DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You are monitoring an Azure SQL Database. You need to identify which two metrics are most important for detecting a memory pressure issue. Which TWO should you select?
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
✓
Memory grants pending
Memory grants pending (B) is a key indicator of memory pressure because it counts the number of queries waiting for a workspace memory grant; a sustained nonzero value means SQL Server cannot satisfy concurrent memory requests, directly signaling memory contention. Page life expectancy (C) measures how long pages stay in the buffer pool, and a low or declining PLE indicates that data pages are being evicted too quickly, which is a classic symptom of buffer pool memory pressure. Together these two metrics isolate memory-related stress rather than I/O or CPU behavior. Log IO percentage (A) and Data IO percentage (E) reflect storage throughput/latency, and CPU percentage (D) reflects processor utilization, so none of them directly diagnose memory pressure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Log IO percentage
Why it's wrong here
Log IO percentage measures transaction log write throughput, reflecting log disk contention rather than buffer pool memory pressure. Memory pressure in Azure SQL Database is detected through metrics such as buffer cache hit ratio and page life expectancy, which directly indicate insufficient memory.
- ✓
Memory grants pending
Why this is correct
Memory grants pending counts queries waiting for workspace memory before execution, so sustained non-zero values directly signal memory pressure. Unlike buffer cache hit ratio, which reflects page availability, this metric exposes grant contention at the workspace level, satisfying the stem's requirement to detect memory pressure in Azure SQL Database.
- ✓
Page life expectancy
Why this is correct
Page life expectancy measures how long pages remain in the buffer pool before eviction, so a sustained drop signals memory pressure as the buffer cache thrashes. This directly satisfies the stem's requirement to detect memory pressure, since declining values indicate insufficient memory to hold the working set.
- ✗
CPU percentage
Why it's wrong here
CPU percentage reflects processor utilisation, which can rise during memory pressure but does not measure memory itself. The relevant metrics are buffer cache hit ratio and page life expectancy, which directly indicate memory availability. It is tempting because CPU spikes frequently accompany performance degradation, yet CPU saturation can occur independently of memory constraints.
- ✗
Data IO percentage
Why it's wrong here
Data IO percentage measures storage throughput against the database's IO limit, so it signals IO bottlenecks rather than memory pressure. Memory pressure is detected through buffer cache hit ratio and page life expectancy. It is tempting because IO stalls often accompany memory contention, but this metric tracks disk activity, not memory allocation or paging behaviour.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Monitoring Database Performance with Azure Tools
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DP-300 question from scratch — 574 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. 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.