DP-300 Configure and manage automation of tasks Practice Question
You have an Azure SQL Database that uses a serverless compute tier. You want to automate the process of pausing the database during non-business hours (8 PM to 6 AM) to save costs. The database should automatically resume when the first connection is attempted. What should you configure?
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
✓
Set the auto-pause delay to 10 hours in the serverless configuration.
The serverless compute tier in Azure SQL Database automatically pauses after a period of inactivity and resumes on the first connection. By setting the auto-pause delay to 10 hours (covering the 8 PM to 6 AM window), the database will pause during non-business hours and automatically resume when a connection is attempted. Options A and D are unnecessary because the serverless tier handles this natively, and Option B is incorrect because elastic jobs are not used for scaling to 0 vCores.
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 a SQL Agent job to run ALTER DATABASE PAUSE and ALTER DATABASE RESUME.
Why it's wrong here
SQL Agent jobs are not available for Azure SQL Database, including the serverless compute tier specified in the scenario. Therefore, this option cannot be configured. While SQL Agent is a standard mechanism for scheduling database tasks, such as `ALTER DATABASE PAUSE` and `ALTER DATABASE RESUME`, on SQL Server Managed Instance or SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines, it does not apply here. The serverless tier inherently provides the automatic resume on first connection, which this option would attempt to override with a scheduled resume.
- ✗
Configure an elastic job to scale down to 0 vCores during off-hours.
Why it's wrong here
Scaling to 0 vCores is not possible; serverless can pause.
- ✓
Set the auto-pause delay to 10 hours in the serverless configuration.
Why this is correct
The auto-pause delay can be configured to a maximum of 24 hours.
- ✗
Use Azure Automation to run a script that calls the REST API to pause/resume the database.
Why it's wrong here
Possible but unnecessary; serverless has built-in auto-pause.
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
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.
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