DP-300 Practice Question: Monitor, configure, and optimize database resources
You are responsible for an Azure SQL Database that hosts a financial application. The database is in the General Purpose service tier. You need to ensure that the database automatically scales compute resources based on workload demand without manual intervention. What should you configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse automatic tuning with automatic scaling; automatic tuning optimizes queries, not compute resources.
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
✓
Enable serverless compute tier for the database.
The serverless compute tier in Azure SQL Database automatically scales compute based on workload and can pause during inactivity. It is designed for single databases with intermittent or unpredictable usage. Unlike manual scaling or elastic pools, serverless requires no manual intervention to adjust resources. Automatic tuning optimizes queries but does not scale compute. Therefore, enabling serverless compute tier is the correct choice to achieve automatic scaling without manual intervention.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create an elastic pool and add the database to it.
Why it's wrong here
Elastic pools allow multiple databases to share resources, but they do not automatically scale the pool's resources based on demand. You must manually adjust the pool's eDTUs or vCores. While elastic pools can provide resource sharing, they do not meet the requirement of automatic scaling without manual intervention for a single database.
- ✓
Enable serverless compute tier for the database.
Why this is correct
The serverless compute tier automatically scales compute resources based on workload demand and bills per second of compute usage. It pauses the database during inactive periods, which can reduce cost. For a financial application with variable demand, serverless provides automatic scaling without manual intervention, meeting the requirement. It is available in the General Purpose service tier, so no tier change is needed.
- ✗
Enable automatic tuning for the database.
Why it's wrong here
Automatic tuning in Azure SQL Database focuses on creating and dropping indexes, forcing last good plans, and other query-level optimizations. It does not scale compute resources. It can improve performance by optimizing queries, but it does not adjust DTUs or vCores based on workload. Thus, it does not satisfy the need for automatic compute scaling.
- ✗
Configure auto-scaling in the Azure portal for the database.
Why it's wrong here
Azure SQL Database does not have a native auto-scaling feature in the portal that dynamically adjusts DTUs or vCores based on workload. You can manually scale the database, but that requires intervention. The serverless compute tier is the built-in auto-scaling option. Therefore, this option is not valid for automatic scaling without manual intervention.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Migrating On-Premises Databases to Azure
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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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.