently scaling up resources, which would waste cost and capacity. This aligns with the DP-300 focus on performance tuning and resource optimization rather than blind scaling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Migrate the database to the Hyperscale service tier.
Why it's wrong here
Hyperscale is for scalability, not for handling sporadic high DTU spikes.
- ✗
Scale the database to a higher service tier to absorb the spikes.
Why it's wrong here
Over-provisioning increases cost; spikes are infrequent.
- ✗
Enable Query Store and use the Regressed Queries feature to find slow queries.
Why it's wrong here
Query Store helps identify but does not resolve the spike issue directly.
- ✓
Identify and optimize the queries running during the spike periods, possibly rescheduling a heavy ETL job.
Why this is correct
Rescheduling or tuning the ETL job can eliminate the spikes, ensuring consistent performance.
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
Azure SQL Authentication
Azure SQL Authentication is the process of verifying a user's identity to access an Azure SQL database using either a username and password (SQL Authentication) or a Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) identity.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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