DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You are optimizing an Azure SQL Database that runs a heavy reporting workload. The database uses the General Purpose tier. You notice that many queries are scanning large tables. What is the best first action to improve performance?
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
✓
Analyze the missing index recommendations from Query Store.
The best first action is to analyze the missing index recommendations from Query Store. Query Store tracks query performance and provides actionable index recommendations based on actual workload patterns. Partitioning (A) can help manage large tables but does not directly address scan issues caused by missing indexes. Scaling up to Business Critical (C) is costly and premature without first analyzing the workload. Columnstore indexes (D) are beneficial for analytical queries but should be implemented selectively based on query patterns, not as a blanket solution. Therefore, analyzing missing index recommendations is the optimal starting point for optimization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Partition the large tables by date.
Why it's wrong here
Partitioning helps manageability, not scan performance.
- ✓
Analyze the missing index recommendations from Query Store.
Why this is correct
Identifies specific indexes to reduce scans.
- ✗
Scale up to Business Critical tier.
Why it's wrong here
Expensive and may not fix scan issue.
- ✗
Implement columnstore indexes on all large tables.
Why it's wrong here
May not be appropriate for all workloads and could cause overhead.
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.
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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.